[Q] DIY Battery holder for nikon F5 -- has anybody done it ?

ts1000 · Feb 15, 2021

Are there DIY attempts to make simple accessories such as battery grips for this camera?

--
Also, it would be exceptional if a company like Nikon, would release 3D printable blueprints of the accessories for their discontinued models.
It would show the commitment for their user base, would increase the value of their currently made gear, would add to their marketing pitch, and would, probably, inspire other manufactures to do the same

ChristopherCoy · Feb 15, 2021

The Nikon F5 has an integrated battery grip.

MartinCrabtree · Feb 15, 2021

Yep it's bulky as it is. Why make it ungainly?

toyoboyo · Feb 15, 2021

Are you possibly referring to a mod for the battery holder to use rechargeable NiMH batteries?

ts1000 · Feb 15, 2021

Not a mod, at least in my case. I just want a battery grip to hold 8 AA batteries that fits into F5.
The MS-30 battery grips I see, are almost same in price as fully functioning Nikon F4... so these prices, let's say', unreasonable.

I just thought MS-30 is a prime candidate for 3D printed + assembled in some fashion.
There are examples of the battery packs (eg for flash lights) at thingverse.com

dennibonito · Aug 10, 2022

Hello, I don’t know if it is what you are looking for but I made this rechargeable battery pack design using Li-Ion cells.

The battery last long and it is rechargeable via 12V. It has a protection for charging and discharging.

Nikon F5 Rechargeable battery

ts1000 · Dec 13, 2022

@dennibonito Thank you! I think this is exactly what I am looking for.
A 3rd printed battery holder, that can take in modern batteries (even if it takes just the AA -- this would work well).
I will try this out! It would be great if you design one for AAs for 8008 and N90s models -- these cameras go for cheap, and often have broken corroded battery holders.

neilt3 · Dec 14, 2022

ts1000 said:
@dennibonito Thank you! I think this is exactly what I am looking for.
A 3rd printed battery holder, that can take in modern batteries (even if it takes just the AA -- this would work well).
I will try this out! It would be great if you design one for AAs for 8008 and N90s models -- these cameras go for cheap, and often have broken corroded battery holders.

AA grips for the F90 and F90X are readily available.
Did the 8008 have an OEM grip ?

reddesert · Dec 14, 2022

The OP's question is confusing because they seem to use "grip" to mean both an attachment you hold (typically goes under the camera), and the caddy that holds batteries.

The F5 has an integrated grip that is part of the body (unlike the F4 where you can switch it out). The F5 uses an MS-30 battery tray to hold AA batteries. An MS-30 should come with the camera. The 3D printed thing designed by dennibonito above would replace the MS-30 with something that holds non-AA rechargeable lithiums and the battery controller PC board.

The F4 can take either the MB-20 (right hand grip) or MB-21 (right hand plus vertical grip, larger), either holds AA batteries.

The N90/N90s uses an MS-8 battery holder for 4 AA batteries. It can also accept an MB-10 vertical grip that replaces the holder and takes 4 AA batteries.

The N8008/N8008s uses an MS-7 battery holder for 4 AAs. There wasn't an official Nikon vertical grip for the N8008. There were some third party grips. I have one that's basically just a piece of plastic with a screw; it doesn't hold any batteries. Some people say they've managed to use an MB-10 (from the N90) with the N8008, but it doesn't fit perfectly.

These days, it would be fairly possible to design a 3D printed grip w/o batteries. Designing a battery holder is more complicated because the shape is complex, and you have to add metal battery contacts that you can't 3D-print.

ts1000 · Dec 15, 2022

@reddesert thank you. Looking at my original question - it was poorly worded, indeed.
I am looking for 3-d printed battery holders that can replace the eaten by leaking alkaline batteries or broken originals.
For Nikon F5, 8008s, N90s and, actually, Canon T90.
These battery holders are now, after 30+ years are often broken.

