(For Canadians) Robinson's Photo in Calgary is selling Canon LP-E6s for CAD$89, plus GST. Not cheap, but less costly than most Canadian retailers or ordering from the USA. (They are also selling the 5DMkII for CAD$2350).
Ian.Dobinson wrote:
...Panasonic already have worked out how to make only OEM batts work. only took a firmware upgrade
I imagine if Canon starts to recieve warranty claims caused by short circuiting 3rd party batteries, they'll figure out a way to ensure that only OEM batteries will work. It's only gonna take one bad batch of cheap OEM batteries and Canon will have all the excuse needed to justify it. As I see it, it's only inevitable before it comes true....and judging by the constant news stories of contaminated, out-of-spec, & dangerous products that are being imported from the Far East, I think it'll happen sooner rather than later.
omarlyn wrote:
I imagine if Canon starts to recieve warranty claims caused by short circuiting 3rd party batteries, they'll figure out a way to ensure that only OEM batteries will work. It's only gonna take one bad batch of cheap OEM batteries and Canon will have all the excuse needed to justify it. As I see it, it's only inevitable before it comes true....and judging by the constant news stories of contaminated, out-of-spec, & dangerous products that are being imported from the Far East, I think it'll happen sooner rather than later.
Omar
All true but then Canon should make the batteries a sensible price and easy to get hold of. they cant cost them much to make and they could supply alot more. (cant believe the supply of 2 cameras takes up most of the capacity of the manufacture of this battery). I would think that most users if they cold get hold of a genuine battery easy at a good price would choose that, and some even if they didn't really need another (just in case) . so in effect they are not doing themselves any favours.
Just look at that one sellers sales for that listing. they have sold over 30 of them at 30 bucks a piece (inc P&P) . imagine how many the likes of B&H and Adorama would sell at 30-35 bucks a pop.
But what I dont get about batteries is. if an item comes with a 'special' battery be it a Phone or camera or any other device then your generally not supposed to use anything other than the genuine battery. But if the item is designed to take AA's or such then you dont normally even get given any batteries (and if you do they'r not nomally by that co. and are the cheapest crapest things they could find) and you are just told to use batteries of a certain spec. whats the real difference? if you use good quality cells then all should be fine (Duracell,enrgizer etc.)
Also if your only supposed to use the genuine Canon battey why do they supply a AA mag for the Grips? they have no control on what you put in there,
Looks like some of the $30 "genuine" LP-E6 batteries on Fleabay are good enough fakes that not all buyers can tell, but buyer feedback suggests they are chipped and work on Canon charger.
$90 is terrible, really terrible for 5D2 battery... especially when I think how I need 4 batteries for this one special place where I was away from car (and civilization) for 4 days, I needed those 4 batteries. 1000-2000 shots per battery, sometimes. For 5D2 I would have wanted the same.
I am fine with $110 for a pro battery for 1D4 or 1D3, I have gone with over 3,000 shots per battery, that's the way to be expected in a way, it does appear to be twice the size of non-pro body batteries, which should be accordingly half price right?
Well my D300 batteries cost $40 when I got them, when I sold them on eBay (should have sold them here instead), the price barely went over $15 on one and closer to $10 on the other 2 [the 4th went with the body sale].
That was one of the "features" of 5D2 that turned me off about it, so I returned it days after purchase.
Well the batteries arrived and I have had a chance to look at them and charge them. They do charge with the Canon charger and give the battery info like a Canon battery. They look like the OEM batteries sold by BHphoto. The big difference is that they don't fit completely perfectly: They are stiff going in and coming out, right at the point where the locking mechanism secures them. The camera needs to be jarred to release them.
The other thing is I am not sure about the battery life - the first one did not take long to get to the 70%~ level, although I was using live view quite a bit. I am not sure if it's because they all started with a partial charge before arriving...
When there are a lot of batteries available, some retailers that do not have a good business sense will sell them for cost, or below cost. When supply dries up, they raise the price so they aren't just giving them away for free. There is very little profit in cameras, so accessories are the only way for retailers to stay above water and stay in business.
I traded a few PMs with him and he determined they do successfully charege with the normal charger, report shots/life to the camera, and have individual serial numbers and the camera can register them.
Looks like he went astray of the B/S rules, but that's a different issue.
I'd be really interested to hear any further reports from folks who have tried these. I can see both sides - perhaps a plant that makes the OEM batteries now has managed to sell non-Canon branded ones, in which case they should be identical and I would probably use them....other side is that they aren't, and upon swelling or otherwise harming the camera render the warranty worthless, in which case not worth the risk....
$80-90 bucks for a Canon OEM battery just seems a bit ridiculous.
So far the batteries (which look exactly like what that seller is showing) are confusing in their battery info: My first one dropped to about 50% within a few minutes of live view use, but then dropped to 45% after 10-15 more minutes of live view. I wonder if the batteries don't hold charge right or if they are giving inaccurate readings.
charlesk wrote:
It really is a shame that Canon feels the need to rip off its customers with things like idiotically overpriced batteries.
If they sold batteries for a reasonable price, people wouldn't feel the need to buy third party OEM junk.
Along those same lines, many of the cameras these days are idotically underpriced. The only way to create an average priced setup when the cameras have little profit (enough to keep the parent company and retailers in business) is if the accessories hold a lot of profit.
I see a trend in today's society where profit is seen as a bad thing. I don't understand that. Profit is a good thing, a necessary thing. Welcome to capitalism. There are winners and losers in capitalism. The winners will advance, the losers will be forced out of business. The third party batteries are junk, so canon wins. This creates an opportunity for a smart third party company to create a duplicate battery so they too can profit.
- perhaps a plant that makes the OEM batteries now has managed to sell non-Canon branded ones, in which case they should be identical and I would probably use them....other side is that they aren't, and upon swelling or otherwise harming the camera render the warranty worthless, in which case not worth the risk....
$80-90 bucks for a Canon OEM battery just seems a bit ridiculous.
I doubt it, I would think that if the batteries were outsourced then that source would be locked into a contract not to sell them. if they were found to be doing it they would face loosing the contract.
I dont have a LP-E6 but my genuine BP511-A says made in japan. What does a genuine LP-E6 say? these 'fakes' are china arnt they?
Also I think i found the same seller on UK Ebay and they have a few bad feed backs for various batteries saying they are fake and dont work well.
