Aftermarket LP-E4 Batteries showing up on Ebay

[TeamSpeed]

So who will be the first to try out the aftermarket batteries on Ebay? There are two different variations, offered at just over half the price of the Canon. If you try it out, please report back.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Battery-for-Canon-LP-E4-LPE4-EOS-1D-1DS-Mark-III_W0QQitemZ310052624491QQihZ021QQcategoryZ48516Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Battery-for-Canon-LP-E4-LPE4-EOS-1D-1DS-Mark-III-3_W0QQitemZ320254990933QQihZ011QQcategoryZ48516QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Dan Lorth]

no offense meant to you but someone who would buy a battery for their $4K or $8K on ebay to save a few bucks is missing a few neurons in their head. the things ive heard about what happends when you get a bad LI battery will forever make me spend a few bucks more for 1st party.

[HyperYagami]

no offense meant to you but someone who would buy a battery for their $4K or $8K on ebay to save a few bucks is missing a few neurons in their head. the things ive heard about what happends when you get a bad LI battery will forever make me spend a few bucks more for 1st party.

but seriously i have yet to see ONE person saying aftermarket battery actually ruining their cameras.

[blonde]

no offense meant to you but someone who would buy a battery for their $4K or $8K on ebay to save a few bucks is missing a few neurons in their head. the things ive heard about what happends when you get a bad LI battery will forever make me spend a few bucks more for 1st party.

sorry but you are way off on this one. i know tons of 1D series camera owners that use 3rd party batteries for many reasons. one reason is because the canon one are way too over priced and if all you need is backups, the good 3rd party batteries are just as good at a 1/4 of the price.

and yes, i have been using 3rd party batteries on my 1D, 1DmkII, 1DmkIIn and 1DsmkII and i was very happy with them for the most part.

as for this new LP-E4, i don't see myself using it simply because the 1DmkIII battery performance is soooooo freaking good that i can simply buy another OEM canon and have all the juice i need for 4-5 days of straight shooting unlike the 1DmkIIn where i had to take 3-4 batteries to get the same number..

[Dan Lorth]

cool ruin your camera i dont care.

[blonde]

cool ruin your camera i dont care.

nice smart response. well done!!!

[Dan Lorth]

Do you know what can happen when you get a LIon battery that has bad circuits or is made incorrectly? When you buy from ebay you really dont know where youre getting your stuff from, who makes it, if they know how to make a Lion battery for a canon 1 series etc. etc. Not only that but I've seen first hand people who come in with warped battery chambers from excessive heat that the battery created. I really really wouldnt get third party battery from ebay which is what I was addressing in the first post, not whether or not you should get one from a third party.

[Dan Lorth]

check it out:

http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/336/C4733/

[TeamSpeed]

Do you know what can happen when you get a LIon battery that has bad circuits or is made incorrectly? When you buy from ebay you really dont know where youre getting your stuff from, who makes it, if they know how to make a Lion battery for a canon 1 series etc. etc. Not only that but I've seen first hand people who come in with warped battery chambers from excessive heat that the battery created. I really really wouldnt get third party battery from ebay which is what I was addressing in the first post, not whether or not you should get one from a third party.

1) I have taken about every kind of 3rd party battery apart and have rebuilt them myself. Just order the correct size cells and voltages, resolder them together, and close the housing.

2) Batteries that warp and overheat are commonly results of the CHARGING system coupled with the poor battery design. So if you have a problem with an aftermarket LP-E4, you will most likely see it while it is in the charger, not while it is in the body, but it can happen if the unit using the battery short circuits somewhere, and the battery allows a fast drain, resulting in overheating and whatever happens afterwards.

3) So much good luck with Sterlingtek, Accstation, and the Delkins/Black Diamonds, etc, so the tried and true aftermarket batteries are safe and most of the time work better. The caveat here is to buy from a reputable seller and see what the history is of the batteries in question. Unfortunately, this is a new battery, no history (yet).

4) Funny you mention some of these batteries, most of the ones having problems were name-brand laptop batteries. Other aftermarket ones have issues too, but the most hear of were name-brands.

Finally, we are all grown ups ready to take on the responsibilities of buying and trying these out, perfectly knowing the risks, so please don't hijack my thread. There will be folks that try it, they will report back, and we start to determine which aftermarket ones work fine. Just because I bought a $3K MKIII, doesn't mean I have $115 just sitting around to buy a spare battery, nor am I a brand-elitist. I love competition, it is good for all of us, and I hope the aftermarket ones take off, it will bring down the Canon ones over time.

