Wow the Sterlingtek batteries are 2600 mAH? http://sterlingtek.com/lp66-canon-lp-e6-battery.html. Ok think that's what I'm picking up as my spare. Had one for my 5Dc way back when and it was fine. I've also used www.battdepot.ca batteries with no issues with my 5Dc.
Many companies, like Canon, have their batteries manufactured in China, a country that dominates in the manufacture and sale of lithium batteries. The lithium battery market in China was worth about $6 billion last year.
And there are many Chinese companies making camera, notebook, cell phone and PDA batteries for Canon, Sony, Nikon etc.
While the battery you buy may hold a charge and work well - the question is whether the one you buy, meets Canon's manufacturing standards and tolerances.
There have been reports of batteries overheating, melting, exploding. Sony and Dell had their problems with Chinese made batteries for their equipment. If a company cheaps out in one step in the manufacturer of the battery, it could cause serious problems.
A few years ago quite a few computer motherboards were found to be failing prematurely because a Chinese company screwed up in the chemical composition of the CAPACITORS they were using and they were finding chemicals leaking out of the top of the capacitors, the heads of the capacitors were bulged and distorted.
Is it worth risking a problem for $40 for a spare battery? You're not saving very much.
I have a number of LP-E6 "clones", and the only one that works in my 6D is the STK's Canon LP-E6 Battery 2600 mAH (by SterlingTek)at Amazon. It works just like the Canon battery. NONE of my 15 other batteries work (readout wise). They cost $19.95
I have just bought a spare for my 5DIII and I went with Canon branded, mainly because if it does happen to explode or short inside my camera, it is Canon that has to repair/replace my gear.
Frankly, I would gladly use a third party battery, if they had warranty that covered damaged camera gear as well as the battery.
At least a couple of the reviews state that it works with the 6D, and one shows a battery life readout on the screen. I wouldn't mind trying them, but I have a stack of third-party LP-E6 batteries :/.
I bought a Sterlingtrek LP-E6 a couple months back. Works with the menu, doesn't overheat (unlike the one I bought for my Olympus E-P3) but doesn't hold a charge for more than a couple days. Even fresh out of the charger it is only good for about 200 shots. Oddly the STK 511 I bought for my older cameras were as good or better than OEM but the two I bought this summer were crap.
After having an OEM (Canon in-box, new from store) battery melt/pop in camera as well as Eneloop start to melt the charger, any battery can die, genuine or not.
I'm just a hobbiest feeding my latest addiction and have never had a problem (knocking on virtual e-wood) with non-OEM batteries in any digi camera I've owned over the last 11 yrs.
No issues at all using Wasabi (Amazon) batteries in a 60D with latest firmware. Yes the latest firmware is relatively old but it is the latest. It reports a charge just fine, lasts as long as the OEM Canon battery, and has been recharged many times since purchased.
I bought the Wasabi package that included a charger with two batteries, always nice to have an extra charger
timbop wrote:
screwing up an expensive camera to save a few bucks on a battery doesn't make sense, IMHO.
Why bother messing with it?
I'm not one to shy away from third-party options when they work. I used third-party batteries with my old 5D and I use them currently with my Fujifilm X-E1.
However, several attempts to try third-party batteries from a reliable supplier for my 5D2 were unsuccessful and at this point I would no longer bother. It may well be that someone has now produced versions that are more likely to work and be reliable, but I cannot afford to find myself out somewhere doing photography and discover that my batteries don't work.
As others have pointed out, it seems like a false economy to carry thousands or tens of thousands of dollars of high end gear into the field, sometimes traveling great distances... and then risk the ability to shoot in order to save a fe bucks on batteries.
matt4626 wrote:
Never had any problems with SterlingTek.....
I bought three 5D2 batteries from them and all three were bad - two didn't work at all, and the third holds so little charge that I can't do more than perhaps a few dozen shots before it dies.
This surprised me, as I had purchased other third-party batteries from Sterling-Tek, a company that I regard as generally very reliable, having used a number of their batteries on my older 5D.
I'm not one to shy away from third-party options when they work. I used third-party batteries with my old 5D and I use them currently with my Fujifilm X-E1.
However, several attempts to try third-party batteries from a reliable supplier for my 5D2 were unsuccessful and at this point I would no longer bother. It may well be that someone has now produced versions that are more likely to work and be reliable, but I cannot afford to find myself out somewhere doing photography and discover that my batteries don't work.
As others have pointed out, it seems like a false economy to carry thousands or tens of thousands of dollars of high end gear into the field, sometimes traveling great distances... and then risk the ability to shoot in order to save a fe bucks on batteries.
I don't even have high end gear and 'only' use Canon or manufacture branded batteries...paranoid I guess, would rather not turn my image maker into a brick/doorstop
For those that have issues with third-party batteries- I noticed that the charger that came with my 6D wouldn't properly charge them. Got a third-party charger at Best Buy matched with Amazon for price, no further problem.
None of them work properly in the 6D, as in showing available charge and it does complain about them, but they do provide the juice.
