Third party batteries - would you?

[Houston1863]

Hello All

I'm considering a non Canon-branded LP-E4 as a spare/second battery for my incoming 1D MkIII. The Canon one is a http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/konfus/n065.gifing GBP 95 while an Energizer is pleasantly priced GBP 42.

Would you recommend using a 3rd party battery and does anyone know of any any issues with the Energizer?

Are there any other units you would suggest instead of the Energizer?


Many thanks pals

and

enjoy your weekend

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[GSH]

As you're quoting prices in "GBP", i suggest you have a look at 7dayshop.com. I suspect you will be very pleasantly surprised. ;)

[Houston1863]

Thanks Geoff

But that's not an OEM ( original equipment manufacturer ) product unless I've missed something on the site. Great price though.

However would you or anyone recommend using a 3rd party battery for a 1DIII?



Cheers

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[TeamSpeed]

Yes, I have used aftermarket LP-E4s on my MKIII with no issues at all. I don't know about the Energizer (chances are again, it is just a rebadged 3rd party), but I have used the Titan brand, and Phottix now has manufacturing facilities in Europe, so you should be able to pick one up fairly easily, if they still make them.

[GSH]

Thanks Geoff

But that's not an OEM ( original equipment manufacturer ) product unless I've missed something on the site. Great price though.

However would you or anyone recommend using a 3rd party battery for a 1DIII?



Well now you've found them, i have 3 "non OEM" batteries for my MKIIN and had half a dozen for my old 20D & 50D...all from 7dayshop.

So yes, i would happily recommend them. If they did a "chipped" 3rd Party battery for the 7D i would stock up on those too :D

[Houston1863]

Now that's recommendation indeed ;)

Thanks friend


Enjoy your weekend

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[Rayk]

Try here (http://www.mdsbattery.co.uk/shop/productprofile.asp?ProductGroupID=2911), I have used this company of my 1Ds batteries, great service.

[canonloader]

I did think about it, but in the end, decided to go with an OEM. The price was about the same as advertised by Lenmar.

[Rick Anderson]

I don't know about other brands but I have found the Lenmar batteries to be as good or better than OEM and I have several fairly new OEMs to compare them to. I get about 150 more shots out of the NP-E3s in my 1D and 1DIIN bodies and about 100 or so out of the BP-511 replacements in my 10D and 5D, and a few more than that in my gripped 30D.

[datadump]

for my SLR's no. somehow the chinese cant make good replica batteries compared to OEM. they dont last very long after a bit of use .. or some weird fitment/sealing issue (esp on the 1d series batteries)...

point&shoot? yes. somehow the chinese make very good replicas for smaller point&shoot cameras. lol.

[spacetime]

for my SLR's no. somehow the chinese cant make good replica batteries compared to OEM. they dont last very long after a bit of use .. or some weird fitment/sealing issue (esp on the 1d series batteries)...

point&shoot? yes. somehow the chinese make very good replicas for smaller point&shoot cameras. lol.

I agree with the "fitment/sealing" issue. I only use them in my battery grip as a result. I've only had about 20 charges on the China ones and they seem to hold a charge and work as they did when new. I wouldn't hesitate to buy more though as they ahve been reliable for me.

[Houston1863]

OK many thanks for all your comments and suggestions so far pals.

Looks like you're saying they're fine. If they fail, leak or whatever and cause issues with the camera, would this invalidate the warranty on the camera?


Thanks again friends

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[PhilF]

using Opteka 1800mah in my Canon battery grip and so far its giving me plenty of life...covered a 5 hour concert and I still have life in it.

[prayharder]

I don't go with 3rd party batteries, only OEM.

I don't want to save $40 on a battery only to void my warranty and loose out on 1000's.

I just don't think that it is worth the trade off, it might work great, but if you have a problem you are in trouble.

I do use a lenmar in my cheap point and shoot, but in my 5D Mark II's only OEM will do.

Just my 2 cents.

Ben

[Rick1956]

I would much rather go with an aftermarket battery on the capacity feature alone. Several aftermarket batteries are rated at 1800mh and are less expensive than the piddly 720mh of the OEM.

I go for stats.

[Houston1863]

Thanks for all your replies friends

I've seen some aftermarket products rated at 2200mAh which is 100mAh off the OEM unit. That said, the thought of anything going wrong with an aftermarket battery does worry me. Wouldn't surprise me if the insurance folk try to dance out of their obligations by saying I wasn't using OEM products.


Cheers all

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[NickRadford]

id never go non-canon. my camera is my child, why cheap out on that?

