Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)To begin with, if you're looking at this battery, you might have a D200. If so, you have no choice in the matter. Whether it's 1 star or 5, if you don't buy this battery you have a $1,700 paperweight (and yes, I'm the proud owner of a D200 in non-paperweight mode).
Second, the battery is not what's at fault here. The D200 is an energy monster. It sucks these poor little guys dry like a starved man at a all-you-can-eat. (This is the price of the incredible functionality offered by the D200. If you want longer bettery life, you'll have to give up MUCH of what makes the D200 the powerhouse it is.) The EL3e performs wonderfullly in the D70/50, providing slightly longer life than the recalled EL3a (the third contact on the EL3e is for the D200 only. The 70 & 50 both ignore it).
Bottom line: There is nothing wrong with this battery. If you have a D70 or D50, buy with the assurance it will take many, many shots on a single charge. If you have a D200, buy because you have to then realize that *you* determine how long the battery lives. A VR lens will cut an already "short" battery life even more. So, you can complain about the battery being the issue or the D200 being the issue. Only the latter is correct. If you want long battery life, go back to the D70.
Personal rant: The D200 is worth the reduced battery life in so many ways that I'm actually annoyed with those that complain about this. Sure, the battery could last longer, but why stop there? I'D like 20Mp, ISO speeds to 3200 with no noise at all, a 10-400mm VR lens tack sharp at all apertures with f/1.4 throughout. But you know what? Not gonna happen. The D200 provides FAR more capability than what you actually paid for (just ask D2X users), so stop whining about short battery life. There's no such thing as the perfect camera. The D200 comes so close, however, it's almost sacriligious to whine about it. By all means, let's teach Nikon a lesson! How dare they give us this camera at 2/3 of what they could *easily* sell it for and not give us 800 RAW's/charge? >:(
And FWIW, you most certainly CAN get 1800 JPG's from one charge, You just have to do it like Nikon did. Yes, their tests are unrealistic in that respect, but if you're so upset about it, return the camera and let someone who will appreciate it have their turn...
PS To "Dwarfbug" why did you give the *battery* 2 stars? These reviews are exactly that: reviews. Speak about the product in question. Don't just respond to someone's review and drop 2 stars with no explanation why. And also speak about something you know. There is no recall on the D200. There is a recall on the EN-EL3 which will not work in the D200 anyway. It is a D50/D70 battery and is replaced with either the EN-EL3a or the EN-EL3e (the "e" being a pretty sweet deal (some even resell them to D200 users a buy TWO 3rd party EN-EL3a's (Targus, etc))).
Click Here to see more reviews about: Nikon EN-EL3e Rechargeable Li-Ion Battery for D200, D300, D700 and D80 Digital SLR Cameras
NIKON EN-EL3 E BATTERY (25334)
