Buying a spare battery for the camera

[Dazz1]

Like many P&S cameras now, my new camera uses a small rechargeable lithium battery. I decided I needed a second battery that I can have charged and ready to go when the first one goes flat while I am out and about.

I was surprised at the HUGE variation in prices. A quick search turned up prices from $75 for an original Canon brand battery, to $13 for a no-name brand - and that's just within Australia. From Asia, the price gets even lower. What also seems wrong, is that noname batteries from local battery stores are around $40.

I decided to risk buying the cheapest from a Australian source. I thought it was worth $13 to try a noname brand first, before I lashed out $75 for the Canon one. It will be interesting to see if it performs satisfactorily or not.

[William]

It will :)

[Dazz1]

It will :) Well, that inspires confidence :). I'll have it inside a week, so we'll see.

[William]

I've never had a problem with after market battries for my DSLR's , No way would I pay the price for a genuine Canon battery

[bobt]

I've never bought a genuine battery, but I have had issues with a couple of the no-brand ones. Most recently, one would not hold a charge and so i complained to the (HongKong) supplier.

He told me to send it back and they'd replace it, but I found the postage to be prohibitive. Once i told him that he just asked me to pay $5 postage, which i did, and a replacement was sent immediately.

Some generics have lasted as well as the original - but some have had much shorter lives, so it's a gamble. In the long term though you'll be able to have more spares at a cheaper price even if some are duds. I'd perhaps choose a middle price rather than the absolute lowest.

[arthurking83]

I also only purchase no name brand batteries for my devices and the two I purchased way back in '06 for my (then)D70s are both still going as strong as, or stronger than the Nikon battery supplied with the camera itself.

Difference between them tho was that I got 2 no name batteries + a charger for both home and car for $20 less than an ebay Nikon battery.

I have had no name batteries for other devices that have been duds, but the low price warranted the risk factor.
And the no name replacements for those two duds(Toshiba PDA) ended up working well for years.

Moral of the story is that sometimes you can get duds. Only time will tell.


BUT! the problem for me is when the genuine article ends up being a dud, and this can also happen too.

Before the smarty pants'es of this topic come along and sing the praises of genuine branded batteries:

The genuine Nikon battery that came with my D800E is a dud. The camera gives you a readout on the health of the battery as well as the remaining power level.
The health condition is a rating out of 4, where 1 is 'brand new', and 4 means it needs 'replacement'.
After 8 months of not much usage, the genuine battery supplied with the D800E is currently on 3, which means in about 3 months it'll be dead.
I'll take it back for a replacement one day soon.


Late last year I also got a no name brand battery for the D800, and it's going quite strongly, and holds it's charge better than the genuine battery.
Battery plus house/car charger for less than 1/3rd of the price of the genuine thing .. and so far it's been the better quality item!

Go figure.

[Dazz1]

I guess the only possible problem to avoid, is no name replacements that do not have the smart chips, or do not have compatible chips, in them. I noticed one replacement that said it would not charge in the OEM's charger. Probably would not have allowed the camera to correctly query it's condition either. So I made sure I bought one that guaranteed it was 100% compatible.

[Roosta]

I have got a couple for my Two different bodies. No problems at all.

I do know that on a friends 7D, the non gens wont show on the camera screen, as they don't have the chip, but charge and work fine, he just takes two with him.

[arthurking83]

I guess the only possible problem to avoid, is no name replacements that do not have the smart chips, or do not have compatible chips, in them.

....

That's always a risk and if they reckon it's compatible, I guess the only way to know for sure is to buy one and try it.

The one I purchased said it was compatible, and so far as I can currently ascertain it works without issue.


I don't know about other genuine brands, but Nikon themselves don't manufacture batteries, nor the actual cells inside them.

Many of the genuine Nikon batteries I've had have manufacturing processes marked as:

"cell made in Japan, with further processing in China" (or words to this extent).

ie. the actual LiIon cell is shipped to China, where the actual battery is made. Makes sense as this will save about $10 in manufacturing cost(just a wild random guess)

Further most, if not all, the no name brand batteries I've purchased have had manufacturing information that mimics Nikons.

"Cell made in Japan, Manufactured in China"

My guess is that Nikon contract out the manufacture of their batteries to a Chinese company(makes good business sense) ... and then these Chinese manufacturers have subsidiaries that also make the same batteries for the no name market as a sideline(also makes sense to have multiple fingers dipped into as many pies as they can).

In my experience, I've yet to see an aftermarket/no name battery from China, using a LiIon cell made in China. They all seem to be made in Japan.