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Archive 2013 · Aftermarket camera batteries

  
 
sma shooter
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Aftermarket camera batteries


Hi,

I need to order several back-up batteries for my new 6D, and I had intended to shop online for them at Amazon, eBay, B&H, or Adorama. I've bought and used aftermarket camera batteries for years with no trouble. But recent posts here suggest that third-party batteries may produce problems with current Canon cameras. I'm just checking to ask whether you have had any trouble in current cameras when using non-Canon batteries. Thanks!



Nov 10, 2013 at 11:30 PM
johnctharp
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Aftermarket camera batteries


The Wasabi LP-E6s off of Amazon report properly in the camera and in a battery grip; still trying to work off the initial charge!


Nov 10, 2013 at 11:32 PM
Kathy White
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Aftermarket camera batteries


I had used my 5DII for a couple of years when I purchased a couple of after market batteries. It could be coincidence but the day after using one of them for the first time, my camera would not power on. A repair was 200.00 and Canons repair stated an electronic board had to be replaced.

I have no way of knowing for certain it was the battery but based on the timing I believe it caused it.
The ones I had were not super cheapos off ebay. I bought them off Amazon and they had good ratings. I don't recall the brand.

I don't think they all cause trouble, and I know many buy and use them without incident but
I threw the ones I had in the trash and I don't use them.

Kathy



Nov 11, 2013 at 12:34 AM
ggreene
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Aftermarket camera batteries


You won't get a consensus on a forum as the answer will be yes and no. Ultimately, you will have to make your own risk assessment. Sounds like you have had a good experience with them. Others have not. I personally don't do it as the small price difference is not worth the risk for 1D bodies.


Nov 11, 2013 at 03:00 AM
dhphoto
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Aftermarket camera batteries


ggreene wrote:
You won't get a consensus on a forum as the answer will be yes and no. Ultimately, you will have to make your own risk assessment. Sounds like you have had a good experience with them. Others have not. I personally don't do it as the small price difference is not worth the risk for 1D bodies.


I think that is a good reply.

In addition Canon is trying to make it more and more difficult for anyone to use non-OEM batteries in their firmware updates.

However I am baulking at having to pay at least £120 for a battery for my 1Ds3, that is a lot of money considering I can get a perfectly usable clone for twenty quid.

I am now using clones in my 5D2 and 1Ds3 and originals in the cameras that won't accept clones.



Nov 11, 2013 at 03:52 AM
rebelshooter
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Aftermarket camera batteries


I have used Sterling Tek batteries for several years in my 30D and now my 7D and 6D, no issues whatsoever with them.


Nov 11, 2013 at 04:00 AM
Gochugogi
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Aftermarket camera batteries


I used 511 clones for years without problems. The Sterlingtrek 511 were as good or better than the OEM batteries. However, my LP-E6 clones were troublesome. Maybe it was an isolated batch but the last two I bought from Sterlingtrek were funky: one barely lasted 200 shots fully charged while the other I returned due to overheating (got stuck in the camera). So figured that was a sign from above and bought two OEM LP-E6 and they worked perfectly.


Nov 11, 2013 at 04:07 AM
justruss
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Aftermarket camera batteries


ggreene wrote:
You won't get a consensus on a forum as the answer will be yes and no. Ultimately, you will have to make your own risk assessment. Sounds like you have had a good experience with them. Others have not. I personally don't do it as the small price difference is not worth the risk for 1D bodies.


+1

The best bet is not to consider all generic batteries as the same. If you want to go this route, try to find a generic with lots of recent (read: to try to get in the same or similar batch) positive reviews. Then strike.

I'm in the generic battery camp. They tend to be as good (or better) in my experience.



Nov 11, 2013 at 04:45 AM
lowbone
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Aftermarket camera batteries


Sterlingtek in my 6D and 7D. No problems.


Nov 11, 2013 at 08:57 AM
Paul Mo
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Aftermarket camera batteries


I used OSKA BP-511's in my 5D Classic without a hitch.

With my 5D3 I am a bit pickier and I'll only use genuine Canon batteries.



Nov 11, 2013 at 09:07 AM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Aftermarket camera batteries


ggreene wrote:
You won't get a consensus on a forum as the answer will be yes and no.


Which might be enough to raise concerns. A battery shouldn't be a hit and miss thing.

I used to use third party batteries regular in a 5D, but I had very bad luck with a series of third-party 5D2 batteries from a usually reliable vendor. I bought three - two didn't work at all and the third works with perhaps 25% of the charge capacity of Canon batteries.

