EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

[Loswr]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

I know that 'every little bit counts' but saving somewhere between 1-4% of the cost of the camera is probably not worth the risk for most people. Granted, if you're buying 4+ batteries, it adds up. But if you're buying that many batteries, you probably need reliability.

Apart from me being Mr. Budget - what risk? Am I missing something here, or has the Canon fud finally sunk in? I'd evaluate the risk of a chipped (i.e. premium) 3rd party battery to turn into an explosive device just as with Canon, that's about zero. The one possibility I see is that it might have less charge or less load cycles, alas, it's cheaper.

Read the post above yours, see if anything sinks in. Here, I'll quote the relevant bit:

And just a day after I posted that, the second one of my cheap third-party batteries stopped communicating with the camera and won't charge with the Canon charger. So I've confirmed that if the chip doesn't work with the camera, the charger just rolls its eyes.

Say you're on vacation with your two cheap, chipped batteries and your Canon charger, and on the first day out those batteries decide to stop charging in your charger (which you likely wouldn't notice until that night, when you needed to charge them). Have a new pair FedEx'd to you at the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge? The package absolutely, positively won't be there overnight...not to mention the high cost of getting bona fide LP-E6s shipped there at all.

Maybe you wouldn't care if you missed hundreds of shots on a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. I suspect most people would consider that a significant risk - it seems quite reasonable to fear such an occurrence, be uncertain about the possibility, and thus doubt the wisdom of saving a few dollars on a cheaper 3rd party battery.

 

[Rat]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

Neuro, please, you 're better than this. Every Canon camera comes with a fully functioning, non-counterfeit battery (even if it *can* trip Canon's no-fakes-protection). You can always use that for spares - I do. There's your backup. But my four main batteries are aftermarket, averaging less than $15 a piece.

I used third parties for over a decade, never a problem. You really should ignore that, as a scientist of your stature would steer well clear of generalisations based on hearsay, as you did in your previous post. By the way, by that reasoning, all Canons are unreliable, too. An even dumber argument is to regard the price of batts relative to the price of the camera. You only buy expensive petrol for your expensive car?

And "I suspect most people would consider that a significant risk"? WTF? That *is* fud, and a fallacy. Posts like these take away my appetite for this forum. And I KNOW you're cleverer than this. I'm with Marsu - in suspecting the fud has sunk in, at least - and out of here. Don't bother convincing me you were making sense - you're not and you know it.

 

[Loswr]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

Neuro, please, you 're better than this. Every Canon camera comes with a fully functioning, non-counterfeit battery (even if it *can* trip Canon's no-fakes-protection). You can always use that for spares - I do. There's your backup. But my four main batteries are aftermarket, averaging less than $15 a piece.

I used third parties for over a decade, never a problem. You really should ignore that, as a scientist of your stature would steer well clear of generalisations based on hearsay, as you did in your previous post. By the way, by that reasoning, all Canons are unreliable, too. An even dumber argument is to regard the price of batts relative to the price of the camera. You only buy expensive petrol for your expensive car?

And "I suspect most people would consider that a significant risk"? WTF? That *is* fud, and a fallacy. Posts like these take away my appetite for this forum. And I KNOW you're cleverer than this. I'm with Marsu - in suspecting the fud has sunk in, at least - and out of here. Don't bother convincing me you were making sense - you're not and you know it.

Have you ever taken more shots in one day than a single battery allows? If not, lucky you. If so, how good is one 'fully functioning, non-counterfeit battery' as a backup?

Ahhh, so the reports of 3rd party batteries failing to register with the camera and/or becoming incompatible with the Canon LC-E6 charger are baseless lies? Or they're true, but there's just no chance of it actually happening? Or if it does happen, there's no risk of not having enough batteries to finish the shoot/day/trip? Many event shooters have at least one battery charging during the event. Personally, when on vacation I leave a battery (or batteries) in the charger in the hotel room, so I can swap in freshly-charged at the end of the day, before heading out at night. If you're shooting in the cold, you get far fewer shots per charge than in temperate climates.

It's in Canon's best interest to ensure their OEM batteries retain full compatibility with their cameras, whereas they have no such motivation with 3rd parties (and, it could be argued, it's better for Canon if they engineer a planned failure of a non-OEM product). There's always a risk any product will fail. That risk is higher with a 3rd party battery, as shown by dgatwood's post, but 3rd party batteries are cheaper. So, like many things in life, everyone can make their own decision about how much risk they're willing to tolerate vs. how much money they'll save. To you, the benefit of the cost savings outweighed the additional risk. For me, if spending an extra $30-40 mitigates that risk, even a little bit, that's money well spent.

Sorry you're losing your appetite - I KNOW the truth sometimes gives people indigestion.

 

[dgatwood]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

Say you're on vacation with your two cheap, chipped batteries and your Canon charger, and on the first day out those batteries decide to stop charging in your charger (which you likely wouldn't notice until that night, when you needed to charge them). Have a new pair FedEx'd to you at the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge? The package absolutely, positively won't be there overnight...not to mention the high cost of getting bona fide LP-E6s shipped there at all.

Maybe you wouldn't care if you missed hundreds of shots on a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. I suspect most people would consider that a significant risk - it seems quite reasonable to fear such an occurrence, be uncertain about the possibility, and thus doubt the wisdom of saving a few dollars on a cheaper 3rd party battery.

