third party batteries

yes, i know, they are not great, and the only single experience i had with them, i ended up buying two new ones from the brand. ( but i had luck, getting them, i had so little hopes in getting a single one that i ordered in two different places, months later both places produced the said battery, so instead of cancelling one of the orders i bought both ). And that was for a 2015 cam ( canon G5X)

I'm now at a dilemma.

I come across with an older cam ( canon S95) i'm liking it so far, but i noticed that i took less than 200 shots with it ( nb-6l )

So far, or it's out of stock or it's not even listed in most sites i went ( physical stores).

( just like in the G5X case)

Should i go for a third party one ( Duracell) or should i stay put ?

I've generally been happy with 3rd party batteries. Currently I have several branded PowerExtra that seem to be working well. In the past I've been happy with Watson and Wasabi brands.

And if 3rd party is all you can get, seems like an easy decision to me.

Gato

lomoapontaechuta said:

Should i go for a third party one ( Duracell) or should i stay put ?

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You should do whatever makes you feel good.

ishwanu said:

lomoapontaechuta said:

Should i go for a third party one ( Duracell) or should i stay put ?

Click to expand...

You should do whatever makes you feel good.

Click to expand...

Lithium batteries can cause serious damage to people and property when they fail. "3rd-party" (actually un-certified look-alikes of unknown origin) have a much higher failure rate. So you may be lucky or unlucky with the units you buy. It's a bit of a lottery ticker. Like driving your car without tying your seat-belt, which makes some people feel good. For a while.

That battery (even when new) had about 200 shot life. 3rd party batteries are cheap - when you get one, just weight it - that should set the expectations. The heavier batteries last longer (so compare to OEM you have). Also, there is a chance the new gen batteries (even 3rd party) to last longer than the OEM...at least that what my experience is with Fuji XP70 (tiny) battery. OEM rated 210 shots, real life 150. With 3rd party consistent 220.

Chris Noble said:

ishwanu said:

lomoapontaechuta said:

Should i go for a third party one ( Duracell) or should i stay put ?

Click to expand...

You should do whatever makes you feel good.

Click to expand...

Lithium batteries can cause serious damage to people and property when they fail. "3rd-party" (actually un-certified look-alikes of unknown origin) have a much higher failure rate. So you may be lucky or unlucky with the units you buy. It's a bit of a lottery ticker. Like driving your car without tying your seat-belt, which makes some people feel good. For a while.

Click to expand...

And I would like to see any data supporting such claims. So far, in Australia, out of 1000 Lithium battery related fires last year, none was blamed on '3rd party' batteries or similar. Majority were caused by the disposal of electronic devices with built-in batteries (hey, OEM) dumped in the rubbish (read: phones), some were part of the (related LG) recall and others were due to legitimately sold products just exploding for 'unknown' reasons. Not a word about '3rd party'.

While I can acknowledge that there are 3rd party battery packs and the built in charging controllers may be of dubious quality, the batteries itself are just standard cells. Soft 'bag' cells are more problematic than the hard-shell cells. Any Li-ion cell can cause serious damage and the bigger the battery, the more punch it will give. But scaring someone that 3.7 V 800mAh hard cell will blow the neighborhood is ridiculous .

Higher failure rate is another non-existing data. Where is the statistics listing my Dyson V10 had 2 'OEM' batteries capacity went 80% down within 10 months and the 'battery-mate' one still allows me 30 min of vacuuming on high after 2 years?

Everything you buy today has a high fail rate, OEM or not. Flip of the coin or the lottery ticket, whatever rocks your boat.

lomoapontaechuta said:

I come across with an older cam ( canon S95) i'm liking it so far, but i noticed that i took less than 200 shots with it ( nb-6l )

So far, or it's out of stock or it's not even listed in most sites i went ( physical stores).

( just like in the G5X case)

Should i go for a third party one ( Duracell) or should i stay put ?

Click to expand...

Opportunity to get a handy usb charger + included 2x batteries for your canon s95.

Pretty much any cameras I purchase nowadays, I get usb battery charger and included 3rd party batteries if they are available.