It would be great to have these replacements available to restore these cameras. And yes, these designs would have to support adding the metal contacts

dennibonito · Dec 15, 2022

ts1000 said:
@dennibonito Thank you! I think this is exactly what I am looking for.
A 3rd printed battery holder, that can take in modern batteries (even if it takes just the AA -- this would work well).
I will try this out! It would be great if you design one for AAs for 8008 and N90s models -- these cameras go for cheap, and often have broken corroded battery holders.

ts1000 said:
@reddesert thank you. Looking at my original question - it was poorly worded, indeed.
I am looking for 3-d printed battery holders that can replace the eaten by leaking alkaline batteries or broken originals.
For Nikon F5, 8008s, N90s and, actually, Canon T90.
These battery holders are now, after 30+ years are often broken.

It would be great to have these replacements available to restore these cameras. And yes, these designs would have to support adding the metal contacts

Hey! glad you like it. My current design is only for li-ion cells. As @reddesert commented it is hard to design them without having the original in first place, specially if you are trying to modernize it with different batteries.

Currently I have an MS-30 battery holder so I could try to make a 3d model from it without the connections. I think you can purchase the springs and pads for it. I will research a way of doing it easily and make a tutorial.

I can't promise it will be soon, but I will post here when is finished. If you help me to test it even better.

ts1000 · Dec 15, 2022

@dennibonito this would be fantastic, thank you!

Swampmagic · Aug 26, 2023

Hey all I don’t know if anybody was still looking for it but I did create a ms-30 I think… (8xAA batteries). I haven’t looked into it for a while but despite never seeing or having a battery compartment I was able to create a working sled from photos.

If anybody wants the file reply and I’ll post it with additional instructions.

Chan Tran · Aug 26, 2023

Wow. The MS-30 is the battery holder and the OP called it a grip. You can't grip the MS-30. The F5 is so cheap now so perhaps selling parts getting you more money than the camera is worth? By the way when the F5 body was selling for $2000 new the MS-30 replacement was selling for $36.

Sharktooth · Aug 26, 2023

It would be way easier to just repair a broken one, than try to build a new one. At least you have something to start with that's designed to fit. Terminal corrosion can be cleaned up, and you can do any sort of kludge to fix a broken electrical trace.

Swampmagic · Aug 26, 2023

Sharktooth said:
It would be way easier to just repair a broken one, than try to build a new one. At least you have something to start with that's designed to fit. Terminal corrosion can be cleaned up, and you can do any sort of kludge to fix a broken electrical trace.

I feel this but as somebody who lives in Australia I have found it extremely hard to come by one, even one which is broken. The only ms-30s which I have found are all around 200 AUD which is just unreasonable.

neilt3 · Aug 26, 2023

Sharktooth said:
It would be way easier to just repair a broken one, than try to build a new one. At least you have something to start with that's designed to fit. Terminal corrosion can be cleaned up, and you can do any sort of kludge to fix a broken electrical trace.

I've seen quite a few F5's being sold off cheap as the battery holder is missing .
If you can replace it at a reasonable price , you could pick up a bargain .
I've no idea why their missing , if it was broke , presumably it would be included in the sale.
Did the F5's have a rechargeable battery pack as an option , where the seller still want's the pack for another camera and have misplaced the standard AA one ?
Could be why you see them going cheap.

I've been tempted to buy , but you never see the batter holders , so I've held off .

Chan Tran · Aug 26, 2023

neilt3 said:
I've seen quite a few F5's being sold off cheap as the battery holder is missing .
If you can replace it at a reasonable price , you could pick up a bargain .
I've no idea why their missing , if it was broke , presumably it would be included in the sale.
Did the F5's have a rechargeable battery pack as an option , where the seller still want's the pack for another camera and have misplaced the standard AA one ?
Could be why you see them going cheap.

I've been tempted to buy , but you never see the batter holders , so I've held off .