Given that the cost of a battery is tiny compared to the cost of my other gear and, especially, the costs of making photographs, I decided that I just wasn't going to bother trying to save such a small amount of money by using unreliable batteries.

Gochugogi wrote:
I used 511 clones for years without problems. The Sterlingtrek 511 were as good or better than the OEM batteries. However, my LP-E6 clones were troublesome. Maybe it was an isolated batch but the last two I bought from Sterlingtrek were funky: one barely lasted 200 shots fully charged while the other I returned due to overheating (got stuck in the camera). So figured that was a sign from above and bought two OEM LP-E6 and they worked perfectly.


That mirrors my experience with third party LP-E6 batteries.

On the other hand, I've recently had good luck with third-party batteries for a different brand of camera. Go figure!

Dan



Nov 11, 2013 at 09:45 AM
dfresh
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Aftermarket camera batteries


Wasabi LP-E6s (from Amazon) have worked great for me in my 6D thus far. I agree with Russ that not all generics are the same; it seems earlier manufactured LP-E6s had more problems as the companies were still figuring how to get the battery to correctly communicate with the camera.


Nov 11, 2013 at 09:56 AM
fqo63ta
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Aftermarket camera batteries


I've used Sterlingtek batteries for years...even back to my 10D. I found that they have higher capacity than the OEM's.
Still using them in my 7D and 5D3...no problems.



Nov 11, 2013 at 10:02 AM
Deezie
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Aftermarket camera batteries


I used to have generic batteries, which worked without issue. I no longer use them because my experience with them is that their charging capabilities diminish much quicker than Canon batteries. So for me, the cheaper price didn't pay off. YMMV.


Nov 11, 2013 at 10:25 AM
markshelby
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Aftermarket camera batteries


I used after-market 511s for years and found that they wear out faster than Canon batteries but were still cheaper over time.

But more recently I had two aftermarket LP-E6 batteries stop working within a one-week period (about a year after I bought them) and I decided I'm now too serious about my photography to put up with that risk.

Hope this helps.



Nov 11, 2013 at 10:31 AM
thedutt
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Aftermarket camera batteries


Like others, I used to have plenty of third party 511s and they worked fine but the two different LP-E6s that I used (ankler & sterlingtek) both had issues. In the end they were not dependable on how many shots they will hold and the hassle that it brings was not worth the savings. Ordered a second Lp-E6 from canon, and use the 2 third party batteries only as a contingency.



Nov 11, 2013 at 11:05 AM
bogeypro
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Aftermarket camera batteries


I've been using Wasabi LP-E6's (from Amazon) for over 2 years & have not had any problems in a 60D. Paid $30 for two and they came with a Wasabi charger, always nice to have an extra non-OEM charger to take along when travelling.

Just to test them completely I've charged a Wasabi battery on the Canon charger and the Canon battery on the Wasabi charger with zero problems.



Nov 11, 2013 at 11:58 AM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Aftermarket camera batteries


A question for those who have used - specifically - the third-party LP-E6 battery for the 5DII:

How far down do you run your batteries before recharging? I ask because a problem I encountered with the one third-party battery (from Sterling-Tek, who I usually trust) that actually sort of worked did not supply enough power to give me as many shots per charge - by a wide amount. (The other two I purchased a few years back simply did not charge at all and we essentially DOA.)

If you typically shoot a relatively small number of shots - maybe a hundred or so - and then typically recharge your battery before reusing it, you might never encounter a limited capacity issue with a battery.

By the way, the third-party battery that I have used with fine performance in my Fujifilm X-E1 is from Wasabi. I also have one of their small chargers, which I like more than the one the Fujifilm supplies.

As I wrote earlier, in the past I had fine results from the Sterling-Tek BP-511 replacement batteries for the original 5D.

Dan



Nov 11, 2013 at 02:39 PM
acktdi
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Aftermarket camera batteries


I'm using STK/SterlingTek batteries for my 5dII and 5DIII, no issues. I let the charge go down to 1 bar before recharging.


Nov 11, 2013 at 03:24 PM
scalesusa
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Aftermarket camera batteries


I've bought a used camera which was damaged due to the generic battery overheating and swelling up so that it could not be removed. Others merely die at any time.

The issue is poor quality of the Chinese calls. We have no way to know who made them, or if any QA was involved. Sterlingtek has had a lot of bad batteries as well as good ones, they get them from China, and have has been fooled as well.

I've had dozens of genuine Canon batteries over the last 13 years, and all lasted 3 years or more.



Nov 12, 2013 at 02:50 AM
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