[ed rader]

but seriously i have yet to see ONE person saying aftermarket battery actually ruining their cameras.


i think what he's saying is the more you spend the safer you are ;)!

ed rader

[tmonatr]

i think what he's saying is the more you spend the safer you are ;)!

ed rader
Hey, Ed. Wanna go into business with me? We'll buy OEM Canon batteries, and then sell them at double the price. Then, people will be REALLY safe!;)

[Canadian Techdiver]

Aftermarket Batteries are not the devil. Most likely Canon and others are having their batteries built by the same companies with their logo on them. Having worked in Manaufacturing for years I see this kind of stuff everywhere.

I also scuba dive a lot and we use lighting systems that cost thousands of dollars and the replacement batteries from the manufacturer are outrageous. I can source 3rd party batteries for 1/4 of the cost and when your talking $250.00 per battery setup per video light and personal light that adds up pretty darn fast.

You still need to try and find a reputable 3rd party but the quality is out there. And most batteries issues come when charging as stated above. Not while in use. Charging has the most intense wear on a battery. The risk comes in over charging Li-ion. If this occurs it is most likely your charger. A poor charging system is usually the root cause of issues.

[Bill Roberts]

I certainly used 3rd party batteries in my mark IIN and didn't notice any difference at all compared to the original Canon one. I'll have no hesitation buying a 3rd party LP-E4 from a reputable supplier.

[TeeJay]

I certainly used 3rd party batteries in my mark IIN and didn't notice any difference at all compared to the original Canon one. I'll have no hesitation buying a 3rd party LP-E4 from a reputable supplier.

Ditto on all counts

TJ

[jdizzle]

Cool! I'd give one of these aftermarket batteries a chance. I have an extra LP-E4 as a back up and I could have bought 3 for the price of one. Now, who's willing to give these bad boys a try? :);):p

[jdizzle]

LOL! :lol: Crickets..........

[TeamSpeed]

LOL! :lol: Crickets..........

I think these just came out in the last few days. I searched through the feedback of both hong kong sellers, and many LP-E5 generics were sold, but no feedback yet on the LP-E4. Googling yields no results as well. It may be a bit quiet until these finally hit the mainstream where we can find reviews on them.

[jdizzle]

I agree. I would wait until we see more reviews of the battery.

[ed rader]

Cool! I'd give one of these aftermarket batteries a chance. I have an extra LP-E4 as a back up and I could have bought 3 for the price of one. Now, who's willing to give these bad boys a try? :);):p


i already bought an extra OEM battery for my mark III and battery life is so good that i don't even take my charger when i go out of town for the weekend :D.

ed rader

[cdifoto]

no offense meant to you but someone who would buy a battery for their $4K or $8K on ebay to save a few bucks is missing a few neurons in their head. the things ive heard about what happends when you get a bad LI battery will forever make me spend a few bucks more for 1st party.
I have third party batteries for all my cameras and my neurons are in great supply & firing just fine.

You can't even spell.

[Skip Souza]

OK guys, chill out. If you don't believe in aftermarket batteries then don't use them. There is always a risk in power storage.
If I recall correctly Lenovo, IBM and some others had problems with their stock batteries overheating and melting down. It can happen anywhere.

[P51Mstg]

Someone send me your camera and I'll try them out and write a review.

No problem, happy to do it.

Mark H

[Kimberwhip]

From what I understand there are only 3 factories in the world that make Li battery cells and they are all located in China. I use "3rd party" LIPO batteries in my $700+ Rc aircrafts every weekend with no issues.

[condyk]

Ditto on all counts


I ditto your ditto but am only speaking about every body I have ever owned using 3rd party batteries up to the 1D N. The established ebay sellers have multi thousands of positive transactions and they aren't going to risk their own business and feedback by selling super crap batteries. They aren't in it for the quick buck. They are solid businesses with the same sense as most people who run their own business over the long haul.

[JohnJ80]

no offense meant to you but someone who would buy a battery for their $4K or $8K on ebay to save a few bucks is missing a few neurons in their head. the things ive heard about what happends when you get a bad LI battery will forever make me spend a few bucks more for 1st party.

Complete nonsense. There is nothing magical about batteries - a VERY well understood technology. Canon doesn't make their own batteries either.

J.

[Kimberwhip]

amen

[keegsmeister]

solar power should be the way to go. :D:D:D:D:D:D

[prolepsis]

I ordered one of these batteries from eBay and received it the other day. I believe I ordered the battery that is similar to the one in TeamSpeed's first link.

The battery seems ok so far. The one thing I noticed is that the latch is quite stiff--I'm not sure if this is just my sample, or if it's like this across the board. I took apart that section and noticed that the o-ring was responsible for restricting the movement. A little bit of lube should do the trick.

Did not properly charge the battery fully the first time, as while it was being partially charged I took it out to take a few test shots. So far so good. I'll run the pack through a few recharge cycles and report back. May take a while as I find even the OEM battery I'm not really running out of juice for my MKIII.

