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Spare Batteries - manufacturer vs generic?

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deza

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Question: if you are going to buy a spare battery for a DSLR, would you buy an original manufacturer's battery or a cheaper generic. Specifically, I'm looking at a Canon 30D BP-511A battery at between $40-$50 or a generic battery at between $10-$20... Any thoughts?
 
Aftermarket batteries are generally just as good as the orig, but cheaper!

The 1 thing I will say is, if you want some peace of mind, look for batteries where the CELL is "japanese made" but assembled in china.

I work at a retail store and have sold thousands of after market batteries (inca brand) and have yet to have 1 of these batteries back. I also use these batteries exclusivly in my 20D bodies.

Mike
 
hardsuit wrote:
most camera manufactuers will void your warranty if its discovered
that your " replacement" battery is not origional.
an then you have a camera problem.
both canon and nikon are aggessive with this.

I do not heed their warnings.
I regulary use " big brand " replacement battery.
no problems excipt for nikon D200 users. battery varrfication.
just make sure its NOT from a off market maker.
digipower, digital concepts, maha, maxcell, duracell, good battery.
--
' lets see what's out there.....engage'
 
I bought 2 ebay batts and a charger for about $20 inc shipping for my dslr to supplement the one that was included. The cheap batts fight a bit tight but I used a piece of tape to make a pull tab on each batt and they work fine. They have the electronics in them just like the brand name one does and the manufacture isn't ever going to know I used anything but the one they provided with the camera if something goes wrong.

I use the orig manufacture charger at home and take the inexpensive one on the road, both with car charging adapter and ac. Because I have 3 batts I usually swap out the batt long before the camera ever tells me the batt is low.
--
...Dennis
 
Jim Attfield has done a full test on various clones for Olympus DSLR's.

http://t5r.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/e1/clonetests.htm

Some clones are good, some are bad (only hold charge half as long as brand), some are dangerous (They replace the thermistor which detects if the battery is over-heating with a resistor, which will say "I'm cool" even when it's on fire).

If a supplier makes a good battery for Olympus their versions for other cameras are probably also good.
 
Michael Gara said:
Aftermarket batteries are generally just as good as the orig, but
cheaper!
Click to expand...
here's an actual real study I did (li-ions for my digicams):

http://netstuff.org/battery/graphs/

I found that aftermarket was almost NEVER as good as oem. BUT - it was a fraction of the price and ran from between half and about 3/4 of what an OEM would run for.

here's a sample:





first graph is a cheap ebay $5 battery and the 2nd is the OEM from panasonic.

I've found this trend to be true, overall.

--
bryan (pics @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works )
(pics and more @ http://www.netstuff.org ) ~
 
They'll also void your warranty if you used a non-manufacturer flash card. I've never even seen a Canon CF card, but Canon claims you have to use them.

Of course, Canon makes neither CF cards nor batteries...they just brand batteries made by some OEM battery manufacturer.

What is ironic is that some party is actually counterfeiting "Canon" brand batteries, and these have been found to be dangerous to camera and photographer alike. So it may actually be safer to buy batteries that are NOT branded "Canon."

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'
 
hardsuit01 said:
hardsuit wrote:

most camera manufactuers will void your warranty if its discovered
that your " replacement" battery is not origional.
an then you have a camera problem.
both canon and nikon are aggessive with this.
Click to expand...
If true, then perhaps Canon and Nikon should acquaint themselves with the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Act. (For the US.) It stipulates:

"Tie-In Sales" Provisions

Generally, tie-in sales provisions are not allowed. Such a provision would require a purchaser of the warranted product to buy an item or service from a particular company to use with the warranted product in order to be eligible to receive a remedy under the warranty. The following are examples of prohibited tie-in sales provisions.

In order to keep your new Plenum Brand Vacuum Cleaner warranty in effect, you must use genuine Plenum Brand Filter Bags. Failure to have scheduled maintenance performed, at your expense, by the Great American Maintenance Company, Inc., voids this warranty.

(I really wish DPreview allowed us some way of indicating quoted text.)

They can't require you to use OEM accessories. However....

While you cannot use a tie-in sales provision, your warranty need not cover use of replacement parts, repairs, or maintenance that is inappropriate for your product. The following is an example of a permissible provision that excludes coverage of such things.

While necessary maintenance or repairs on your AudioMundo Stereo System can be performed by any company, we recommend that you use only authorized AudioMundo dealers. Improper or incorrectly performed maintenance or repair voids this warranty.

Although tie-in sales provisions generally are not allowed, you can include such a provision in your warranty if you can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FTC that your product will not work properly without a specified item or service. If you believe that this is the case, you should contact the warranty staff of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection for information on how to apply for a waiver of the tie-in sales prohibition.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.htm#Magnuson-Moss

If they want to void a warranty because of using third party batteries, they need to prove this to the FTC before they can void any warranties.

