HELP!, Do generic batteries ruin cameras???

[diesector]

I was told by a guy that at A&M Photo World that if i use generic batteries and charger, that are specificaly made for my camera, it will ruin my camera. I am getting the EOS 10D, I purchased a battery charger and battery package off of ebay to try and save a little money. If this is truely going to ruin the camera I will buy the real brand. Anyways, please let me know if the generics will harm my camera, thanks.

Jeremy

[jobber73]

Gee, what would the motivation of a big name camera store owner selling big ticket brand name batteries to comsumers be in saying that? ;)

[Andy_T]

Jeremy ...

NO, generic batteries will not damage your camera.

And NOOOOOO .... DON'T EVER BUY FROM A&M PHOTOWORLD!!!!!! THEY ARE SCAMMERS OF THE WORST SORT!!!

(Forgive me shouting) This is not a joke.
If you have not yet closed the deal, then cancel it, tell your credit card company that they should not allow it to be deducted and buy from a reputable company.

Take a look at http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1988.html

Just to explain how they normally work:

- The Canon camera you want costs, say, 1200$ in a reputable shop
There it comes with the battery, cable, software etc. included.
- AM Photoworld offers it for 700$
- You order it ...
- They call you and tell you that the camera you ordered is a 'grey market camera', but that you can get the 'real one' for just $ 850.
Once you've agreed to that, they tell you that you have to also get the battery, the charger and some additional items for, say, 500$ from them (worth = $100).
- If you refuse to buy the additional items, they will call you some days later and tell you that the camera is not any longer in stock and that you will have to wait for 6 months ...
- or just variations of that scheme...

Best regards,
Andy

[scottbergerphoto]

The risk of cheap generic batteries is that they will leak and ruin your camera or that they won't last very long. There are mid priced generics from Power 2000 and Lenmar that work fine. Some people have used Wal Mart replacements without a problem as well. I've been using the Power 2000 BP 511/5112 equivalent for years without incident.
Scott

[robertwgross]

And NOOOOOO .... DON'T EVER BUY FROM A&M PHOTOWORLD!!!!!! THEY ARE SCAMMERS OF THE WORST SORT!!!

Andy, don't say that they are scammers of the worst sort.

Say that A&M salesmen are ethically challenged.

---Bob Gross---

[robertwgross]

If typical generic BP-511 batteries leaked and ruined cameras, then you would see about 75% of the forum members here with ruined cameras.

Lately, I think a bunch of us here have purchased non-Canon batteries from reputable companies for prices like $10 to $20 each, and we seem to be pretty happy with them. I think I had to pay $25 for two.

Some people have purchased non-Canon batteries for $5 each from some no-name company working out of a garage in Taipei, and some of those had problems.

---Bob Gross---

[rfreschner]

Does the warranty still apply if there is an issue due to using generic batteries?

[pradeep1]

Does the warranty still apply if there is an issue due to using generic batteries?

How will Canon know that you used generic batteries?

The difference between using generic and name brand is like wearing Lee or Wrangler vs. Levis. They can get the job done, without the hoopla and marketing premium. I buy a lot of generic batteries from eForcecity on ebay, Sterlingtek, batteryspace.com, etc. and they work fine. In fact, they seem to work better than original Canon batteries.

A & M Photo has a resellerating of 0.74. Amazing!

[mbze430]

0.74 that's an accomplishment to say the least. Either be the very best, or the very worst...nothing in between...LOL

[Citizensmith]

The difference between using generic and name brand is like wearing Lee or Wrangler vs. Levis.

Does the same analogy apply now Levis are 100% produced and sewn together in mexico to be able to meet the cheap sale price Walm@rt dictated? Maybe Carhart would be a better name to use . :)

[robertwgross]

How will Canon know that you used generic batteries?

Let's assume that Canon Customer contacts Canon Technical Support and claims that their Canon 10D body was damaged by a Canon battery.

Canon would tell them to send in the camera body with the failed/leaky battery.

If Canon got it, and the battery "crud" in the compartment matches the battery "crud" of the Canon battery, then it is possible that Canon will agree and make some adjustment.

On the other hand, if Canon got it, and the battery "crud" is from Brand X, or if the failed Brand X battery is along, then Canon would reject the claim.

---Bob Gross---

[xstrio]

I ve thought about this and would have thought that the damage would happen after using the batterys for a relativly long length of time , rather than in a short period so chances are the warrenty would have expired before any problems occur.

[robertwgross]

In the old, old days, back when we were using Carbon Zinc batteries, it would often be the case that the oldest batteries were the first ones to leak, and that battery crud was really bad.

As time has gone by, I find more of the battery manufacturers are doing their battery seals better, so this has become less of an issue.

Maybe I am in a minority, but I have never seen a Lithium Ion battery that leaked. My very first one is coming up to the failure point now after about 2.5 years, but it is just getting very weak, and not leaking.

---Bob Gross---

[pradeep1]

Let's assume that Canon Customer contacts Canon Technical Support and claims that their Canon 10D body was damaged by a Canon battery.

Canon would tell them to send in the camera body with the failed/leaky battery.

If Canon got it, and the battery "crud" in the compartment matches the battery "crud" of the Canon battery, then it is possible that Canon will agree and make some adjustment.

On the other hand, if Canon got it, and the battery "crud" is from Brand X, or if the failed Brand X battery is along, then Canon would reject the claim.

---Bob Gross---

Possible, but highly unlikey, right ;) .

[Mitch]

Why does everyone spend so much time on batteries? They only cost about $50. A 24-70 costs about $1200. The 20D costs about $1500, the 580EX about $450. What's with the preoccupation with saving a few dollors on batteries? Get the Canon and move on.

