Believe it or not I am still using a 1Ds MKII and the batteries are going south...go figure!
I don't want to spend $120 on a Canon battery. Anyone still using this old brick?
Looking for a reliable generic.
Any experience with reliable aftermarket ones out there?
There are tons of cheap replacement batteries on eBay. Some may be better than others -- I've not encountered any "tragic" bad batteries for 1Ds, 1Ds2, and 1Ds3. Currently, I only have the 1Ds3 with several good original Canon, plus a couple aftermarket -- one is very poor fit and hard to charge, but as I recall only cost about $20 new, so no big loss.
Check product review or ebay feedback on brands you are interested in.
Jon Joshua wrote:
Higher mAh just means that it can hold more power which means more actuations per charge. There's no risk of frying the camera.
I remember a video on the internet (might be a photo series) which showed how to replace the internal rechargeable AA batteries for those cameras, they are only normal cells soldered together.
If the battery is dead you have nothing to lose if your handy and a do it yourself type.
Here you can see a diy replacement of a Mark IV battery which is most likely the same procedure of a Mark II battery.
Places that service battery packs for cordless tools can often replace your faulty camera battery cells. Its bread and butter stuff for them. I've had mine done in my two Quantum Turbo packs over the years.The last one done just had bang up to date black Panasonic Eneloops as replacements - though obviously the cells have to be the right spec for the device.
Mike Veltri wrote:
If the battery is dead you have nothing to lose if your handy and a do it yourself type.
Here you can see a diy replacement of a Mark IV battery which is most likely the same procedure of a Mark II battery.
I've got 2 of those, maybe a year old now, and they work great in my 1D2n and 1Ds2. I can easily get 1,000+ shots, with still plenty of life left, and they hold a charge well when not in use, too. I think they were a bit more $ when I bought them, but they're as good as the now NLA Lenmar's, IMO.
when you get the Ebay one(s) remember to take the end caps off your genuine ones and use them on your new ones .
the genuine canon end caps lock into the camera much better . when I had both my mk2n I couldn't shoot reliably in portrait orientation because the camera would tend to shut down . it only ever happened with the 3rd party batteries . If i used the end cap from the only genuine battery on them everything was fine .
I got mine repacked with Eneloops. The cells are not soldered together, they are spot welded and those spot welders are very expensive. That's why I had mine done professionally. 2 packs done for 1/3rd cost of OEM. I like OEM as the batts are also a weather seal.
Because the 1Ds2 uses Ni-Cad's in the battery, you must make sure you following the recommendations for charging, usage and storage. If you don't, you will end up with the same problem eventually.
I got into photography wasting money more than wasting time on gear, and good that i didn't buy replacement batteries, now i am hoping to sell my 1DsII alongside with A7r to get good price, i still have the box of 1DsII and most accessories, and the camera didn't see much of use anyway because i bought 5Dc exact same time with it and not so long after i bought 1Ds3.
Well!
Bought aftermarket off Ebay- $21 shipped
Terrible fit from battery to charger.
Terrible fit from battery to camera.
Junk!
Gonna buy OEM.
Live and learn!
