d300, en-el4a and en-el3e batteries and chargers

I've been wondering the same thing and look forward to answers here. Also, can one EN-EL4a be put in the MB-D10 while one EN-EL3a remains in the camera, or do we need to pair two of the EN-EL4a's? (And then what to do with the EN-EL3a that comes in the camera?) To buy 2 Nikon EN-EL4a's and a Nikon charger at B&H would run $340 over the cost of the grip itself. The Impact versions would cut about 25%: will be Impacts work as well as the Nikons? Thanks.

First of all, the one battery that has to remain inside the D300 is an EN-EL3e <- E, not EN-EL3a, which wouldn't fit the D300.

Unless you also have a D3 or D2 family DSLR such that you need EN-EL4(a) batteries and charger anyway, it may be easier just to fit 8 AA batteries into the MB-D10 in order to get 8 frames/sec from the D300. I assume you can always use recharable AA's, which are cheaper and the charger(s) will be easier to carry around. The problem is that a lot of the compact AA chargers can only charge 4 at a time. If you want to charge all 8 simultaneously, you might need 2 chargers.

If you don't need 8 frames/sec, you can simply use a 2nd EN-EL3e inside the MB-D10.

We'll need some real-life experience to verify the pros and cons of the EN-EL4a vs. AA solutions.

I've already bought the en-el4a and charger in anticipation. Yep that means two different chargers.

Think of this however: I believe the nikon literature quotes double the battery life with the d300 vs. d200. I average ~500 shots per battery with the d200. Now consider that an en-el4a has almost three times the watt hours as an en-el3a (11.1 Whr vs. 27.7). You're probably talking several thousand shots per charge with the grip, even if the improved battery life isn't true.