Trip to England - Battery Charger?

[Suzan J]

Hello All: I live in Canada and plan to visit England in the next few months. I have a D3100 with the standard kit battery charger. What sort of adapter would I need for this battery charger? Is there anything I need in addition to an adapter? Is it as simple as using something that allows for the different plugs or do I need something else to "regulate the voltage". Sorry for the silly question, but anything to do with electricity is baffling to me.

[moopy goops]

susan, as a brit I can tell you that you need an UK 3 pin plug adapter, In the Uk our sockets have 3 'holes', shaped in a triangle, our electricity is 240 Volts. A standard Uk adapter sold from your country (Canada) will allow you to access British power ! However I do not know what the power supply in Canada is. At a guess, I'd say it was similar to the US ?
That being so, you might need to get something else to change the voltage, or indeed it might be easier to buy a UK charger when you get here, Though you will need to get stuff for mobile phones, laptops, hard drives, etc etc perhaps just one transormer, if needed, would suit all you needs ?
Not very conclusive. . . .sorry

[xpatUSA]

Hello All: I live in Canada and plan to visit England in the next few months. I have a D3100 with the standard kit battery charger. What sort of adapter would I need for this battery charger? Is there anything I need in addition to an adapter? Is it as simple as using something that allows for the different plugs or do I need something else to "regulate the voltage". Sorry for the silly question, but anything to do with electricity is baffling to me.

First look on the charger body and it should say the range of voltages that the charger can take. Most chargers these days are "universal" and it should say something like "100-250 VAC". If not sure, have fun with a close-up shot and post us the picture.

England's voltage is a nominal 240V sometimes written as 230V. You will need to get an adapter so that you can plug into their big, ugly 13A-rated sockets which are always three-pin with a built-in changeable fuse.

How do I know all this? hmmmm . . . xpat now lives in USA . . . .

[xpatUSA]

That being so, you might need to get something else to change the voltage
. . . .
Not very conclusive. . . .sorry

Mat posted while I was still typing. If your camera charger is all you want to use, you probably will not need to change the voltage and therefore not need to buy a transformer.

[jcuknz]

I suggest the answer to the voltage difference is on the back of your charger ... most likely it will state that it is suitable to run on either 115-120v 60 cycle and 230-240 50 cycle current... if you find that info on the charger all you need will be the plug adaptor. My chargers work[ed] AOK for me in NZ, Canada, The States, and the UK with the appropriate plug adaptor But since they are not Canikon you need to look at your charger.

EDIT ... LOL seems everybody is answering you Second time the question asked in couple of days.

[tclune]

You've gotten good advice so far. Let me just mention that I have used Brookstone's universal transformer kit http://www.brookstone.com/7-Piece-Co...ters|L1_Travel for years. My wife burned up one of them by plugging in her hair dryer while I had it on the "low power" setting for recharging my camera. But, if you pay attention to that, the transformer is very relaible in my experience. If you only need adapters (if your charger can handle both 120 and 240 V input), Brookstone has a nice universal adapter kit http://www.brookstone.com/6-Piece-Ad...ters|L1_Travel FWIW

[Suzan J]

Thanks a heap for the answers! (I should have searched the threads before posting - duh) I just checked the back of the charger and it says:

Input~100-240V 50-60Hz max 0.2A

I would assume then, as you all have indicated, that I need only the adapter (for the holes) and not a "transformer". I sure hope Dorset county is as pretty in real life as in the photos I've seen!

[Polar01]

Susan: go to Canadian Tire, CAA store, or Business Depoite and ask for a adapator for your plug to be able to plug into British outlet. Suggest you buy to or three not very expensive in case you lose them.

Cheers:

Allan

[rpcrowe]

Most camera battery chargers work on either the nominal 110-115V or the U.K./rest of the world 220/240V. I know that my Canon chargers work on this current. I have used them in China with European adapters and in Hong Kong where the U.K. adapter was needed.

The adapters are cheap enough and are available just about anywhere, including Amazon.com and eBay.

All of the hotels I stayed at had adapters for loan at the front desk but, you cannot count on that, Additionally the hotels at which I stayed all had a standard 110/115V receptacle for USA style plugs in the bathroom for shavers. That could be used to charge the camera battery in a pinch but, it is better to have your own adapter.

I have a small and very handy surge protector with three outlets that I also carry on my trips. That way I can use a single USA to European or UK receptacle but have the capability to plug in three USA style plugs.

This is quite handy since I always shoot with two cameras and will carry two different chargers (one for battery for my 7D and one for the 40D battery) I can also plug in my small notebook computer to this three outlet surge protector. The notebook can also work on either the 110/115V or the 220/240V curent. The surge protector was quite inexpensive and is also quite light in weight. It is really handy.

