Do You Use Third Party Batteries in Your Canon Cameras?

[grainier]

I have a spare third party LP-E6 by Insten, it came free and works fine although I think it has lower capacity compared to Canon. As to LP-E5's and E8's I have uncounted piles of each of every brand possible. The only problem I ever had with those was a couple of genuine E5's that got swollen.

 

[maves]

In some markets genuine accessories are excessively expensive. I use Genuine in my 5diii but only because I could get them at a good price. Genuine batteries in Australia often cost over AU$100 when generics can be bought for closer to $20.

With a professional camera that I rely on I use genuine, but there is no way I would expect someone with an entry level camera worth $250 including battery to spend $100 on a genuine battery.

There is also a huge difference between reputable 3rd party batteries (which are possibly made to a similar spec and standard as OEM batteries) and cheap eBay knock offs. Buying cheap generic batteries online from places like eBay is a gamble

 

[IglooEater]

I ever used at never intend to use third party batteries. Although I made that decision quite a while ago, these articles confirmed to me what I already suspected, especially the second one where actual capacity is tested:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2016/09/07/caffeine-priority-first-party-batteries-are-expensive-but-probably-worth-it
http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2015/10/28/counterfeit-battery-fakes-with-risks

 

[Hector1970]

Re: Do You Use Third Party Batteries in Your Canon Cameras?ry

My spare batteries are all copies. I've used a lot of DTSE's batteries too. They are pretty good. They do die over time but are way cheaper than the original. I'd buy Canon batteries if they were more reasonably priced. Hahnel are good (every thing they make is good. I've met the owner in person - very clever businessman) but pricey enough.

 

[Graphic.Artifacts]

I have 4 Watson LP-E6 that I bought from B&H and they work fine. I haven't noticed any difference in performance vs. the Canon batteries nor have any of the cameras I've owned complained about them. I don't own a 5D4 or 6D2 so can't say about those. I also have one of their dual-bay Watson chargers which works pretty well and includes a 12V DC car cable which is awesome.

My only rule is that I don't mix Canon and Watson batteries in the same 2-slot battery grip. I either use two Watson or two Canon. The batteries and chargers seem to mix fine.

I only use Canon LP-E19's. They run so long that I don't need more than two. Would love to find a smaller 3rd party charger for travel. The Canon LC-E19 charger seem unnecessarily large. It has two bays but only one works at a time so not sure what the value of that is. Also no 12V.

 

[RGF]

I have purchased a few third party batteries but they quickly went bad. Learned my lesson.

Only genuine Canon batteries for 5D and 1Dx cameras and Powerex for flash.

 

[preppyak]

Ive had really good luck with the Wasabi Power batteries over a variety of brands (LP-E6 and LP-E8 for Canon, NP-FW50 for Sony). They list them as being higher mAh than the OEM batteries, which hasnt been my experience. But my LP-E6 knockoffs held up as well for like 6-7 years now. My FW50's are probably still 80-90% the original after 2-3 years now.

The way Canon prices batteries, I probably paid 20-25% the OEM price. Sony, about 40-50% OEM.

 

[notapro]

Canon batteries only for my cameras.

 

[Andreos]

I've used STK (used to be SterlingTek) batteries in my 10D, 5D and 6D without any problems whatsoever. In my usage, they work as well or better than Canon-branded batteries, and die less frequently. At 1/4 of the price, there is nothing not to like.

 

[Talys]

It really depends on the battery. Fully decoded batteries that have been around a while like LPE6 have highly reliable after-market batteries.

So yes, on LPE6... I have 3 original Canon LPE6 batteries (that all came with bodies) and about 10+ aftermarket ones; I leave spares everywhere and they are all interchangeable to me.

For a charger: I use two dual battery chargers with interchangeable plates. Usually, only 1 slot is for LPE6, but sometimes I swap out a plate for dual charging if I have a bunch of batteries that happen to all be out. The other is for the popular Sony F530/550/570 batteries that are used in tons of devices like LED panels, field monitors, that kind of thing.

