Third party batteries for the 5DMKII

[Physicx]

I recently just acquired the 5DMKII and currently looking for extra spare batteries. To my shock, the new genuine canon batteries are £45 on amazon. Very expensive for my budget if I wanted a couple. Third party batteries for the 5DII are less than £10 each. Does anyone know if these are just as good? Im going travelling and will carry 2 batteries. one is always a back up. when the genuine one dies, I will put in the back up, use that for the day and then charge up the dead one ready for the next day so I only need a battery that will last me 1 day as a back up.

 

[neuroanatomist]

I recently just acquired the 5DMKII and currently looking for extra spare batteries. To my shock, the new genuine canon batteries are £45 on amazon. Very expensive for my budget if I wanted a couple. Third party batteries for the 5DII are less than £10 each. Does anyone know if these are just as good? Im going travelling and will carry 2 batteries. one is always a back up. when the genuine one dies, I will put in the back up, use that for the day and then charge up the dead one ready for the next day so I only need a battery that will last me 1 day as a back up.

Some are fine, others don't last nearly as long. Many aren't chipped to report status to the camera. Generally, the ones with equivalent performance to the OEM batteries aren't that much cheaper than the OEM ones.

 

[wickidwombat]

I've got an Aperture brand grip and batteries the whole lot cost like $45 I just got the grip for emaergencies co i could use AA batts if needed and I use the copy batteries, they both last pretty well however they definately dont last as long as the genuine on a continuous shoot I will need to change out the copies during the day
typically the genuine ones will go for a full wedding shoot of 10 hours or so and then be pretty low but still functioning

 

[unkbob]

For stills, many third party batteries are fine, especially branded ones like Energizer and Hahnel. But for video, there is significant risk in losing a shot with even the best 3rd party batteries because the camera can shut down suddenly without saving the current file. Hahnel last the longest of the brands I've tested (but not quite as long as Canon) yet they are still not 100% reliable for video. Canon is the only brand I tested which always saved the current file and switched the camera off safely before the battery ran out.

 

[simonphoto]

I have a 5DII and have four batteries for the camera plus an Apeture booster grip. Very reliable power sources and I am continually impressed by the length of use you get from a charge. I made sure I purchased the genuine batts from Canon as I had some ordinary experiences from my 5D and it's after market batteries. The eFilm batts for the 5D were pretty average and shot around half to 2/3 of the shots than with the originals. I know we are talking about the 5DII but i think the comparison would be appropriate.

My advice is to save money on accessories where you can - battery grip etc - but some items must be genuine to get the best performance out of your kit. I had a similar experience with after market cable releases for the Canon digitals. Never again. Basically you get what you pay for.

Hope that helps you out

 

[Hillsilly]

Cheap third party batteries might only give you 70% of the performance of genuine batteries. But with such a big price difference, I've usually succumbed to their allure. I do a similar thing - use the Canon batteries as my preferred option and the third party one's as back-up. Its a system that works well for me.