BTW: My workflow when on trips is to download my RAW files using the notebook computer. I have PSE-10 on that computer which has ACR-6 to convert files but, since I now have Photoshop CS6, I will load it on my notebook as the second computer allowed by Adobe. I don't do any editing but, will make a quick check of the images for any camera malfunction...

I will then copy the files to a pair of small physical size but rather large capacity external hard drives. I carry one of these drives and my wife carries the other when flying. That way my images are safeguarded. I will then recharge the batteries I have used for shoting on that day so I will have a fresh start in the morning.

When I traveled in China, I used a 30D and a 40D camera which both utilize BP511 batteries. I still carried a pair of chargers since I often got back to the hotel late in the evening and needed to recharge several batteries. It was easier to use a pair of chargers rather than wait for one charger to charge several batteries. Several nights when I was dead tired from 12 hours + of shooting and traveling; I was thankful that I had brought a pair of chargers. Additionally chargers are cheap and lightweight and, IMO, it is well worth having a backup in case one charger went doen of in case I forgot one when moving from hotel to hotel in different cities.

[davidedric]

Hi Suzan

I think you have the answer to the adapter question, but much more important - where do you plan to visit here? There is so much choice of landscape and history in these islands PLEASE don't get fixated on London.

Dave

[jcuknz]

thanks a heap for the answers! (i should have searched the threads before posting - duh) i just checked the back of the charger and it says:

Input~100-240v 50-60hz max 0.2a

i would assume then, as you all have indicated, that i need only the adapter (for the holes) and not a "transformer". I sure hope dorset county is as pretty in real life as in the photos i've seen!

yes

[Manfred M]

All of my Nikon battery chargers are the Universal type that handle input voltages from 100V - 240V. Pretty well any battery operated device (cameras, laptops, cell phones) uses these universal chargers, so all you have to do is get the adaptor that others have described. I picked mine up at the local luggage store for a few dollars each; I think I throw three of four of these in my bags before heading off to the UK.

If you can't find them around town, they do sell them at the Canadian international airports as well. I've certainly seen them at Pearson Airport (I suspect that this is where your UK bound flight will be leaving Canada from).

[xpatUSA]

Hi Suzan

I think you have the answer to the adapter question, but much more important - where do you plan to visit here?

Dave

I think she said Dorset, or Darrset as the locals say ;-)

[Suzan J]

I definitely have all the answers now to my "electrical challenge". Thanks again to all you veteran travellers for the invaluable tips.

To David... (A little off topic) We are definitely not fixating on London. This is my first trip overseas and the point of it all is to visit my husband's ancestral home. His dad came to Canada as a British Home Child in 1914. (My husband is only 59 years old as his dad was 54 when he was born.) We only found out about his past a year ago and had no idea where he came from. We will visit his old stomping grounds in Highgate, but in sharp contrast, we will also be in Dorset at a place called Turner's Puddle. (population - 61)

[rpcrowe]

Hi Susan...

You wrote, "We only found out about his past a year ago and had no idea where he came from." Genealogy is a very exciting hobby, I have been thrilled with my success in tracing my ancestors...

Do you use www.ancestry.com for family research? It is a pay site but, I have found it well worh the price...

The LDS (Mormon) Church has a free site for genealogy research. www.familysearch.org Unfortunately, non-Mormons do not have as full access as do Mormons...

Depending on how unique or commonplace the ancestor's name is, I also use Copernic as a free search engine: http://www.copernic.com/en/products/agent/download.html

Each LDS church has a family history center which assists both Mormons and non-Mormons in genealogical research. My local LDS church has a computer bank wit free use of many internet genealogical programs including Ancestry.com.

The LDS Family History Libray in Salt Lake City has a great amount of information available on microfilm and microfiche. My local Family History enter hlso has a machine so that I can convert the microfiche images onto a thumb drive.

Here are some more genealogy sites...
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-...ind-ancestors/

[HMW12]

A word of caution Suzan - not wrt to camera chargers but rather curling irons/flat irons . Was in New Zealand last year and brought along my flat iron and voltage transformer - on the low setting the iron would barely heat bit on the high setting the thermostat on it did not seem to work properly so it got way too hot. The result - a couple of chunks of burnt frazzled hair.

[davidedric]

we will also be in Dorset

And a most beautiful county it is, though it's a long way from my home places. Enjoy.

Dave

[Donald]

on the low setting the iron would barely heat bit on the high setting the thermostat on it did not seem to work properly so it got way too hot. The result - a couple of chunks of burnt frazzled hair.

I just wish I had enough hair left to frazzle!

[thequacksoflife]

I just wish I had enough hair left to frazzle!

mine is turning grey at an alarming rate.

Susan in Dorset some of my favourite places are .....

Kingston Lacy
Abbotsbury - Swannery and Subtropical garden
Brownsea Island - Red Squirrels guaranteed!

[Suzan J]

Thanks for the links to "favourite places in Dorset". This is exactly what I'm looking for in a vacation. It looks lovely and we will be sure to visit these places.