Aftermarket/Non OEM accessories?

[MiniFighter]

Hey Everyone!!

Just wanting some feedback on aftermarket items available (mainly) from eBay. Ive always been the type of person to stick with genuine items for the likes of car and motorcycle parts, iPhone accessories etc etc. Should i use the same principles with camera gear?

When looking at accessories for the EOS1100D online, the genuine Canon items can be quite expensive and i have found quite a few aftermarket alternatives on eBay. The cost saving can be quite a bit, but is it worth it?

Ive come to questioning this after just purchasing a car battery charger for it. AUD $7 Landed, Ex USA.

The main thing im after is a battery grip, Genuine Canon is around AUD$199.95 from a reputable online Aus store. Aftermarket from eBay start at AUD$40 delivered.

Batteries are AUD$50 in Genuine Canon, Aftermarket $10 delivered. Ive also read somewhere that aftermarket ones wont register battery info?

The above are two items im after to give you an idea of what im getting at. Would like to hear some feedback before i buy anything else :)

Thanks, Wayne.

[dannat]

Have had several non genuine items, most function with no worries, have had timers batteries battery grip..only thing I had trouble with was an Olympus timer...I thnk it was not fully compatible with my model. Most of the HK sellers are pretty good about help, they don't like neg. Feedback

[macmich]

i have had grips for my 50d and 7d
mieke and they work as good as any
they have the same texture and rubber it also has a timer and was $70 delivered with 2 batteries 1 remote cord and 1 screen protecter
i had no trouble at all
cheers macca

[KeeFy]

One thing i don't like about 3rd party battery grips is the feel of the shutter button. It feels cheap. But other than that... it works as intended. :)

[arthurking83]

.....

Ive come to questioning this after just purchasing a car battery charger for it. AUD $7 Landed, Ex USA......

A few years back(something like in 2006), I had the option of purchasing either a single Nikon genuine battery for the ridiculously over inflated price of $85, or (via ebay) two non genuine batteries and a multi purpose charger for the grand total of only $25 for the lot.
Well you can see why I went with the former option, and after 6 years of semi abuse both batteries still work superbly well, and the battery charger not only perfectly charges them up whilst I'm travelling, it also charges the other type of battery I got with the purchase of another camera(D70s to D300).
D300 battery is still perfectly fine, indicating 100% on the life indicator in the camera, so the car charger is not ruining it in any way. It's not a fast charger, and I don't really care for it anyhow, it's really only there for when I need to keep it topped up as I can.

Based on my experience with a few non genuine items, I'd have to recommend against the genuine stuff in most instances, as it simply is not good value for money.
There are some genuine manufacturer items that will prove to be of a higher quality than aftermarket products, but (from what I've seen) these are rare and usually specialised items.
Bellows, some batterygrips, some filters .. and so on.

If in doubt, just ask the question. Chances are that someone on AP has had an experience that may prove to be useful.

[andylo]

I had aftermarket remote, battery grip, batteries x 2 (which comes with the grip anyway), hand strap and wireless flash triggers for my 500D.

I have and using both wire and wireless remote, Yongnuo ST-2E, Yongnuo's OC-E3, battery and some other misc stuff for my 1D3.

With the 1 exception of the 1 of the aftermarket battery comes with the 500D grip, all working just fine.

Hoya/Kenko stuff wouldn't be considered as 3rd, right?

Anyway, I would say 99% of the time the aftermarket items works and works fine. You do have the odd exception every now and then, but that's the same with the branded items I suppose?

(IMO) With the 3rd item, I personally prefer the brand of "Yongnuo". They tend to be better made in terms of assembling as well as material used.

[Allan Ryan]

i brought a battery grip for my 50D about 3 months ago - cost $71 including 2 batteries.

Everything was working untill today, the shutter button does the half press to focus but won't do the full press " take a shot" function
But it doesn't bother me, because i could turn around and order another one, get 2 more batteries and still be saving a heap compared to a genuine item.

If I had lots of money genuine all the time :)
but saving money on noncritical items means more money for lenses. Battery grips don't affect image quaility

[unistudent1962]

I've got a Phottix Grip on a 400D, a Genuine Canon Grip on a 550D, and a Meike Grip on a 60D. I can't pick the difference in quality or operation between any of the them. Save your money and shop on eBay. The same applies to hoods, remote shutter releases, batteries, etc.