 

[shane.haumpton]

Sometimes since I traveled a lot and I forgot to bring spare batteries. But in most cases, I only use the original and now I bought some extra canon batts at https://www.adorama.com/l/Batteries-and-Power/Camera-Batteries-and-Power-Supplies/Camera-Batteries?sel=Brand-Compatibility_Canon.

 

[Quackator]

Patona, Patona Premium, VHBW, Weiss batteries in use, all with the Patona chargers.
Never had any problems with 3rd party batteries, but I have several dead originals.

Most of the casualties are BP-511 (10D), one is LP-E5 (450D), two are NP-E3 (1D MkII),
one is LP-E6.

Currently in use 3rd party batterie types:
LP-E12 Patona
LP-E17 Patona Premium
LP-E5 VHBW
LP-E6 Patona Premium, Patona, Weiss, VHBW
NP-E3 VHBW

 

[bitm2007]

Two genuine Canon batteries and one cheepie in case of an emergency, which I don't plan to recharge (if ever used) due to safety concerns, after watching a report on UK TV featuring them exploding due to over heating in charger.

 

[edoorn]

Have 6 original Lpe6’s and 4 oem, including 2 wasabi. The oem’s all perform worse than the originals though; in particular the wasabi’s are aweful in my 5d4’s

 

[Roo]

I have 4 genuine and one third party battery but I can't remember the last time I used it. The genuine ones tend to last for most of my shoots.

 

[heretikeen]

Canon batteries only. Given the miniscule price of a battery compared to a camera body, it seems like an odd thing to skimp on to save twenty or thirty bucks.

Someone at Canon just sent a virtual kiss your way.
It must be nice to know that no matter how overpriced you make your accessoires, there's more than enough fan boys out there that buy it CAUSE IT'S CANON.

 

[LDS]

I see that Manfrotto among other brands (mostly owned by the parent company Vitec) is now distributing Hähnel products, including batteries and chargers. Has anybody experience with them?

 

[andrei1989]

has anyone found a third party battery that works with the M5? meaning that it also shows remaining capacity..

i have 2 Patona batteries as backup for the lp-e17 that came with. the camera bought for half the price of an original canon and the package included a charger and maybe i'll add another original canon to the kit..

 

[bsbeamer]

Posted this awhile ago in another thread, but thought it may be helpful for this discussion:

I own many 3rd party batteries that have been purchased throughout the past several years. By product of doing video work and needing to swap semi-frequently throughout the day between camera(s), monitor(s) and sometimes an LED light. Have several Canon, Watson, Wasabi Power, and Kastar branded LP-E6 and LP-E6N's.

Watson's are labeled as three different types:
LPE6 7.4V/1750mAh/12.95Wh (x5)
LP-E6N 7.2V/1900mAh/14.7Wh (x2, most recently purchased)
LP-E6N 7.4V/2000mAh/14.8Wh (x2)

The two Watson batteries labeled LP-E6N 7.4V/2000mAh/14.8Wh are the ones with an issue. They display the "Battery communication error. Does this battery/ do these batteries display the Canon logo? No / Yes" menu.

The Wasabi Power were purchased at different times, but they are all labeled as:
BTR-LPE6-JWP 7.2V/2600mAh/18.7Wh (x9)

The Wasabi Power are great 3rd party batteries but no where near the advertised specs. In fact, they are identical to the newest model Watson LP-E6N 7.2V/1900mAh/14.7Wh batteries and available at a much lower price.

The Kastar batteries are all labeled as:
LP-E6 7.2V/2950mAh and no mention of Wh (x12)

I would not purchase these ever again unless you only want to charge them in an OFFICIAL Canon charger. Out of the twelve I currently own, at least 5 must be charged ONLY in a Canon branded official charger. At least two (probably four) have been recycled.

 

[Stuart]

Almost always 3rd party, ideally with capacity feedback. but ebay means i can carry 4 or 5 batterys and not worry about no power in my 6D. I'd only have 2 if it was a canon orig; And when they start to finally fail canon fail just as quick as the rest.