ZorSy said:

Chris Noble said:

ishwanu said:

lomoapontaechuta said:

Should i go for a third party one ( Duracell) or should i stay put ?

Click to expand...

You should do whatever makes you feel good.

Click to expand...

Lithium batteries can cause serious damage to people and property when they fail. "3rd-party" (actually un-certified look-alikes of unknown origin) have a much higher failure rate. So you may be lucky or unlucky with the units you buy. It's a bit of a lottery ticker. Like driving your car without tying your seat-belt, which makes some people feel good. For a while.

Click to expand...

And I would like to see any data supporting such claims.

Click to expand...

Aftermarket Li-ion camera batteries are made by the same untraceable factories as aftermarket Li-ion cell-phone batteries.

https://www.ul.com/insights/safety-concerns-aftermarket-smartphone-lithium-batteries

Thirty-three aftermarket battery brands (totaling over 1,200 battery pack and cell samples) were assessed against key evaluation and test requirements from several regional battery standards. None of the battery brands purchased were safety-certified to the applicable regional standards. Twenty-nine of the 33 (88%) battery brands exhibited failures to such standards.

All of the failed battery brands exhibited fire and explosion events either at pack or cell level.

The main reason I don't use third party batteries is if something goes wrong with them like swelling up in the camera and damages it. The manufacturer has all the right to refuse to fix it under warranty and even if it happens with their batteries you might have a leg to stand on if it is out-of-warranty plus it can be determine it's the batteries fault for the failure.

I'm just a single person, so my statistics are personal. But I've owned dozens of third party batteries. For phones, when that was possible, and for cameras. Of those only one has failed and that may have been because it simply was worn out. It swelled.

Chris Noble said:

ZorSy said:

Chris Noble said:

ishwanu said:

lomoapontaechuta said:

Should i go for a third party one ( Duracell) or should i stay put ?

Click to expand...

You should do whatever makes you feel good.

Click to expand...

Lithium batteries can cause serious damage to people and property when they fail. "3rd-party" (actually un-certified look-alikes of unknown origin) have a much higher failure rate. So you may be lucky or unlucky with the units you buy. It's a bit of a lottery ticker. Like driving your car without tying your seat-belt, which makes some people feel good. For a while.

Click to expand...

And I would like to see any data supporting such claims.

Click to expand...

Aftermarket Li-ion camera batteries are made by the same untraceable factories as aftermarket Li-ion cell-phone batteries.

Click to expand...

my personal solution is to have ZERO trust in OEM or third party.

best to just charge for an hour or two hours and pull them. a factory tech told me a long time ago not to leave batteries on the charger, which he felt were the number one reason for failure.

not wanting to burn my house down, i pull the batteries off the charger whether they be camera batteries or cordless drill batteries.

no batteries are charged while sleeping is the best rule.

another rule i follow is to use Good Third party batteries. Kastar and BM have panned out for me, so i buy them from amazon.

they haven't failed yet, but my Canon OEM battery has failed. i prefer OEM batteries but my experience with them is not consistent. YMMV of course.

seems two people can buy the same battery with two different experiences. but that is Life.

best way to defend against batteries enlarging in camera is to buy cheap used DSLR, so far no problems. if there ever will be a problem, oh well it was a cheap camera anyway.

expensive camera. eh, LOL get the OEM of course.

i like Kastar and BM because amazon always has them; they are cheaper than dirt, the charger is cheap and they work....plenty to like.

however i prefer OEM charger, but some people can't hang onto them when buying a used camera. hmmm are they failing or chargers just walk away some place? meh, still a mystery.

a real solution is to have AA batteries in our cameras, but that isn't gonna happen cause the OEM companies make to much money from the 2nd battery.

Chris Noble said:

https://www.ul.com/insights/safety-concerns-aftermarket-smartphone-lithium-batteries

Thirty-three aftermarket battery brands (totaling over 1,200 battery pack and cell samples) were assessed against key evaluation and test requirements from several regional battery standards. None of the battery brands purchased were safety-certified to the applicable regional standards. Twenty-nine of the 33 (88%) battery brands exhibited failures to such standards.

