Nikon D300, D90 & D80 EN-EL3e false low-battery warning problem.

I have the same problem with a NIKON battery in my brand new D90. Don’t assume they are all 3rd party complaints. Nikon thinks it is a bad battery.

Maybe you don’t understand the problem. I use Nikon products exclusively and I am having this problem. It appears to be a problem with the body to lense match-up. I have 70-200 2.8, 105 macro 2.8, and a 17-55 2.8, all nikkor, that all have this problem with this body whereas my older lenses seem to work fine. I have never used anything for batteries except those supplied by and stamped Nikon. I hope I have as good of service as Gerard! It is a bad day when 10,000 dollars worth of photography equipment dosen’t work.

I have a genuine Nikon D300 with a genuine battery. I use the Sigma 150-500mm (genuine one) and after six months, I started getting this false low battery warning. I thought it could be a problem with the D300 and switched the same lens on a D90 to test if I still get the issue. The same thing happens there as well. I had to switch off the camera and turn it on to get the warning disappear, but the warning is very sporadic and never know when it comes back. Ive had this issue atleast 4 times now and I’m having my lens checked with Sigma service center here in India and not sure where the issue lies with.

I experienced this problem yesterday with a D300, Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8, and Nikon brand EN-EL3e. The service rep I just spoke with said it was an issue with the battery, not the camera. I poked around Google searching for “low battery” with “D200″ “D300″ “D700″ and “D90″. All seem to have a common thread, so I’m thinking maybe the Nikon rep was right. He suggested that I completely drain the batteries and then charge them fully. I normally do that anyway, which might explain why I’ve had the camera for a year and didn’t experience this problem until yesterday.

FWIW, the D700 seems to be least affected by the false low battery warning, based solely on the shortage of results I saw on Google.

P.S. What exactly do you mean by “earlier production models"?? I bought my D300 eight months after it was released; I wouldn’t consider that an early model.

I use D300 with all original batteries and MBD10, it was the fearliest version of D300, even with the latest firmware update the problem still exist, i use 17-35mm/2.8 70-200/2.8, and 18-200vr all still showing same problem, with tethered shooting it became even worst, and anyway, does anyone came out with the real SOLUTION to this problem? does nikon do something about this?

Regards
Joe

I have 3 non-Nikon batteries that worked fine on my D200, but when I try to use them in my D90 I get the low battery warning (with a 18-55 VR lens). The 2 Nikon batteries that I have work fine in the D90.

Thank you all for your comments, and sorry to hear about your troubles.

Stephen: earlier production models as in: not running the latest firmware. As said: the 70-200 VR is a usual suspect.

Joe: the 17-35 calls my attention, as it is not VR. The rest are the usual suspects.
Since you have the MB-D10, have you tried it with a EN-EL4(A)?
Anyway: Don’t shoot the messenger ;)

Larry: exactly my point…

I think we can conclude now that the problem resides with the EN-EL3e (genuine or rip-off), combined with the D90, D300 and VR lenses, most noticeably the 70-200 VR.
I’m really curious to see if there are any D200 users with this set-up having the same problems.

THX 4 your contribs.,
Gerard

Leaving aside the issue of lens (which as a scientist I am most curious about in relation to a shorting battery…)

I too use only the Nikon battery, EN-EL3e and I too had a sudden “bad battery", hardly used, with the kit lens for the D300 (and before that the D200), 18-200 VR Nikkor.

I put my “2nd spare” (still in the packaging and fully charged, used once, and then recharged again and put back in the bag) into the D300 the other day, and saw the power reading said full. I took one photo and then the meter said there was no charge, and I couldn’t do anything but look at the dead battery icon. Charged it, or tried to. At first the charger only worked a minute and then indicated the battery was fully charged. Again, into the camera and a charged reading, then a discharged behavior. Tried a “forced charge", leaving it in for a few hours despite no blinking, same result. Cleaned the contacts, repeated, same result but now the camera wouldn’t even power up.

Called Nikon, yes it sounds like a bad battery, no our batteries are not waranteed.

I dunno, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, something’s fishy (sorry to mix metaphors) with this battery!

Dr. Mike:

I agree that the relation between lenses and a “SHORTING” battery would be curious.
Point is: this is apparently not a shorting issue, but a software (compatibility) problem between the camera, intelligent battery management and - possibly - VR.
You might want to try discharging the battery completely - as suggested in a previous comment - since it appears you have been charging repeatedly without discharging. Nikon suggest this might help solving the problem.
Although Li-Ion supposedly does not have the same memory problems associated with the early Nikon Ni-MH’s, I still keep on very much the same regime and my EN-EL3e is still in perfect conditions after 3 years and some 15.000 takes.

Gerard

I am having the same issue with my D3. I have two real Nikon batteries. So far I have only seen this happen with my Nikon 70-200 VR.