[TeamSpeed]

I ordered one of these batteries from eBay and received it the other day. I believe I ordered the battery that is similar to the one in TeamSpeed's first link.

The battery seems ok so far. The one thing I noticed is that the latch is quite stiff--I'm not sure if this is just my sample, or if it's like this across the board. I took apart that section and noticed that the o-ring was responsible for restricting the movement. A little bit of lube should do the trick.

Did not properly charge the battery fully the first time, as while it was being partially charged I took it out to take a few test shots. So far so good. I'll run the pack through a few recharge cycles and report back. May take a while as I find even the OEM battery I'm not really running out of juice for my MKIII.

Thank you for the update, there are more aftermarkets showing up. I have been watching what the feedback has been for this battery under the sellers.

[prolepsis]

So far the battery seems fine. I have lower expectations in terms of 3rd-party batteries, but my batt info is reporting 81% left after 466 shots. Of course, this number doesn't mean much since my shooting style is different from yours, but it may give you a rough idea (based on one sample size). Seems about right from my shooting with IS and without IS lenses, regular chimping, etc.

The finish of the battery is fine--the fit is not as "exact" as my OEM battery, but that doesn't bother me--for example, the "gap" between the battery and the body is a little bit bigger, but there's enough rubber cushioning/sealing that I'm not worried.

I purchased mine from 91deals on eBay. I just randomly picked one of the LP-E4s that were listed.
Came to ~60 cdn including shipping. The reason I'm willing to try a 3rd party is that Canon LP-E4s are ~250 cdn if I buy them here! Ouch!

I know that for my no-name 40D battery, after a while, it doesn't hold its charge as well as the OEM one. Again, one sample size, but if the same thing happens to my LP-E4, I'll post back.

[scorpio_e]

1) I have taken about every kind of 3rd party battery apart and have rebuilt them myself. Just order the correct size cells and voltages, resolder them together, and close the housing.

2) Batteries that warp and overheat are commonly results of the CHARGING system coupled with the poor battery design. So if you have a problem with an aftermarket LP-E4, you will most likely see it while it is in the charger, not while it is in the body, but it can happen if the unit using the battery short circuits somewhere, and the battery allows a fast drain, resulting in overheating and whatever happens afterwards.

3) So much good luck with Sterlingtek, Accstation, and the Delkins/Black Diamonds, etc, so the tried and true aftermarket batteries are safe and most of the time work better. The caveat here is to buy from a reputable seller and see what the history is of the batteries in question. Unfortunately, this is a new battery, no history (yet).

4) Funny you mention some of these batteries, most of the ones having problems were name-brand laptop batteries. Other aftermarket ones have issues too, but the most hear of were name-brands.

Finally, we are all grown ups ready to take on the responsibilities of buying and trying these out, perfectly knowing the risks, so please don't hijack my thread. There will be folks that try it, they will report back, and we start to determine which aftermarket ones work fine. Just because I bought a $3K MKIII, doesn't mean I have $115 just sitting around to buy a spare battery, nor am I a brand-elitist. I love competition, it is good for all of us, and I hope the aftermarket ones take off, it will bring down the Canon ones over time.

A littel off the subject but didn't Dell have a HUGE recall on their laptop batteries ;)

[JohnJ80]

A littel off the subject but didn't Dell have a HUGE recall on their laptop batteries ;)

... and toshiba, sony, apple and others. Reason: They all get their batteries from the same few suppliers.

J.

[TeamSpeed]

I picked up a couple of the Phottix Titan batteries (since I like the Phottix branded items), and they seem to be working very well. It doesn't quite have the same exterior finish as the Canon branded one, but it has all the weather sealing, and fits flush to the body. I have to put more pressure on it when I latch it, almost like the rubber gasket is just a bit thicker, but it works fine. The body picks it up just fine, and the charger has no issues with it either.

The problem I find is that the MKIII is a battery miser, so now I have too many batteries. I sold one of my OE batteries and won't need one of the Phottix ones as well, so I listed it on POTN.

Here is a picture of the Phottix Titan next to the factory battery for reference.

http://www.invisicord.com/ForSale/lpe4_1.jpg

All in all, I am pleased, and it shows that $120 for a factory battery is highway robbery, vs a $45-50 reputable aftermarket one. There has been no issues with charging, the camera is perfectly content with the battery, and the fit/finish/seal is great. There are a bunch of other no-name replacements on Ebay now too, and feedback shows that others are happy with them. I just stuck with the Phottix one because they seem to put out a good product.

[gsenthil]

Anyone have any luck finding a 3rd party LC-E4 equivalent? I was able to source LP-E4s from KEH for $65ea but dont have a charger yet :(