Camera Labs

In preparation for a family vacation to Disney in a few months, I'm starting to gather a lot of the pieces I may need for my new T3i. Trying to keep costs down I am finding a number of knockoff LP-E8 batteries, many of which people have given good reviews about.

A battery grip is out of the scope of my needs for right now, so I'm opting to simply carry 1 or 2 extra batteries in my bag.

Has anyone here had experience with these cheaper batteries? The goal being to NOT damage the camera. Many of these list at 7.4V instead of the OEM Canon 7.2V. That is a concern but again, many generic reviews are positive.

My apologies if this is not in the correct part of the forum. I found areas for everything but batteries and power.

Thanks,
-Kirk

While I use third party batteries for my grip, I tend to stay away from ones that are too cheap. I generally advise that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

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Canon Rebel XTi, BG-E3 Grip
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II, 24-105mm f/4L, 50mm f/1.4, 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DO, 85mm f/1.8
Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX Macro
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II
Canon 430EX II
Opteka 13mm, 21mm, and 31mm extension tubes

Dont owrry this should be the right place to post this..

I personally am of the view that its better to be safe than sorry. I for one never used third party batteries but I havent heard any bad stories about them yet.

If you do buy a third party one make sure you only use it as a spare/back up.

Otherwise if you havent heard any horror stories yet, then make sure you pick the "best" you can find and know that they sell for a good reason.

EDIT: And avoid really cheap ones. Here in a retail store in Australia, canon batteries sell for around 120 bucks for my 7D and the 3rd party brands from Inca sell for 80 bucks.... But down the road some sell for 30 or 40.... thats too low for me to trust putting in a 2k camera of mine.

Leo

_________________
1) Olympus OM1 [Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8]
2) Pentax MZ-60 [Sigma 28-90 & 100-300]
3) Canon 7D [EF-S 15-85 & 70-200mm f/4 IS]

Leo's Flickr Page

What gives? Your AU dollar is worth more than our US dollar, yet the prices are higher over there...

I have used batteries made by hähnel in a 550D on a recent several weeks trip to Cyprus (5 hähnels and one Canon battery). And to be honest they are as good if not better than original Canon batteries (and less than half the price).
I would have no worries about using hähnel batteries at all.
Amazon have these batteries at a very good price.

Cheap chinese ones I would avoid like the plague.

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5DMKII, 7D, 50D, (EF17-40-L-USM) (EF24-105-f4L-IS-USM) ( EF100-f2.8L-IS-USM) ( SIGMA 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye ) (SIGMA 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM)
Holiday Home Rentals

Thats because the USA has 50million more people than Australia and that means more people wanting cameras

supply and demand mate, Supply and demand.

thats why hong kong is popular with grey imports - currency is better spent there and there are SO MANY people buyng local AND international, you can find it hard to beat prices.

I know some pros in Japan who only import from hong kong into tokyo because the demand in Japan is so low too.

Basically prices for camera gear will get cheaper little by little in the USA if the Aussie dollar keeps rising because we are buyiung from the USA too - that adds more demand meaning cheaper supply.

EDIT that and Canon Australia sets its own prices. AND we have a Goods and Services tax of 10%.

Leo

_________________
1) Olympus OM1 [Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8]
2) Pentax MZ-60 [Sigma 28-90 & 100-300]
3) Canon 7D [EF-S 15-85 & 70-200mm f/4 IS]

Leo's Flickr Page

I'm using different 3rd party batteries in my 500D... yeah... they do what they're supposed to do.

The next test I'm going to do is 2x Canon original batteries vs. 6x Sanyo eneloop in the battery grip.

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

I've ordered one of these as a spare for my 600D, and it works as well as the real one as far as I can tell.

I wouldn't be worried about the nominal voltage difference. The batteries are not constant voltage anyway, and it can vary quite a lot over a discharge cycle.


As for the import discounts... most of the time they are only really cheaper because you are avoiding local taxes (legally or not).

_________________
Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I bought one of these batteries by Energizer though I paid only the equivalent of $10 US (brand new) and I've noticed no difference in terms of the number of photos it can take or how well it can hold a charge.

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control

Thanks everyone for the quick feedback. I may give it a go with one of the batteries I found from "Maximal Power" for around $10 US. "Made In Japan" according to the physical battery and "Japanese Cells" from the description. Always have to take that with a grain of salt but for a backup battery it is worth picking 1 or 2 up to see how they work out.

No guarantee on numbers but I'll do my best to remember how these do on vacation and post my results here after the trip. Now I just need to erase the next 2 months of work and get on with the vacation.

-Kirk

I'm using a third party grip that came with 2 3rd party batterys and i have not had a problem with any of it

_________________
Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS

Good luck with the bats

Just a word of advice - 3rd party bats tend to not hold its power for long.

I just did a test with my dad's camera who owns some 3rd party batteries (he hates paying for original accessories) And I shot 50 shots on his camera with a fully charged original and no obvious bettery drain

I shot a fully charged 3rd party battery 50 shots and it lost about 1/4 of its power. So its something to think about.

Good luck

_________________
1) Olympus OM1 [Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8]
2) Pentax MZ-60 [Sigma 28-90 & 100-300]
3) Canon 7D [EF-S 15-85 & 70-200mm f/4 IS]

Leo's Flickr Page

I have had no drainage problem with mine, I've timed it out and get great life.

_________________
Mike "The Squirrel"
Canon 550D | Canon EF 35mm 1:2 | Canon 50 f/1.8 II | Sigma 18-125mm DC OS | Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD | Canon 430EX II
Military Issued Canon 40D | Canon 55-250mm IS