All of the failed battery brands exhibited fire and explosion events either at pack or cell level.

Click to expand...

Edit, another strategy is to use the third party battery only as a backup; most of the time my shooting is on one battery anyway, so the extra battery remains a non issue and does mostly away with battery fears.

if your the type of person who doesn't care for equipment or drops cameras et al, then stick with OEM. on these forums i frequently recommend a simple wrist strap instead of dropping a 5,000 dollar camera, groan. dropping cameras make for interesting stories of course, and wrist straps do not. oh well.

sorry i don't have a good 'dropping my camera' story to tell you.

From what I have read on this and similar such threads, third party batteries can be a roll of the dice.

My preference, provided they are available, are batteries produced by the camera manufacturer. But, obviously, they may no longer be in production.

A few years ago I was given a Pentax Optio 555. This was Pentax' top tier compact at the time of production. It was/is in pristine condition. It is a beautiful little machine and I wanted to use it, despite it being only 5 mp. This camera has a TIFF setting. The manual said to use this setting if one intended to print, which I did.

The OEM batts would only hold a charge for a very brief time. This was aggravated by the fact that TIFF images take far longer to download than JPEG (thus consuming more energy), and take up far more memory card space. If I was to actually get out and use this camera, I would have to replace the batts. OEM were no longer produced. So the only option was third party.

The only manufacturer of these batts I could find was Wasabi. I ordered one. I was/am so satisfied with that one that I ordered two more. Two batts, one in the camera, one as backup, as well as two memory cards (max capacity 2 gb and TIFF files take up a lot of memory space) have suited me extremely well for a casual afternoon outing (such as a car show).

I am amazed at the image quality this camera gives me using the TIFF setting. The disadvantages of TIFF are more than offset by the print quality I get.

About a year ago I was given another camera, whose OEM batteries were similarly exhausted. OEM are no longer being made. Having had a positive experience with Wasabi, that is who I went with. I am just as satisfied this time around.

There are probably other third party batt manufacturers that would deliver the same quality level as Wasabi, but having had positive experience with them, I stuck with Wasabi..

About batts in general:

I never store a battery in a camera that I am not currently using.

When I charge a battery, it is on my desk right in front of me. so I can monitor it. As soon as the batt is charged it comes out of the charger.

Batts are stored in two cordura pouches used only for that purpose. There is nothing to cause contact between.

I have never had a batt heat up or swell, either in the camera or in the charger. If that were to happen, I would immediately take it out of rotation and properly dispose of it.

So far, so good.

Through a few unfortunate events I ended up losing all of my first party batteries and at the time was having difficulty finding OEM replacements at any of my trusted retailers so I ordered a few third party batteries LP-E6NH and LP-E17from Neewer and have been using them for over two years now and they are doing well enough that I never bothered to go back and replace them with OEM batteries. I did have two of the LP-E6NH batteries fail immediately but they were replaced without too much fuss. I’d give the third party batteries a chance.

I do make an effort to take decent care of my batteries. For example, I only charge them if I’m physically present at the location where they are being charged, I try to only charge them when the temperature isn’t too high (in an air conditioned room), I don’t store them in the camera or on the charger. In fact I try to make sure that I take them off the charger as soon as the charge cycle is complete. I try to never leave them in a hot car for any longer than necessary. Finally I try to rotate the batteries so they never completely drain (no battery is sitting in the bag for months unused).

--
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Never had an issue with a third-party battery in 10 years on various systems.

I've primarily used powerextra and Wasabi but even some of the Lesser well-known brands that I've had to use for some of my Oddball cameras like an xz1, I've never had an issue with whatever brand it was. I still have my original battery for my s95 and it gets about 225 shots per charge. I've never yet needed a third party battery for that camera...

Never had a problem with third party batteries.

Had 6 for a Fuji x100t and they were as good as the Fuji battery.

Had 3 for a canon 5dii and they were as good as the canon battery at a quarter of the price.

