NP-FZ100 from third party.

I'd like to buy a few spare batteries for my A7R3.
I need to save money, so I won't buy native Sony but a third party.
Meanwhile, I'd like to avoid any issues due to low reliability, incompatibility, etc.
I'd appreciate your advice on which battery vendors I may rely on.
Thank you in advance.

I always heard B&H's house brand (Watson) was better than average and somewhat more reliable, but I did have issues with a Watson battery getting temporarily stuck on one of my Olympus bodies... I don't even think it had gotten swollen, I think it just had a badly designed lip around a sticker on one side and it would catch the release.

Sorry that's not much help I guess, I bought a single genuine FZ100 spare when I got my A7R IV and tbh I've never gone thru 2 in a day, but I'm not a pro nor doing much video. Remember that the camera has speedy in-camera charging too, can take advantage of that (with the proper USB-C PD charger) when you're in the car or even when the camera is in your bag during downtime.

Edit: If you do get some third party ones (I've done it) just use common sense, label them so you can cycle thru them evenly, check them often (try spinning them) on a very flat surface to see if they've swelled up, etc. I ordered some Kastar branded ones last year for a Pana P&S (LF1) I wanted to revive for a specific occasion and I was pleasantly surprised with their packaging.

The USB charger was similar to others I've had but each battery arrived in a plastic snap box (not just a caddy) like what many OEM used to do years ago, I'd not seen something like that to protect the battery/contacts in years, it's kinda neat to have it as a bonus. I heard the Viltrox or Smallrig batteries with built in USB-C ports come with that.

I got a couple of Powerextra batteries and charger when I got my A7iv, nearly two years ago. Both batteries are still going strong. Occasionally the camera complains that they are not OEM, but I think that's increasingly common with third party batteries.

Pictures shooter said:

I'd like to buy a few spare batteries for my A7R3.
I need to save money, so I won't buy native Sony but a third party.
Meanwhile, I'd like to avoid any issues due to low reliability, incompatibility, etc.
I'd appreciate your advice on which battery vendors I may rely on.
Thank you in advance.

Click to expand...

You can rely on the Sony battery meeting your requirements.

I have tried various brands for years and none lasted as well as my Sony NP-FW50.

Since going mirrorless I have stuck to Sony FZ100. The a7R3 is still a $1500 camera used. What are you saving in a non-OEM battery?

TomV1 said:

Pictures shooter said:

I'd like to buy a few spare batteries for my A7R3.
I need to save money, so I won't buy native Sony but a third party.
Meanwhile, I'd like to avoid any issues due to low reliability, incompatibility, etc.
I'd appreciate your advice on which battery vendors I may rely on.
Thank you in advance.

Click to expand...

You can rely on the Sony battery meeting your requirements.

I have tried various brands for years and none lasted as well as my Sony NP-FW50.

Since going mirrorless I have stuck to Sony FZ100. The a7R3 is still a $1500 camera used. What are you saving in a non-OEM battery?

Click to expand...

Based on most common considerations, you're certainly right.
Nevertheless, I guess that roughly one-third of Sony camera owners use third-party batteries (usually as a spare second battery) and nothing bad happens...

Whilst it's more of a Canon thing to do - just remember you're only ever a firmware update away from a third party battery not being compatible.

Pictures shooter said:

Nevertheless, I guess that roughly one-third of Sony camera owners use third-party batteries (usually as a spare second battery) and nothing bad happens...

Click to expand...

At least, more like 90%, I'm guessing; especially amongst early A7/A7R owners.
Happy with my Neewer, no issues at all so far; worth it for the USB-C socket alone.
Too handy !

https://www.amazon.com.au/Battery-Replacement-NP-FZ100-Compatible-Rechargeable/dp/B0B9GRHD77

Ron.
Volunteer, what could possibly go wrong ?

Pictures shooter said:

TomV1 said:

Pictures shooter said:

I'd like to buy a few spare batteries for my A7R3.
I need to save money, so I won't buy native Sony but a third party.
Meanwhile, I'd like to avoid any issues due to low reliability, incompatibility, etc.
I'd appreciate your advice on which battery vendors I may rely on.
Thank you in advance.

Click to expand...

You can rely on the Sony battery meeting your requirements.

I have tried various brands for years and none lasted as well as my Sony NP-FW50.

Since going mirrorless I have stuck to Sony FZ100. The a7R3 is still a $1500 camera used. What are you saving in a non-OEM battery?

Click to expand...

Based on most common considerations, you're certainly right.
Nevertheless, I guess that roughly one-third of Sony camera owners use third-party batteries (usually as a spare second battery) and nothing bad happens...

Click to expand...

I long since stopped penny pinching with third party batteries .

I bought my spare NP-FZ100 battery for my a7Riv and a6600 from Warehouse Express ( WEX ) in the UK for not much more than reputable third party ones , £50-£60 or so , but I know they'll last three ir four times longer at least .

