Off Brand Batteries

I have the Canon T2i which takes the LP-E8 batteries. I am looking into buying a few replacement batteries. At work we have the Canon brand ones and the Zeikos brand batteries. The Canon brand is $40 and the Zeikos is 7$. Am I better off buying a bunch of the zeikos ones? Do they last the same amount of time?

Thanks in advanced.

My 3rd party sterlingtek's have worked OK. They seem to either die fast or the battery meter isn't accurate on my 5dc and previous 50D.

Now I simply buy only canon and very happy paying more.

I've had good luck with Opteka batteries. I can't tell the difference between them and OEM Canon ones.

JLai81 wrote in post #10332115
I've had good luck with Opteka batteries. I can't tell the difference between them and OEM Canon ones.

Same here. Can't tell the difference. I think I got mine for around $12 on Amazon.

my opteka battery grip for XSi came with 2 batteries, no problems whatsoever

I use the cheap ebay batts. No problems with them.
They were cheap enough, so I have several around.

DoninIA wrote in post #10334841
I use the cheap ebay batts. No problems with them.
They were cheap enough, so I have several around.

Same,here.Ebay batteries and I usually buy 2 or 3 from different sources(they are about $6 each).Never had a problem except they tend to over-rate the Mah.

I have 4 LP-E8 Canon batteries that I got on eBay. They are Canon Branded and cost $16 each. Of course they are fake. I got them from 2 different sellers. One from Malaysia and the other from Hong Kong. Both packages came from Hong Kong. They look just like the real McCoy but on 2 of them there is no period after Canon incThe other 2 have this. The lettering on all of them is very light. One way to check is by weight. The real ones weigh 1.7oz. 2 of the fakes weighed 1.5oz. and 2 weighed 1.3oz. (These were the ones with no period). That must be how much a period weighs. I contacted both parties. One said he would give me back my money if I sent them back or give me a $10 refund. I took the refund. The other, (The one from Malaysia) gave me back my money within 10 minutes of being contacted. They said they were hoodwinked by their supplier and they took them off their site. With these refunds I bought a real Canon one from B&H. The price for the real ones is down to about $48 now and well worth it. The whole point to this story is Watch What you use for batteries. If a battery goes bad (They Do) and damages the Camera, Canon will laugh at you. I have never had a Canon Battery go bad but I have had After market / Fakes go bad. I have these 4 Fake Canon Batteries setting in a drawer and they will stay there. I have 5 Canon batteries for my 450 that I got dirt cheap when Circuit City went under. Good luck with your After Market batteries and I hope they never damage your $900 camera because if they do the small amount you saved will really make you cry.

Thanks for the input. So which brands should I direct the customer to when buying batteries? Lemar, Energizer, or Zeikos? Im in camera sales and we have those brands to offer to our customers.

:Personally I wouldn't use any of them. I would say that they are probably all the same and come from the same Factory in China. Ask your distributor.

I have no problem recommending SterlingTek batteries. I've owned 2 of them for a couple of years now and have not noticed any performance difference from the Canon batteries. I think I paid $25 for 2 of the SterlingTek NB-2LH (Canon XTi compatible) batteries which is half the price of one marked Canon.

That is fine. It is a personal thing (And financial). I just can not take the chance. I have 2 Canon batteries now and I like to have 3 but I have to wait until I get my latest SS Check.

My off-brand batteries (2 for XSi - 3 for 50D) have worked perfectly!

JJD.Photography wrote in post #10412484
My off-brand batteries (2 for XSi - 3 for 50D) have worked perfectly!

That is just fine. One question for you, will the battery Mfr pay for the repairs to your camera if the battery fails and harms your camera? If they will that is great. I do know if you are using a Canon Camera with a Genuine Canon Battery and it goes bad Canon will pay for the repairs. All you have to do is contact Canon and return the Camera and Battery to a USA repair facility.

Just test the voltage for the off brand batteries and you'll be fine. I'm willing to bet "Canon" batteries are just rebranded from some 3rd party "off brand" battery. Just like how the Canon filters are actually rebranded Tiffen filters. It's all about charging a premium for the Canon name.