Wayne
 
AlanF said:
Jim Attfield has done a full test on various clones for Olympus
DSLR's.

http://t5r.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/e1/clonetests.htm

Some clones are good, some are bad (only hold charge half as long
as brand), some are dangerous (They replace the thermistor which
detects if the battery is over-heating with a resistor, which will
say "I'm cool" even when it's on fire).

If a supplier makes a good battery for Olympus their versions for
other cameras are probably also good.
Click to expand...
 
I was just thinking of the same law. Actually, there is quite a range of capacities in non-oem brands for batteries. I just saw one that was a 1800mAh battery that had a generic "replacement" advertised at 700mAh. Clearly, the replacement wouldn't last as long, even if the capacity claim were true (and it might not be).

Me? I almost always use non-oem batteries. For half of what I'd spend on an OEM, I can buy 2 aftermarkets and a separate charger. There really isn't that much magic to these things. Heck, for cell phones, you can often find batteries with more than double the OEM battery capacity, though sometimes they require a replacment battery cover.

--
I want a FF Nikon DSLR. And a pony.
 
I have a collection of generic batteries that didn't come with battery backing plates. This make me nervous about taking them with me, because there is nothing to prevent the terminals from contacting something metallic, which would cause a short circuit/battery explosion/fire, etc. At the very least, a dead and probably ruined battery.

Does anybody know where to get battery backing plates for BP-511s?

Wayne
 
Wayne Larmon said:
I have a collection of generic batteries that didn't come with
battery backing plates. This make me nervous about taking them
with me, because there is nothing to prevent the terminals from
contacting something metallic, which would cause a short
circuit/battery explosion/fire, etc. At the very least, a dead and
probably ruined battery.

Does anybody know where to get battery backing plates for BP-511s?
Click to expand...
The grocery store.

Ziplock storage bags. Sandwich sized.

--
bob

The Blind Pig Guild
A photo/travel club looking for members
http://www.jeber.com/Clubs/Blind-Pig/

Flowers of Asia
A photo club for appreciators of Asian flowers - looking for members
http://www.jeber.com/Clubs/Flowers-of--Asia/

Travel Galleries
http://www.pbase.com/bobtrips
 
Go to a store and find the Sucrets throat lozenges in the white plastic case. Buy them and throw away the lozenges. Then peel off the label (it peels off easily in once piece.

The case PERFECTLY fits two BP-511 batteries. Absolutely perfectly. If you ask me, the guy who designed the case sneakily intended it to be used as a case for BP-511 batteries.

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'
 
Wayne Larmon said:
AlanF said:
Jim Attfield has done a full test on various clones for Olympus
DSLR's.

http://t5r.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/e1/clonetests.htm

Some clones are good, some are bad (only hold charge half as long
as brand), some are dangerous (They replace the thermistor which
detects if the battery is over-heating with a resistor, which will
say "I'm cool" even when it's on fire).
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Nobody followed up on this earlier. Jim's test on Sterling-Tek batteries showed that the one he tested had the protection portion of the circuitry disabled (!) so there is nothing to prevent it from bursting into flames if there is some malfunction. Also, the low discharge protection circuit didn't work, which means (as I understand it), run the battery all the way down a single time and it will probably be ruined.

However....I'm not aware of any spate of horror stories about Sterling-Tek (or other cheap generic) batteries. Has this happened to anybody? With any generic battery. Or with any counterfeit (third party battery falsely labeled to be OEM) battery?

I'm wondering how much to worry about my generic batteries. Or if it is reasonably safe to use them, so long a I take care to not short circuit them or run them down to be flat out dead.

Wayne
 
RDKirk said:
Go to a store and find the Sucrets throat lozenges in the white
plastic case. Buy them and throw away the lozenges. Then peel off
the label (it peels off easily in once piece.

The case PERFECTLY fits two BP-511 batteries. Absolutely
perfectly. If you ask me, the guy who designed the case sneakily
intended it to be used as a case for BP-511 batteries.

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'
Click to expand...
 
MrScary said:
--A LOT of Batteries are made by the same companies under different
names..Just like Sweets, Crisps, Butter, TVs, Recievers, Ham Radio,
etc.,
So Don't Discard a No Name or Generic Name as Rubbish..It is
Probably Canon/Nikon/KM under a generic or No Name......OBVIOUS in
It!!.
Click to expand...
Well, Canon doesn't make batteries, so even the Canon brand is made by some manufacturer who is selling them under another name as well.

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'
 
Here in the UK, Olympus, through the Olympus Camera Club sell both Olympus branded and non-Olympus branded batteries (50% of the cost of the branded).

I have purchased both, and my experience is that they perform equally well. Both are manufactured in Japan, and I feel this is an indication that they are probably from the same source.

Keith Pritchett
 
There has been a report (with photos) of counterfeit Canon batteries missing the heat restrictors. These batteries were marked "Canon" but were not issued by Canon.

I've not heard any reports of dangerous 3rd party otherwise-branded batteries for Canon.

Based on this particular issue, it might be safter NOT to buy a battery branded "Canon."

--
RDKirk
'TANSTAAFL: The only unbreakable rule in photography.'
 
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