3rd party EN-EL15 batteries and the Nikon D7000

Lindsay

Lindsay

New member
I have a Nikon D7000. Some years ago I bought a 3rd party spare battery for it and it seems that the camera knows what brand of battery I have in the camera battery bay. At that point the camera refused to work with the battery even though it was electronically and physically the same as the Nikon EN-EL15 battery which came with the camera. B&H kindly refunded my purchase price. I suspect that this is an Apple-ism or what some printer manufacturers do by using proprietary chipping in printer cartridges to force people to buy parts from Nikon.

Is this still the case for the D7000? I'm looking at a Watson replacement for the EN-EL15 battery. Am I still likely to have this problem with the D7000? I haven't upgraded the firmware on the D7000 bit it's possible that Nikon has released the proper digital incantations to allow other manufacturers to provide batteries for this camera.
 
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RocketCowboy

Senior Member
I've heard similar reports, although I can't recall the specific camera model(s) that were referenced. My D5300 came with a 3rd party battery that worked without issue, but I have only used Nikon EN-EL15s with the D7100.
 
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paul04

Senior Member
Welcome to the website.

I did get a cheap EN-EL15 3rd party replacement off ebay as a backup test battery, to test it in the new battery grip I got for the D7100, think it was about £9, that was 8 months ago, and works fine, camera has no problem with it.
 
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Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Lindsay said:
I have a Nikon D7000. Some years ago I bought a 3rd party spare battery for it and it seems that the camera knows what brand of battery I have in the camera battery bay. At that point the camera refused to work with the battery even though it was electronically and physically the same as the Nikon EN-EL15 battery which came with the camera. B&H kindly refunded my purchase price. I suspect that this is an Apple-ism or what some printer manufacturers do by using proprietary chipping in printer cartridges to force people to buy parts from Nikon.

Is this still the case for the D7000? I'm looking at a Watson replacement for the EN-EL15 battery. Am I still likely to have this problem with the D7000? I haven't upgraded the firmware on the D7000 bit it's possible that Nikon has released the proper digital incantations to allow other manufacturers to provide batteries for this camera.
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Nikon batteries are indeed chipped much as you describe (and as much as I'd like to blame Apple for proprietary accessories, this particular evil predates them (though they are one of the worst offenders)). That being said, the aforementioned Watson replacements are a safe bet as are Wasabi batteries. You'll pay little more for a Watson or a Wasabi than "bargain basement" Chinese knockoffs but about half (roughly) of what an OEM Nikon battery would set you back. Probably less.
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