Deep sea fishing is my sport. It costs about $350 per day to go on a five day boat trip. Or, if you go to mexico for a five days and nights with three days of fishing, it costs about $2000 for everything. When I see a fisherman next to me in mexico who spent that much money to go fishing and then I discover that he saved a few dollars on fishing line and bought the $1.50 spool of fishing line instead of the $12.00 per spool German fishing line, given that the only thing between the fisherman and the fish is the fishing line...well, that's being penny wise but pound foolish on something that could be the weak link in the entire chain.

If you have a car over $10,000 in value, get Michelins, not Costco Signatures.

[boBquincy]

Third party batteries may cause problems and I no longer use them but I would have to admit that any problems are very rare indeed. If you are cautious and have the money then Canon batteries are probably good insurance.

Mitch compared it (very well) to tires, very few people wil have a problem but the extra cost is small compared to what you have already spent.


boB

[robertwgross]

So far, in my limited experience of five BP-511-type batteries, the Canon one has been the worst performer, and the non-Canon ones are the best. Mark me as cynical.

---Bob Gross---

[photographer unknown]

Lithium Ion batteries will usually start to swell long before they ever leak. Actually I have seen several swell but never seen one leak. Most electronic manufacture's tell you that you must use their batteries or you void the warranty, mostly they are covering themselves if you used a battery rated at differnt voltage. If you call Motorola up and tell them the battery in your cell phone leaked, they may or may not ask you to return the battery along with the phone, but if you tell them that you disposed of the battery due to the leakage, that won't hassle you for it. They expect it. Think about the shipping regulations. In the days of NiCAd corrosion was a big issue. As long as you use a known reputable manufacture[I], you should be fine. Batteries are an all day every day issue in the cellular world.

[robertwgross]

Lithium Ion batteries will usually start to swell long before they ever leak.

What causes that swelling?

---Bob Gross---

[scottbergerphoto]

What causes that swelling?

---Bob Gross---
Friction in the camera body? :o

[photoshooter]

are you guys for real? just because they are cheap doesnt mean they will wreck your camera i use some fromeforcecity got them on ebay 2 for 10.00 they work great i bought 10 for 50.00 and they last longer than the canon ones

[rfreschner]

ust because they are cheap doesnt mean they will wreck your camera

I don't have any experience with generic batteries with cameras, but have seen instances with cell phones where they have caused issues. Not an electronics expert so I'm not going to be able to go into the whys and wherefores.

[xuxu1]

So far, in my limited experience of five BP-511-type batteries, the Canon one has been the worst performer, and the non-Canon ones are the best. Mark me as cynical.

---Bob Gross---

Agree!

Same experience here!!!

ED

[rfreschner]

So far, in my limited experience of five BP-511-type batteries, the Canon one has been the worst performer, and the non-Canon ones are the best. Mark me as cynical.

---Bob Gross---

Any specific brands you'd recommend?

Rick

[FlipsidE]

I just bought two generic BP-511's from www.sterlingtek.com (http://www.sterlingtek.com). So far...no problems, and I haven't recharged them in well almost a month now. Granted, my camera hasn't gotten a ton of usage since then, but at the same time, it hasn't failed to start up and work just fine whenever I want it to.

FlipsidE

[robertwgross]

I've purchased them from Arbor Electronics (two/$25) and Greenbatteries (1/$19).

---Bob Gross---

[froman98]

I just bought two generic BP-511's from www.sterlingtek.com (http://www.sterlingtek.com). So far...no problems, and I haven't recharged them in well almost a month now. Granted, my camera hasn't gotten a ton of usage since then, but at the same time, it hasn't failed to start up and work just fine whenever I want it to.


I bought two from sterlingtek as well (I found them via this forum) and they have worked great!! I ordered on a thursday and got them monday, which wasn't too bad in my book. The stock canon battery (bp511a) will last me about a week being only 1390mah (I think). The ones I got from sterlingtek are 1800mah (their site only said 1500mah, it was a nice suprise). I've on week #2 with this battery and haven't recharged yet. Their website may look kind of shoddy, but I had faith in them. I may buy a few more after I get my bge-2.

-Andy

[JeffS]

I've used "generic" batteries from GreenBatteries.com and Battery Barn with no fear that they will ruin my cameras.

[RDKirk]

In the old, old days, back when we were using Carbon Zinc batteries, it would often be the case that the oldest batteries were the first ones to leak, and that battery crud was really bad.

As time has gone by, I find more of the battery manufacturers are doing their battery seals better, so this has become less of an issue.

Maybe I am in a minority, but I have never seen a Lithium Ion battery that leaked. My very first one is coming up to the failure point now after about 2.5 years, but it is just getting very weak, and not leaking.

---Bob Gross---

Bad lithiums don't leak. They explode.

However, while there have been stories about mobile phone lithums exploding (one exploded in the back pocket of a woman's jeans--talk about one's @ss being on fire), I've not heard a single such horror story about generic camera lithums. Not a single one--and there are hundreds of thousands of them in use.

I suspect that the camera systems are designed to be a lot more picky (error checking), and a battery either has to be good enough to work well or it doesn't work at all. Where generic batteries may fail, though, is on total lifespan. A decent lithum-ion battery will fail sometime around its third year after manufacturing, regardless how well you care for it. My suspicion is that the generic batteries will fail long before then, but we don't have enough of even anecdotes about that to pretend to be statistics.

[robertwgross]

When I first started using these kinds of batteries, about Oct. 2002, I read that a typical lithium ion battery was good for about 300 charge cycles. However, I would wager that there aren't many users who actually keep track of how many times they've put the thing in the charger. That is further unclear because some people use a battery a lot until the camera gives them a low-battery indication. Other people use a battery for ten shots and then put the battery into the charger at the end of the day regardless.

---Bob Gross---

[pierrot]

Be serious... :D
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/