[Gedanken]

I've used Phottix and Inca replacements for the BP511 in my 5D and 50D over the past year, with Chinese replacements for the NB2LH in my 400D for two years before that. Never had a problem.

[YamahaRob]

Used 3rd party on both my D70 and D300 and they work fine. Usually stick with the bigger name brands like Promaster (which is close in price to teh OEM anyways but for me, they are the only choice if I need to buy a battery at the local dealer). Only 3rd party issue I had was user caused when I dropped a battery on the ground and the case cracked open. OEM branded ones usually are made by another company that brands a 3rd party name on them also. Seriously doubt Canon (or Nikon) makes their own battery packs.

[dovaka]

ive never used a energizer battery for my camera but ive got tons of 3rd party batteries that all work just fine

[canonloader]

I did not hesitate to buy Lenmars for my MkIIN. But when I wanted a new battery for the MkIII, I decided to go with OEM, because they have a chip inside, and decided that going with OEM was the safest course.

I had no problems with all my earlier Canon cameras though, using aftermarket batteries, and had excellent results from them.

[Houston1863]

Thanks again pals

Still thinking. ;)


All my best

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[KevB]

The original 1d 3 battery lasts forever so i have never bothered buying a spare. I have had over 1000 shots easy on one charge and it still has plenty left.

[canonloader]

I wanted a spare, cause some days I can shoot 2K or more. The Lenmars for my MkIIN got over 3K shots, but I always wanted a spare with me. :)

[neilwood32]

For my batteries in the old 400D and now the 50D, I went with Sterlingtek. Never had a problem and its a fraction of Canon prices!

[SMP_Homer]

I would much rather go with an aftermarket battery on the capacity feature alone. Several aftermarket batteries are rated at 1800mh and are less expensive than the piddly 720mh of the OEM.

I go for stats.

but there's nothing to really prove it's 1800mah, other than a sticker someone planted on the battery... a lot of those 3rd party guys only slap on a higher mah sticker on their battery because the competition does it, and Joe Buyer will assume the misleading guy with the higher mah battery is the better deal than the same battery with the correctly advertised specs

tear the batteries open, compare all the guts between the 2, and you'll see there's not much of a difference, but someone they can double (or more) the capacity... which they didn't

[Gedanken]

As far as I can tell, I'm getting as many shots per charge out of the third-party batteries as I am out of the Canon originals. Even if they weren't 1800mAh, I'm getting the same performance for a fraction of the price and that's good enough in my book.

[neilwood32]

I have used Non Canon batteries for both cameras now (400D and 50D) and while the capacity might not be as big as the label suggests, they certainly shoot the same or more shots than the Canon ones and are a fraction of the cost.

Third party batteries all the way for me!

[GSH]

id never go non-canon. my camera is my child, why cheap out on that?

I will not pay the same (or more) for a Camera battery than i do for the one that starts my car in the morning.

[canonloader]

Canon is famous for not sharing proprietary information to their competitors. Batteries may be batteries, but batteries with chips in them are another story. The 7D and Mk3 and I assume the Mk4's and the 5D2's have chips in the batteries. Why gamble?

[dovaka]

all my cameras are of hte non chip variety but i have a video camera that has chip batterys and i will never buy an off brand for that again it was a nightmare of problems but for my 50d a battery is a battery. between my 40d and 50d i have 9 batterys that are interchangeable which is why i buy off brand ones a lot.

[cusack]

I will not pay the same (or more) for a Camera battery than i do for the one that starts my car in the morning.
haha when you put it that way!

I've been using $15 photix batteries from ebay for about a year now and it works just as well as the OEM on my 450D

People here have said they will only go with OEMs in case it ruins the camera, but has anyone actually had any problems with 3rd party batteries destroying their camera? or heard of any cases of it?? im curious

[tim]

I can't believe no-one has linked to this thread (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=79584) yet.

[Amfamora]

haha when you put it that way!

I've been using $15 photix batteries from ebay for about a year now and it works just as well as the OEM on my 450D

People here have said they will only go with OEMs in case it ruins the camera, but has anyone actually had any problems with 3rd party batteries destroying their camera? or heard of any cases of it?? im curious

Do you have any trouble charging them in the Canon Charger???

[cusack]

Do you have any trouble charging them in the Canon Charger???

it works perfectly fine in the Canon charger

[Amfamora]

They seem to be gettin better with time, only got a pair a few days ago from Hong Kong with my Grip. They were going from empty to the green charge light in like 10 mins but with no charge. The more I charge then drain them the better they are getting.