The F5 does have the rechargeable pack as option but you must buy the F5 with the AA holder then get a the rechargeable pack (MN-30) and its charger. You need the MN-30 to get to 8fps otherwise it's only 7.5fps. The MS-30 pack is rarer than the MS-30 AA holder. The MN-30 can be recelled so a dead pack is OK too.
I have the dummy battery so that I can use an external power like a 12V car battery.

Christiaan Phleger · Aug 27, 2023

Chan, do you have a suggestion for rebuilding an MN-30 battery pack? Several years ago I found a set of two with charger, they hold enough charge to allow the F5 to function but no more than one or two rolls. I understand they are celled with Ni-MH, any advice would be appreciated.

Chan Tran · Aug 27, 2023

Christiaan Phleger said:
Chan, do you have a suggestion for rebuilding an MN-30 battery pack? Several years ago I found a set of two with charger, they hold enough charge to allow the F5 to function but no more than one or two rolls. I understand they are celled with Ni-MH, any advice would be appreciated.

Open up the pack. I believe it has screws so you can unscrew them (if I am wrong then the biggest problem is to pry open the pack). Then find how many cells are in there and what size of the cells they are. I am sure you can find the new cells on the internet. Solder the new cells and reassemble the pack. New NiMH cells tend to have much higher capacity than the original cells.

spencergilbert21 · Sep 9, 2024

dennibonito said:
Hello, I don’t know if it is what you are looking for but I made this rechargeable battery pack design using Li-Ion cells.

The battery last long and it is rechargeable via 12V. It has a protection for charging and discharging.

Nikon F5 Rechargeable battery

Hi did you ever get this 8-tray design working?

dennibonito · Sep 12, 2024

spencergilbert21 said:
Hi did you ever get this 8-tray design working?

Hi,

Yes, it’s still working since the day I made it. The design isn't perfect, but once it's up and running, it's been very consistent. Occasionally, the contacts shift, so I have to adjust them a bit to maintain a good connection.

Are you having any issues building it? If so, I can help.

Or are you referring to modeling the original 8-battery holder?

doyourhomework · Dec 9, 2024

Not sure how many of you are still looking for a solution, but I recently picked up an untested Nikon F5 that came with an old NiCad pack that was leaking everywhere. I figured it wouldn't be too hard to bodge something together, whether that be re-celling the pack or designing a printed tray for AA batteries. I ended up going down a bit of a design rabbit hole and put together a 3D printed tray that uses a LiPo battery like the ones for RC cars. After a large number of tweaks, I can say that I have a fully functioning battery tray and Nikon F5 with a battery that lasts forever (2200 mah) and is relatively easy to charge. I'll post the file soon on Thingiverse and write up a tutorial for building on a new post here. Also...first dibs on a couple eBay F5's without battery trays for spares

MFstooges · Dec 9, 2024

doyourhomework said:
Not sure how many of you are still looking for a solution, but I recently picked up an untested Nikon F5 that came with an old NiCad pack that was leaking everywhere. I figured it wouldn't be too hard to bodge something together, whether that be re-celling the pack or designing a printed tray for AA batteries. I ended up going down a bit of a design rabbit hole and put together a 3D printed tray that uses a LiPo battery like the ones for RC cars. After a large number of tweaks, I can say that I have a fully functioning battery tray and Nikon F5 with a battery that lasts forever (2200 mah) and is relatively easy to charge. I'll post the file soon on Thingiverse and write up a tutorial for building on a new post here. Also...first dibs on a couple eBay F5's without battery trays for spares

View attachment 385106

I assume you have to have balancing lipoly charger and willing to charge outside of house?

doyourhomework · Dec 9, 2024

MFstooges said:
I assume you have to have balancing lipoly charger and willing to charge outside of house?

Yep, needs a balancing charger, and do you mean outside the housing of the camera? Then, yes.

[Q] DIY Battery holder for nikon F5 -- has anybody done it ?

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