Nikon being what it is (i.e. costly ), I feel obligated to report on any cost-saving measure that actually are practical. For this system, batteries can be a somewhat steep initial investment. Other than the original OEM versions that came with my cameras, I also bought into some generics for the J1 and the V1.
The J1 can be very hoggish about batt life - mostly because you're powering that rear LCD the whole time, for both viewfinder framing and feedback. When I reviewed the camera for SC, B&H sent us only one batt with the demo unit, and it died just after I got all the neccessary article shots while I was in the field. The charger was at home two hours away. I bought two additional generic EN-EL20s - they came in cardboard boxes with minimal instructions. The J1 does not report on battery status, so it's a fairly straightforward LiON cell that is easily recreated by third-parties. The generics and OEM all last about the same period, so to me, it's indistinguishable. The generics were about half the cost of a real EN-EL20, pretty good savings.
The V1 is a different beast. Because of commonality with the D7000 and the D800, this battery has some reporting capabilities to the camera that feed back condition and relative "recharge life." When I had a D2 series camera, that reporting technology had just entered Nikon's battery family and most of the popular third-party brands really weren't able to easily recreate that. We're now effectively a generation and a half down from that time and the generic makers seem to have a handle on it now. The Power2000 EN-EL15 reports it's status just like the Nikon and lasts comparably. It was about 40% cheaper, which at USD60 for the real deal, is a pretty penny.
The J1 can be very hoggish about batt life - mostly because you're powering that rear LCD the whole time, for both viewfinder framing and feedback. When I reviewed the camera for SC, B&H sent us only one batt with the demo unit, and it died just after I got all the neccessary article shots while I was in the field. The charger was at home two hours away. I bought two additional generic EN-EL20s - they came in cardboard boxes with minimal instructions. The J1 does not report on battery status, so it's a fairly straightforward LiON cell that is easily recreated by third-parties. The generics and OEM all last about the same period, so to me, it's indistinguishable. The generics were about half the cost of a real EN-EL20, pretty good savings.
The V1 is a different beast. Because of commonality with the D7000 and the D800, this battery has some reporting capabilities to the camera that feed back condition and relative "recharge life." When I had a D2 series camera, that reporting technology had just entered Nikon's battery family and most of the popular third-party brands really weren't able to easily recreate that. We're now effectively a generation and a half down from that time and the generic makers seem to have a handle on it now. The Power2000 EN-EL15 reports it's status just like the Nikon and lasts comparably. It was about 40% cheaper, which at USD60 for the real deal, is a pretty penny.