Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

If the battery fits...

Jul 3, 2011 12:01PM PDT

I just purchased a Nikon S9100. The battery is an EN-EL12. The old camera was a Canon. Can I use the old Canon battery charger, CB-2LX, th charge the new battery? Can I use the old Canon NB-5L in the new camera? The dimensions of the batteries are identical.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Tell a little more.
Jul 4, 2011 5:10AM PDT

For both old and new battery.

1. Battery technology. LiON, LiPO, NiMh, Nicad.
2. Volts.
3. Capacity.
4. Electical contacts the same?

- Collapse -
Answer
For Emergency Use - Otherwise, It's Not Worth Voiding
Jul 8, 2011 8:04PM PDT

As Bob indicates above, if you are comfortable with your understanding of electricity, you could do a spec comparison and try to establish if the electrical properties of your new battery are the same as your old one, and that the new one is compatible with your new charger.

I have done this spec comparison for things like power supplies for laptops or chargers for other electronics before.

That being said, I typically do this when I have gone on travel and have forgotten a charger that I needed. I charge the mis-matched device once just to do whatever I need to do and then if the battery runs out again, I just leave it.

My personal feeling is that it is not worth voiding the warranty, especially on a brand new device, to start running it against a different charger. Of course, that is assuming an honest consumer, who will admit that they were using a different charger and battery.

Again, the last thing I would do with a $250 camera I just bought is immediately start pairing it up with equipment that the instructions and warning label specifically say not to use with it. I would think that you received a wall charger for the battery that came with it. A spare battery for this camera from Nikon is $38 direct from Nikon, and I found other deals online for as low as $35 for two battery packs.

I would certainly follow one of these low-cost routes before I hooked the battery up to a charger for a Canon battery, or threw a Canon battery into my Nikon camera.
- Vr/Zeuxidamas..>>