Canon battery or Replacement battery?

[cgratti]

I ordered my Canon digital rebel, and an extra battery.... would you recommend a canon battery or is the generic equal just as good?

New to the Rebel Digital

Thanks for any input in advance....

[CyberDyneSystems]

There are some $11.00 generics out there that are terrible, but the Name brand repalcements at half the cost of the Canon's are in many cases better than the Canon branded batteries.

I use these and think they are a much better bargain, and they last longer too.

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/maha_lithium_rechargeable.htm

[cgratti]

I paid $18.00 US for the battery.... just wondering if the Rebels take to non-Canon batteries or not....

[CyberDyneSystems]

I can't speak to the Rebel, but the 10D seems fine with the batteries I have been feeding it,..

Actually,, I read a lot of posts about "bad" bateries,. but NEVER have a read a post where the "bad" battery did any thing worse than simply not working.

So if your fear is that the battery will damage your camera,. I would fear not. It just does not seem to be a likely phenomena,. even when people get the "real junky" batteries off of E-bay.

[JZaun]

I recently purchased a OEM batery from SterlingTek for my 10D for $11.99 plus shipping. B&H photo sells a OEM 1500 mAH battery for the 10D for $35. The canon battery just would not hold up over 200 shots. The canon battery is 1100 mAH. My replacement is 1300mAH. So far I have over 400 shots on it and it still shows full on the camera. I'll see how long it holds up.

I spent 31 years in the computer industry and every manufacturer sold their products on the OEM market. The OEM dealers sold the product for LESS!! in every case. I doubt you can find out who manufactured any given battery. I would bet canon doesn't make theirs. An example is Sony CRT's in Dell monitors.

If you read about Li Ion batteries on line you will not want to use them in any product you have! I have lost a camera a flash and a radio because the brand name batteries leaked!

I will try products sold by reputable dealers but will shy away from such as e-bay sellers unless they are a brand name.

Just my 2 cents.

So much to learn and so little time

JZaun

[Motorsports Photo]

Actually,, I read a lot of posts about "bad" bateries,. but NEVER have a read a post where the "bad" battery did any thing worse than simply not working.

So if your fear is that the battery will damage your camera,. I would fear not. It just does not seem to be a likely phenomena,. even when people get the "real junky" batteries off of E-bay.

My "bad" battery story was when I was doing an all day shoot and I had one more race to go. I warmed up the battery in my pocket, made a few shots and warmed it up some more. Somewhere the low battery corrupted the microdrive. Luckily Norton utilities saved the files but they were all numbered filexxx.chk, so I had to rename them. I only lost about 20 out of 500.

There is some really cheap *crap* on ebay as well as a few bargains. I can recommend the BP-511 sold at Walmart. It appears to be a MAha, and the one I have works well. After I got my D30, I bought a BP-512 from battery barn that worked well initially, but faded away so it doesnt have as much a charge as the original Canon battery that had a year of hard use before the 512.

You'll have to wait another year before I know how well the walmart battery held up. :D

-Pete

[Bubber Jones]

What's the difference between the BP-511 & BP-512 batteries?

[JZaun]

The BP511 is for 10D and maybe others. the 512 is for Powershot, G2, G3, D30 and others. Different batteries.

JZaun

[scottbergerphoto]

The BP511 is for 10D and maybe others. the 512 is for Powershot, G2, G3, D30 and others. Different batteries.

JZaun
You can use the 511 in cameras that use the 512 but not vice versa. That's due to the shape of the 512. It doesn't have a dip in the middle.
Power 2000 makes BP 511 replacement batteries with 1500mAH
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=232733&is=REG
Scott

[MarkH]

The BP511 is for 10D and maybe others. the 512 is for Powershot, G2, G3, D30 and others. Different batteries.

JZaun
You can use the 511 in cameras that use the 512 but not vice versa. That's due to the shape of the 512. It doesn't have a dip in the middle.
Power 2000 makes BP 511 replacement batteries with 1500mAH
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=232733&is=REG
Scott

I bought 2 of these, no complaints. I live in NZ but buying these batteries from BH and converting the currency and paying freight, they are still under half the price of the Canon batteries here. They are also 1500mAh compared to 1100mAh for the Canon ones.

[Conor]

i have 4 batteries that i bought off of ebay. all generic i paid 9.00 each

so for the price of 1 canon batt i got 4 x the battery life.

i use 2 at a time in my 10d with bg ed3 works great!

[Mikesht]

Actually,, I read a lot of posts about "bad" bateries,. but NEVER have a read a post where the "bad" battery did any thing worse than simply not working.

So if your fear is that the battery will damage your camera,. I would fear not. It just does not seem to be a likely phenomena,. even when people get the "real junky" batteries off of E-bay.

My "bad" battery story was when I was doing an all day shoot and I had one more race to go. I warmed up the battery in my pocket, made a few shots and warmed it up some more. Somewhere the low battery corrupted the microdrive. Luckily Norton utilities saved the files but they were all numbered filexxx.chk, so I had to rename them. I only lost about 20 out of 500.

There is some really cheap *crap* on ebay as well as a few bargains. I can recommend the BP-511 sold at Walmart. It appears to be a MAha, and the one I have works well. After I got my D30, I bought a BP-512 from battery barn that worked well initially, but faded away so it doesnt have as much a charge as the original Canon battery that had a year of hard use before the 512.

You'll have to wait another year before I know how well the walmart battery held up. :D

-Pete


I bought a Wallmart silver battery as a back up. Recently I was shooting a full day outdoors, it was cold winter day and my $23 battery held up all day long - no problem. You got to love the CMOS! and if it does not work in a year- oh, well, I will buy another one, and still be cheaper that Canon.

[bob harris]

8) :? :shock:
I bought a second battery for my 10D from Wal-Mart and have been very happy.
Does as well or better than the one that came with my camera.

[theoldmoose]

Half of Canon's price for a 3rd party battery sounds reasonable. $10 or less, though, sounds dangerous.

Li-Ion cells can leak, ignite, or even explode if they are not charged/discharged correctly. Aside from a rather generic external charger circuit, the key to maintaining the health of the battery (and the person holding the unit that contains it) is a smart 'chip' which is built in to each battery pack and monitors the charge/discharge cycles, preventing the cell from those extremes.

In particular, these kinds of cells actually are dangerous if they are allowed to run down too far internally. It releases free lithium in the presence of moisture in the cell. They used to blow up bridges by chucking a block of lithium into the water under the bridge. The chemical reaction with the water releases hydrogen gas, and the reaction is exothermic (meaning it releases quite a bit of heat). If the temperature rises enough in the presence of the hydrogen gas -- BOOM!

There have been instances of Nokia cell phones exploding or burning in owner's pockets, due to black-market Li-Ion batteries that somehow omitted the required protective circuitry.

Don't become a statistic.