After spending a few thousand pounds on a couple of cameras I felt another £20 or so extra on a good quality battery wasn't an issue .

I've never been out with either camera and needed to change battery , so one spare was enough.

I don't shoot video , so that's probably why .

I'd still just pay the extra . If it's £15-£20 batteries your looking at , I wouldn't bother .

But cheap , buy twice . They cost more in the long run .

neilt3 said:

n

I bought my spare NP-FZ100 battery for my a7Riv and a6600 from Warehouse Express ( WEX ) in the UK for not much more than reputable third party ones , £50-£60 or so , but I know they'll last three ir four times longer at least .

Click to expand...

WEX have loads of used Sony FZ100s at <= 3rd party new prices

I got a couple of decent made 3rd parties thrown in with my used A7-III a few days ago, I`ll keep them in the car / in work bags for emergencies but I`ll be actively using the real ones in both my cams as always

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** Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist **

I've been using the Smallrig ones with the usb port on them for charging. So far, no problems whatsoever

I’ve got a SmallRig USB C battery also. It hasn’t had a lot of use yet but the USB rechargeability is certainly useful. There are loads of reviews of them & I haven’t seen anything bad written.

I've been using third party NP-FW50's from various brands with all of my Sony cameras for years without any issue. They hold their charge just al well as OEM Sony versions and so far they've been working flawlessly.

Recently I bought an A7-iii so I needed to get some NP-FZ100's. After looking around a bit I found third party versions from Blumax. They were sold on Amazon, come with a 2 year warranty, are based on cells made by Sanyo and have an info chip built in just like the OEM. There are comparable batteries from brands like Jupio, Patona, Baxxtar and others that are backed by reputable manufacturers and sellers that will in many cases work just as well as the OEM ones but save you quite a bit if you need multiple batteries.

My advice: don't let the horror stories about third party batteries scare you. Just make sure you're dealing with a good brand and a trusted seller that will step up if there are issues.

neilt3 said:

Pictures shooter said:

TomV1 said:

Pictures shooter said:

I'd like to buy a few spare batteries for my A7R3.
I need to save money, so I won't buy native Sony but a third party.
Meanwhile, I'd like to avoid any issues due to low reliability, incompatibility, etc.
I'd appreciate your advice on which battery vendors I may rely on.
Thank you in advance.

Click to expand...

You can rely on the Sony battery meeting your requirements.

I have tried various brands for years and none lasted as well as my Sony NP-FW50.

Since going mirrorless I have stuck to Sony FZ100. The a7R3 is still a $1500 camera used. What are you saving in a non-OEM battery?

Click to expand...

Based on most common considerations, you're certainly right.
Nevertheless, I guess that roughly one-third of Sony camera owners use third-party batteries (usually as a spare second battery) and nothing bad happens...

Click to expand...

I long since stopped penny pinching with third party batteries .

I bought my spare NP-FZ100 battery for my a7Riv and a6600 from Warehouse Express ( WEX ) in the UK for not much more than reputable third party ones , £50-£60 or so , but I know they'll last three ir four times longer at least .

After spending a few thousand pounds on a couple of cameras I felt another £20 or so extra on a good quality battery wasn't an issue .

I've never been out with either camera and needed to change battery , so one spare was enough.

I don't shoot video , so that's probably why .

I'd still just pay the extra . If it's £15-£20 batteries your looking at , I wouldn't bother .

But cheap , buy twice . They cost more in the long run .

Click to expand...

"I know they'll last three ir four times longer at least ." How do you know, if you don't use 3rd party batteries?

My two 3rd party batteries + charger cost about £20 less than a single OEM battery. Usually the 'buy cheap, buy twice' comment is thrown in to justify spending more cash on a thing, but I'm wondering - when do I buy twice?

For my batteries I bought cheap and bought once. They are working fine, have done so for two years, and show no sign of degradation. They give me about 60% - 70% of the OEM shooting time and they get used in rotation with the OEM battery without any problems.

ZoomWithAView said:

neilt3 said:

Pictures shooter said:

TomV1 said:

Pictures shooter said:

I'd like to buy a few spare batteries for my A7R3.
I need to save money, so I won't buy native Sony but a third party.
Meanwhile, I'd like to avoid any issues due to low reliability, incompatibility, etc.
I'd appreciate your advice on which battery vendors I may rely on.
Thank you in advance.

Click to expand...

You can rely on the Sony battery meeting your requirements.

I have tried various brands for years and none lasted as well as my Sony NP-FW50.

Since going mirrorless I have stuck to Sony FZ100. The a7R3 is still a $1500 camera used. What are you saving in a non-OEM battery?

Click to expand...

Based on most common considerations, you're certainly right.
Nevertheless, I guess that roughly one-third of Sony camera owners use third-party batteries (usually as a spare second battery) and nothing bad happens...