Yesterday 10-25-09, on my first outing with my new camera I experience the same thing. I have a brand new nikon d90 & mb-d80 pack with 2 nikon en-el3e freshly charged batteries. I had a Sigma 100-300 f4 lens mounted. I had shot about 65 pictures when the low battery warning light came on and the shutter would not release. I put it away thinking that that was some crummy battery life & finished the shoot with my fuji S2. When I got home 45 minutes later I turned the camera on to look at the battery meters. It showed 79% on one side and 98% on the other. I test fired the camera and all was fine. Seems the camera reset after 45 minutes on its own (not a solution but an observation).

Thank you Bruce, for your contribution.
Did this happen after continuous shooting, i.e. did the batteries get hot or anything?

Negative. I was not shooting continuous, high speed frames. I can not tell you if the batteries were warm as I didn’t think to check. Knowing how other electronic chip controlled devices sometimes lock up, I suspect that opening and removing the batteries for a few seconds would have solved the problem. I have taken the camera out on two more shoots since then including a soccer game where I was blasting 4fps @3200iso… (but with a different lens). I did not have any battery warning issues. If I do encounter the problem again, my first response will be to pull the batteries to effectively reset the electrical. I will post back any future observations.

Thanks, Bruce.
I’d appreciate you posting back, if something crops up. It may be of help to other visitors.

I had this happen to me for the first time on Friday, D80 w/Nikon battery and a Sigma 24-70 HSM (new in September). I was taking school photos outdoors for an hour when I needed to change batteries. Next one showed drained (also Nikon). I thought maybe I forgot to charge. Put in a non Nikon, still no luck. Sat night happened again, just a couple of frames w/the 70-200 f2.8 on it, I knew all batteries were fully charged. Yesterday had a horrible photo session w/friends w/the 70-200. We cleaned battery contacts, then I googled the problem and saw the lens issue. We also reset the camera. Once I took lens off and cleaned contacts, it worked the rest of the evening (though that was only about 10 more frames).

I bought my D80 used in Jan and have never updated the firmware…might just go do that now!

I do use genuine EN-EL3e batteries in my D300. Recently my pair of batteries had sudden death. Simply they showed discharged; while trying to recharge they were not getting charged; no blinking in the charger. In the field my companion had a spare battery which saved the day.
I was regularly using 70-200 VR in the trip.
After a systematic search and cleaning, I can only come to a conclusion that my my overcharging- that is leaving the battery in the charger for a few more hours after full charging due to my absence in home to remove battery off the charger, may be cause !
I do have problem with 70-200VR - suddenly the auto focus function stops; switch off and on the camera, it works. Some bugs are to be cleaned from the software, I hope. I do update regularly !

Hi Gerard, I was hoping for a quick & easy answer to a problem I’m having with my new D90.
My Husband bought me my 1st DSLR camera, the Nikon D90 with a Sigma DC 18-200 from the Hong Kong airport(we live in Australia). On day 1 I read through part of the manal & experimented with some of the functions & everything seemed fine, although after 3 hours & maybe 50 images the battery sign flashed. On day 2, after charging the battery over night the LCD displayed the battery as very low when I turned the camera on….on inspection the camera seems to function ok when the lens is switched to manual, with all of the functions working. But when I switch to AF on the lens & turn the camera on the low battery sign flashes & the camera doesn’t work. Any advice for me??? The battery is a EN-EL3e & bought from the same supplier as the camera & lens(All genuine). I’ve tried turning the camera on/off, removing the battery & lens but the same problem is occurring. Hope you have an simple explanation. Thanks

Hi Kelly:

Nope, no easy suggestions here, I’m afraid. Except maybe approach your local Nikon rep and see if they honor the international Nikon guarantee.
You did not state if the lens is OS, but if it is, this would be just another confirmation that VR/OS may be (one of) the reason(s) people having this problem. I would be nice if you could confirm this on site.

Regards and good luck with this nasty little problem,
Gerard

I too am experiencing the low battery warning. Nikon said to return the camera to factory for repair. They sounded as though they have never heard of this problem. Should I include the lens, AF-S 17-55 with body. Does a firmware update help?

I own a Nikon Coolpix S7c, and replaced the battery 2x, the last time with a $30 Nikon battery. The camera still reads: Battery Exhausted. I went to the Nikon website and was told it was a ‘firmware’ issue that had ‘been resolved’. However, their solution is to download the firmware onto your SD card and upload it onto your camera, which you CANNOT do because it doesn’t read the battery. Sent them an email, if I find a solution I will post it.
I don’t think I will buy another Nikon digital camera. I thought they were the best. I think that was in the past. Before you look into lenses and batteries, be aware that there is a firmware issue with the compact digital cameras that gives the same error.

Hi Lisa:

I’m really sorry to hear about your troubles. Have you tried to use the Coolstation AC adapter to power the camera instead?
This might enable you to update firmware, even if the battery is not powering the camera.
Hope this helps.

Gerard