EN-EL12 Rechargeable Battery

I always use a compatible Wall Charger unit, and a USB card reader, two addition products that are necessary, in my opinion, accessories for ANY camera I buy.

In this case a EN-EL12 Charger, wall-unit. and a USB micro-SD memory card reader are my two best friends. I can charge batteries without the camera, and even view/transfer pictures easily without the camera turned on.

Many people waste their camera´s battery lives viewing, printing, and transferring pictures while their camera is attached to the computer -- any loss there is because of the simple lack of a USB memeory card reader for their computer. The drain on your battery is very bad, but is avoidable.

Additional cost of accessories outside the relm of what comes in the box with the camera should be taken into account for each total purchase, when deciding, and 20% of the cameras cost is typical for needed accessory cost.

My rating is ONLY for the battery. I rate the S8000 camera 5 stars.
Nikon S8000 camera purchased September 2010. Bought extra generic battery with camera and got about 5,000 pictures and short videos. Charged batteries at night and I loved the camera. After 14 months the original battery is unusable - will not power on the camera long enough to take even one picture. Generic battery also fully depleted. Bought two new generics and they are dead after one month. The EN-EL12 battery must have a design flaw. There also needs to be a battery life indicator (either percent of estimated shots) in the camera. Also, a battery health indicator utility would be great. Estimated charge cycles remaining... That way we could replace the battery before we miss pictures on Christmas Day, etc. Great camera but a problem battery. I will try one more Genuine Nikon EN-EL12 and see if the great performance I initially experienced with the camera resumes. If not, then I will buy a different brand. I have a Nikon 35 MM EM model (circa 1980) and have shot five weddings for friends with a traditional 35MM SLR. Portable digital is nice and no developing costs, but without great batteries, you are not going to get the pictures you wanted.

I have had to charge a battery daily because it would drain after only one day and then I´d have to make sure my backup battery was also charged. So many times I´ve been frustrated because the Coolpix S6000 would not power on. I had to resort to buying another camera brand and have not had the same problem as with the Nikon.

The case for the S6000 holds the camera...what about an extra battery or the charger. Oh wait, the batter has to be charged in the camera so you cannot take pictures why charging the battery. So for another ~$100 I can get an external charger, an additional battery, a bigger case to hold all of this. Wow the price of the S6000 is not looking too good!

Everyone knows the weakest link of a digital camera is the battery...not with Nikon...with Nikon it is the battery, the charger, the case and now the price!

I had my camera for 2 weeks and took it to my daughter´s graduation and the battery died,
I missed a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am stunned at the short life of the battery and no prewarning that it is about to die, now I am forced to buy a charger and extra battery..
I´m so disapointed in this aspect.

to Nitehike
You have options
1. You can buy a charger and a spare battery
2. You can buy a spare battery, charge it in the camera, and then take it out and you have a charged spare battery

I love the Cool Pix S8100 camera itself, but the battery compatible with it is horrible and makes the whole photography experience bad. Battery wont stay charged and after only 3 months after purchasing my camera with battery in it, I am forced to purchase a new battery so I can even close the lens on my camera. Battery life is worse than if using AAA.

Used in Coolpix 6000.
My EN-EL12 will not hold a charge and there´s no battery low indicator to warn me. As a result I always loose power at the wrong time. Sometimes it dies after only 20 shots, shortly after fully charging. Furthermore, I can´t recharge while using a spare because it has to be charged in the camera. I would love for the designers to tell me what they had in mind with this set-up. And why does the new battery fail to hold a charge?

I´m surprised by the negative review from Florida. I can only assume that his particular EN-EL-12 was flawed, because I´ve mercilessly worked my own EN-EL-12 to what should have been its welcomed death; nevertheless, it ´keeps on tickin´. I´m buying a couple of backups for a long, hot, dry and imminent trip; I almost certainly won´t need them, but I prefer to be cautious.