Click to expand...

I long since stopped penny pinching with third party batteries .

I bought my spare NP-FZ100 battery for my a7Riv and a6600 from Warehouse Express ( WEX ) in the UK for not much more than reputable third party ones , £50-£60 or so , but I know they'll last three ir four times longer at least .

After spending a few thousand pounds on a couple of cameras I felt another £20 or so extra on a good quality battery wasn't an issue .

I've never been out with either camera and needed to change battery , so one spare was enough.

I don't shoot video , so that's probably why .

I'd still just pay the extra . If it's £15-£20 batteries your looking at , I wouldn't bother .

But cheap , buy twice . They cost more in the long run .

Click to expand...

"I know they'll last three ir four times longer at least ." How do you know, if you don't use 3rd party batteries?

My two 3rd party batteries + charger cost about £20 less than a single OEM battery. Usually the 'buy cheap, buy twice' comment is thrown in to justify spending more cash on a thing, but I'm wondering - when do I buy twice?

For my batteries I bought cheap and bought once. They are working fine, have done so for two years, and show no sign of degradation. They give me about 60% - 70% of the OEM shooting time and they get used in rotation with the OEM battery without any problems.

Click to expand...

Sounds like you're paying for it by battery swapping more often... Not a bad trade-off mind you, but a trade-off nonetheless. I think long term reliability is pretty hard to characterize based off anecdotal evidence or even personal experience (I'd expect any decent battery that isn't used daily to still be in okay condition after 2yrs).

I don't think this has to be polarizing, I think it only gets that way when either side of the argument tries to be absolute... It's gonna go on forever, but it's always good to air both sides of it and let people make their own choice.

ZoomWithAView said:

neilt3 said:

Pictures shooter said:

TomV1 said:

Pictures shooter said:

I'd like to buy a few spare batteries for my A7R3.
I need to save money, so I won't buy native Sony but a third party.
Meanwhile, I'd like to avoid any issues due to low reliability, incompatibility, etc.
I'd appreciate your advice on which battery vendors I may rely on.
Thank you in advance.

Click to expand...

You can rely on the Sony battery meeting your requirements.

I have tried various brands for years and none lasted as well as my Sony NP-FW50.

Since going mirrorless I have stuck to Sony FZ100. The a7R3 is still a $1500 camera used. What are you saving in a non-OEM battery?

Click to expand...

Based on most common considerations, you're certainly right.
Nevertheless, I guess that roughly one-third of Sony camera owners use third-party batteries (usually as a spare second battery) and nothing bad happens...

Click to expand...

I long since stopped penny pinching with third party batteries .

I bought my spare NP-FZ100 battery for my a7Riv and a6600 from Warehouse Express ( WEX ) in the UK for not much more than reputable third party ones , £50-£60 or so , but I know they'll last three ir four times longer at least .

After spending a few thousand pounds on a couple of cameras I felt another £20 or so extra on a good quality battery wasn't an issue .

I've never been out with either camera and needed to change battery , so one spare was enough.

I don't shoot video , so that's probably why .

I'd still just pay the extra . If it's £15-£20 batteries your looking at , I wouldn't bother .

But cheap , buy twice . They cost more in the long run .

Click to expand...

"I know they'll last three ir four times longer at least ." How do you know, if you don't use 3rd party batteries?

Click to expand...

As you've quoted my post , why not at least read the first sentence , as it answers that question .

I've added emphasis to try make it a bit clearer for you .

ZoomWithAView said:

My two 3rd party batteries + charger cost about £20 less than a single OEM battery. Usually the 'buy cheap, buy twice' comment is thrown in to justify spending more cash on a thing, but I'm wondering - when do I buy twice?

Click to expand...

Because you have to buy again to replace short lived batteries .

This , but twice .

My OEM Sony batteries are still working fine , some from 2007 . It's 2024 now , so that's not bad .

As said , they'll not hold as much charge , but still perfectly useable .

My third party batteries ceased to accept a charge after only a couple of years .

Some less than a year .

ZoomWithAView said:

For my batteries I bought cheap and bought once. They are working fine, have done so for two years, and show no sign of degradation.

Click to expand...

Ones I've had died suddenly, with no prior sign .

Except one swelled in the camera .

ZoomWithAView said:

They give me about 60% - 70% of the OEM shooting time and they get used in rotation with the OEM battery without any problems.

Click to expand...

So not much more than 50% , almost need to buy two to do the job of one Sony battery, that doubles the price .

It sounds like yours aren't getting heavy use as the work is spread out more .

What works for you might be fine , it just doesn't work for me .

Everyone has different opinions. Not a problem.

Unfortunately there is a couple of batteries that I'm needing for some of my Minolta gear where I'm going to have to get third party ones as new OEM are long since gone .

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/neilt3/sets