NH5/800 Battery: Compatible Cameras

The NH5/800 is a rechargeable 6-volt battery pack that Hasselblad specified for its motor-driven 500 EL series medium format cameras. The name tells you how it’s built: five nickel cells wired in series (5 × 1.2 V = 6 V) with a nominal capacity of around 800 mAh. The packs supplied from the factory used NiCd button cells; modern replacements and adapters rely on NiMH or five individual AAA cells.

The NH5/800 is the proprietary power source for Hasselblad’s electrically motorized medium format bodies: the Hasselblad 500 EL (launched in 1965; modified versions flew with NASA on the Apollo moon missions), the 500 EL/M (from 1971, with an interchangeable focusing screen) and the 500 ELX (from 1984, with new TTL OTF flash control). The later 553 ELX switched at the factory to a larger compartment for AA cells, but for the older EL bodies the NH5/800 remains the original format. These cameras have no mechanical film advance, so without a working battery you can neither cock the shutter nor advance the film. You’ll find the complete compatibility list, with a search function, at the top of this page.

Hasselblad designed the NH5/800 as a specialty format solely for the EL series. It was never a mass-market product like an AA cell. After 30 to 50 years in storage, the original NiCd packs are worn out almost without exception (self-discharge, memory effect, leaking cells), and Hasselblad itself discontinued production long ago. Original chargers and matching replacement packs now turn up almost exclusively secondhand on eBay, often with the same age-related problems. On top of that, the EU Battery Directive 2006/66/EC made manufacturing new NiCd packs unattractive: cadmium in portable rechargeable batteries has been banned since 2008, and Regulation 2023/1542 closes the last exemptions as well, with the complete phase-out from August 2025.

For a 500 EL series camera, you have several routes today, each with its own strengths and weaknesses:

• AAA NiMH adapter (Ausgeknipst): A holder that wires five standard AAA NiMH rechargeables (1.2 V each) together to give the required 6 V and fits the original battery compartment. The upside: AAA cells are available everywhere, charge in any standard charger, and a single failed cell can be swapped out straight away. Available as the Hasselblad 500 EL battery adapter, either on its own or as a complete kit with 10 AAA rechargeables and a charger.
• Re-celling the original pack yourself: Carefully open the battery housing, remove the old cells and solder in new NiMH or NiCd button cells. A clean solution in theory, fiddly in practice: housings often break, the soldering heat stresses the new cells, and small button cells of the correct height are hard to come by.
• Used original battery plus charger: Works if you're lucky, but many of the packs on offer are already deeply discharged or have leaked. Only worth it if you can return it and have a working original charger (rare and expensive).
• External power via a dummy battery: Rarely available specialist adapters with a cable running to an external battery holder. Flexible when it comes to battery format, but awkward to carry around and practically useless for reportage work.

Important: According to the manufacturer, the common AAA NiMH adapters (e.g. from Small Battery Company) are explicitly approved for charging in the original Hasselblad charger. The slow NiCd charging current is perfectly compatible with NiMH. Even so, please keep an eye out for any unusual heat while charging, and check the camera's 1.6 A fuse before use.