BebuLamar

The OP may or may not have a fake battery. In order to consider the battery as fake it must be labeled Nikon brand on it. If it has other brands it's not fake just third party battery.

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

This article may be helpful: https://petapixel.com/2019/05/24/how-to-tell-if-your-nikon-battery-is-fake/

picsman Loc: Scotland

Thank you, I did find this article when I was trying to establish the authenticity of the battery.

MDI Mainer

And this works because enough customers fall for the "Only trust the camera brand" mantra.

Any battery, even an OEM battery, can fail -- just ask Samsung! That's why there are shipping restrictions that apply to all batteries in a given class, regardless of manufacturer.

There are first rate after market batteries available at substantial savings over camera brand batteries.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

That is a great resource- it is extremely well detailed and probably addresses all cases internationally - I did not know about it. Here is the link:

https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/na/NSG_article?articleNo=000025797&configured=1&lang=en_SG

Here's one for Canon camera users" It mentions possible damage to various power accessories- It's a good read!

https://www.canon.ca/en/Contact-Support/Counterfeit-Products/

Of course, manufacturers want to encourage folks to use their OEM products but it is best to research these issues BEFORE you buy batteries, especially if you suspect counterfeiting. I believe in economizing on supplies as much as the next guy but I don't mind spending the few extra bucks on accessories that won't damage my gear or cause it to fail or malfunction. I've seen some pretty nasty damages to the battery compartments of cameras, power-grips, and flash gear due to bad or neglected batteries- accompanied by an equally nasty repair bill to add insult to injury.

Use to be simple, there were a few kids of disposable batteries, dry cells, wet-cells, lead-acid and gel-cells and good old Nickle Candeum batteries. Now it's called the "energy storage" industry. There are many kinds of newfangled sophisticated batteries, each with the own charging protocols. If you buy good batteries and maintain them properly, you can maximize their performance and longevity.

Seem everything in my studio and office now requires batteries. It's difficult to find a pencil sharpener, vacuum cleaner, or power tool that just has a crank or just plugs into the electrical outlets in the wall. Even the computer, modums and land-line phone require backup batteries- let alone the speedlights, strobes, cameras, radio-triggers, the burglar alarm and emergency lights in the hallway. I'm old but it's a good thing I don't need a pacemaker or a hearing aid YET! I have to remember to plug in to charge up just about everything in the shop and at home- and lest not forget my cellphone. The only thing I don't need to recharge is ME!

I kid y'all not. Attached are a few images of my battery bucket. We empty it, for recycling, every 3 months. This is the average load of spent dry cells and rechargeables that have seen better days. I check the voltage under load and test the various chargers to make sure they are charging at the proper rate and switching to trickle-charge when the cells are fully charged.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

If it looks like a duck, acts like a duck, walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, guess what, it's a duck.
OEM batteries are very very rarely discounted.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Fake products are a real problem. Watching Linus Tech Tips, I saw how thoroughly fakers modify their fakes. He showed us a fake AMD processor that came packaged just like any other AMD processor, and it looked identical, even to the laser printing on the CPU. When he removed the top of the CPU, he saw a very old $20 chip underneath. Someone had removed the top from a good processor and placed it on this oldie.

A big problem with these fakes is that retailers are fooled just as much as their customers are. When a company received a shipment of electronics, they are not going to examine each item in enough detail to detect fakes.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Thanks for those links.

I can't remember the last time I bought a disposable battery. The only "real" batteries I have are the ones that came with remote controls and other electronics. I have dozens of rechargeables, and I use them in everything.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

On a related note, I notice you include a pic of your battery tester. I always test batteries when they fail in any multi-battery tool. Often only one battery fails, the others are good. I once had a pair of salt/pepper shakers that had like 9 aaa batteries each. After a couple of months of limited use, one failed, and when I checked, it had one bad battery. More recently I had a flashlight that took 6 AAA batteries and when it failed, I checked and it had one bad battery.

For some reason, probably quality control issues, batteries often are defective, the same battery from the same company, but one out of X will not be up to par, so it can be worth it to check them before tossing. My guess is that that X number is higher for expensive batteries, and lower for the cheap ones, and the difference is probably among other things, how quality control is implemented on them, not just on the content of the actual product.

aphelps Loc: Central Ohio

One additional (and very important) function of the circuit board is to manage the charge/discharge cycle for each cell.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

That is difficult to assess without seeing the product. However, here's my take on aftermarket batteries. If one is using an aftermarket battery because they want to save a few bucks, there could be a problem. What problem? Let's just say that something happens and the battery causes damage to the camera. Nikon will probably charge a fortune to repair it. Perhaps more than one saved on the cheap battery. I'd prefer to stick to Nikon products for that simple reason.
--Bob

Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore

Once again I see people with thousands of dollars in camera equiptment and trying to save $30.00 on a battery.
I was going to shoot the great American eclipse in 2017 and had after market batteries in addition to my canon and knew I would need a battery change at some point during eclipse due to the length of the eclipse. My camera was set up on my telescope and aligned for tracking the sun so I had to change the battery blind. Well on my practice runs I notice the aftermarket battery was a little bigger and removing it was difficult. I then bought Canon battery and problem solved. If the situation was different I would flip camera over and pulled it out. The fact I had to remove the battery without moving the camera was the tough part.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

You are welcome! At the studio, I have a couple of dozen battery chargers. I only use 2 small Speedlights- all the rest of our battery-operated flash head are 2- piece unts with separate power packs and lampheads made by Lumadyne, Q-Flash and Norman. These units use a variety of Nickel Cadmium, Sealed Lead-Acid and, Lithium-Ion cells. I have lots of battery maintince to look after. We do lots of multiple flash works and use many radio triggers. On someof these smaller devices, I prefer to use ordinary disposable batteries. Coppertops and Energizers are 100% reliable and I never experienced a failure. After a long job, I just change up the batteries for fresh ones and use the old ones at home for TV remotes, flashlights and other small appliances.

Even the heavy-duty 12 Volt rechargeable batteries do not last indefinitely and end up in the recycling bucket. I test the voltage and charging rates and stick to the recommended protocols so that they last a bit longer but the recycling times begin to lag or they no longer hold a charge for an adequate length of time, they are tasken out of service.

As for camera batteries, I simply use OEM replacements. They may cost a few bucks more but frankly, I have no time to mess around, shop around or take chances. The ones I use have never unexpectedly failed during an assignment or were too large and were difficult to insert or remove.

Business-wise- batteries are supplies, not capital investments. They are either included in materials costs in our billing or written off as expenses.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

It is not a recommended procedure to use batteries with different levels of charge or different levels of discharge at the same time in the same unit.

I buy my disposable batteries for a dealer that specializes in batteries. He buys from reliable sources and all of these products are name-brands and authentic. I do test them before use but I have never received a defective Coppertop or Energizer.

Many photo/electronic devices use much more energy than most household gadgets and TV remotes.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

I always buy batteries from B&H or Adorama. I have bought OEM and 3rd party batteries and all the batteries have worked just fine. Buying from a dealer that stands behind their products is important.

It is not so much what a battery looks like outside but rather contents of the interior? Have quality components been used? Unfortunately without sacrificing you can't tell.