I now have a canon r8 and 3rd party batteries don't work with it anymore, not fully anyway so I have to pay full price. Also canon battery won't charge in 3rd party chargers. It's a sneaky and low move on canons part.

If I could od have 3 3rd party batteries for the R8 too.

I have been using 3rd party batteries of various types in various cameras for over 20 years. I cannot tell any difference in performance for 3rd party or OEM batteries. I have had 2 batteries fail. Both were Canon OEM batteries.

Gato Amarillo said:

I've generally been happy with 3rd party batteries. Currently I have several branded PowerExtra that seem to be working well. In the past I've been happy with Watson and Wasabi brands.

And if 3rd party is all you can get, seems like an easy decision to me.

Gato

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OEM are sometimes hard to get, but I've done ok with B&M and a couple of others. Even if they produce fewer shots, I like to carry several charged batteries each time I go out.

The only issue I have with 3rd party batteries is that you never know when they are going to run out of power. The power gauge is unreliable in the camera because it isn't an OEM battery. Keep a couple of spares on hand.

Chris Noble said:

ZorSy said:

Chris Noble said:

ishwanu said:

lomoapontaechuta said:

Should i go for a third party one ( Duracell) or should i stay put ?

Click to expand...

You should do whatever makes you feel good.

Click to expand...

Lithium batteries can cause serious damage to people and property when they fail. "3rd-party" (actually un-certified look-alikes of unknown origin) have a much higher failure rate. So you may be lucky or unlucky with the units you buy. It's a bit of a lottery ticker. Like driving your car without tying your seat-belt, which makes some people feel good. For a while.

Click to expand...

And I would like to see any data supporting such claims.

Click to expand...

Aftermarket Li-ion camera batteries are made by the same untraceable factories as aftermarket Li-ion cell-phone batteries.

https://www.ul.com/insights/safety-concerns-aftermarket-smartphone-lithium-batteries

Thirty-three aftermarket battery brands (totaling over 1,200 battery pack and cell samples) were assessed against key evaluation and test requirements from several regional battery standards. None of the battery brands purchased were safety-certified to the applicable regional standards. Twenty-nine of the 33 (88%) battery brands exhibited failures to such standards.

All of the failed battery brands exhibited fire and explosion events either at pack or cell level.

Click to expand...

Sorry, but this purposeless 'white paper' is not worth the paper it's published on. What does it 'prove': it does not list (what I highlighted above) the actual 'brands', does not provide even photos with details supporting the claim they actually run any testing (the two lame photos could be Samsung Note 7 batteries? To serve the broader public, they would have to publish the actual 'brands' or the MFG codes along with testing data - but no, that would be a legally risky.

Such 'white reports' are usually commissioned by one or group of interested parties. They supply 'target' samples' to the lab (of some sort, like authority in Aus that would be NATA or CSIRO), they do required testing and compare to standards. Target samples are called A, B, C or #1, #2, #3...#33. The finding of the lab are independent and unbiased and provide valuable data to the interested parties - yet the report is meaningless to the public. It only public service is to eventually raise the awareness of risks with the technology in general and that, in capitalism the profit may come before the safety concerns (something new, right?).

I (member of the public) would really like the technical data for ALL manufacturers as blindly tested AND then the report to list the product BRANDS which use what battery manufacturer - THAT would be entertaining !

At that is the case here, proves not much but: children, do not short circuit battery cells, do not punch them with the scissors, do not put in the oven or microwave and certainly do not plug into the mains power - THEY WILL EXPLODE.

Thank you all.

To be honest, i never gave much thought about second batteries, i always shoot with one battery and once it was done, it was time to go home.

But now, as i ( and others) go further into the "void", finding parts and accessories for our gear it's becoming harder and harder.

I don't know the brands you are recommending ( it's good to know ), but now i'm contemplating options to the original brand material, i would like to keep my cams running

I was expecting more a one sided discussion than it has been, regardless of all things considered by you all, the truth is...

effectually there will be no other choice but...if any remains.