I am a keen amateur photographer, and when I purchase a Nikon D50 SLR camera several years ago, along with the camera body and standard lens, the package came with an EN-EL3 camera battery the MH-18 battery charger, the subject of this review.

As the battery charger was included with the camera, I didn't pay for it individually, although if you were to buy it seperate, it would cost you around £40. This does seem a little steep for a battery charger, but considering I have had mine for years now, and been using it every week, it's proved itself to be good value.

The charger is made from tough black plastic, and looks functional, which it obviously is. The battery to be charged is slid and clicked into place on the charger, which comes with a AC 100-240 V power cable which you plug into the mains electricity to begin charging.

When the battery is charging, a small orange light flashes on and off on the front of the charger, and once fully charged, the light stays on constantly. I have found that this charger is great for giving both long and short charges - I've put it on overnight before (which is too long in honesty) and it's worked well (although it's a very warm by morning!), and I've also used it for quick 10 minute blasts of charge before going out if I'm in a rush. Depending on how flat your battery is, it generally takes no more than 2 hours to fully charge, and usually is much quicker, around 1 hour.

Using the camera for an hour or so everyday means I've had to use this charger a lot over the years, but aside from a few scratches where I've dropped it, I have had no problems with the charger at all. It's been working quickly and simply since the day I first got it, and I've never had any problems with it at all, as it's very durable.

It might sound like an expensive charger, but for over 3 years of regular use, with no problems, in the long run it's excellent, and you get the added reliability of using a Nikon branded product with your Nikon batteries.