This is why I carry a minimum of three batteries, and at the moment, six... so having one die over Thanksgiving and one die over Christmas didn't cause me to lose any shots.

 

[Loswr]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

This is why I carry a minimum of three batteries, and at the moment, six... so having one die over Thanksgiving and one die over Christmas didn't cause me to lose any shots.

Ok, so let's see... A Wasabi LP-E6 is $30, buying six and having two fail raises the average cost to $45. You carry at least three, meaning $135. Two Canon LP-E6 (they're reliable, you only need two) costs $120.

Cheaper batteries save money? Sure.

(Ok, I did double count the failure rate. Still, they're not 1/2 to 1/3 the price of OEM once you factor in the failure rate. Is saving 25% - $15/battery - really worth having to carry extras and worry about when they'll fail?)

 

[RustyTheGeek]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

It has been entertaining reading the back and forth this topic has generated. There are many ways to look at it and everyone has their opinion and what works for them.

Whatever one thinks or how it affects them, I think we can all agree that this is something we can do without.

The firmware change does less to help and more to hinder our ability to do what we all paid $3000+ to do - use our camera. With that in mind, why don't we all simply agree that Canon needs to stay the hell out of accessory control through firmware and just concentrate on improving the camera itself. I don't recall anyone complaining over the years that Canon should do more to control batteries through firmware.

 

[dgatwood]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

This is why I carry a minimum of three batteries, and at the moment, six... so having one die over Thanksgiving and one die over Christmas didn't cause me to lose any shots.

Ok, so let's see... A Wasabi LP-E6 is $30, buying six and having two fail raises the average cost to $45. You carry at least three, meaning $135. Two Canon LP-E6 (they're reliable, you only need two) costs $120.

Cheaper batteries save money? Sure.

(Ok, I did double count the failure rate. Still, they're not 1/2 to 1/3 the price of OEM once you factor in the failure rate. Is saving 25% - $15/battery - really worth having to carry extras and worry about when they'll fail?)

The batteries that failed are almost certainly more like the $10 variety than the $35 variety. Non-garbage batteries don't usually die within the first two weeks, get replaced by the vendor, then turn around and fail again after 2–3 months. Four failures in three months is record low quality even in my world, where my luck with hardware resembles Murphy's law....

By contrast, I shot with a pair of semi-name-brand third-party batteries (and one Canon battery) in my XTi since I got it in 2007. I had the first failure (stone dead) earlier this year, after more than five years of fairly heavy use. I decided not to bother replacing it because I was about to buy the 6D, which uses different batteries.

 

[bluewolf37]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

Don't try little tricks Canon - just make your batteries more affordable. LP-E6 is old enough, if you sell it for 25-30$ nobody will think about 3rd parties and your profit will be very good.
Sometimes I'm wondering what marketing specialists do they have...

I agree i would always buy canon batteries if they had reasonable prices, but some of my batteries are priced at $150-190 a piece for the official canon version. I found a two pack of Wasabi Canon BP-828 batteries and charger for my Canon XA20 for $80 and a Wasabi LP-E4N for $60. I would rather own two good batteries for less than the price of one than one overpriced battery. I have used off brands for several years and have yet to have any problems so I don't see a reason to buy canon for now. I haven't upgraded my firmware yet so it could break things but then i could buy the new chipped version and still pay less than one canon battery.

I think a lot of people would buy canon batteries if canon lowered their price. Not only would get sales from the people buying off brand batteries but they would also get sales from the people that decide one battery is good enough after seeing the high price.

 

[JPAZ]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

I've used non-OEM batteries in my g6, XTi, and 50d without issue. But, I am reluctant to do the same in my 5diii. First of all, I get way more shots per charge than the older bodies achieved. The "shots per battery" ratio is better so this reduces the amortized cost (although it is still higher than the off brand). Second of all, I am often in remote places where replacement batteries are just about impossible to obtain (OEM or non-OEM).

But in the same vein, that's also why I am reluctant to get a non-Canon lens. I don't know what the camera - lens communication and function could do in the future, but I am pretty sure Canon will see to it that their lenses work with their cameras. It's the same logic, eve if this is a "monopoly" of sorts.

 

[Marsu42]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

but I am pretty sure Canon will see to it that their lenses work with their cameras.

You're lucky here: Latest Sigma lenses (and Yongnuo flashes/controllers) have usb ports so they can update the firmware if Canon changes something- so I'd say these are as future-proof as Canon originals.

 

[Random Orbits]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

but I am pretty sure Canon will see to it that their lenses work with their cameras.

You're lucky here: Latest Sigma lenses (and Yongnuo flashes/controllers) have usb ports so they can update the firmware if Canon changes something- so I'd say these are as future-proof as Canon originals.

Except for the time that the lenses are bricked while Sigma creates the updated firmware. Not so bad if you have multiple options, but not worth it if you rely on it for a living.

 

[Marsu42]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

Except for the time that the lenses are bricked while Sigma creates the updated firmware.

You should apply to Canon as an independent fud agent

I understand the necessity of pro shooting are different than for the rest of us, but 3rd party items don't just brick by looking at them, but only after camera fw updates. But *esp* as a pro you don't just update your fw on first day of the release and just before a shooting. You will evaluate what the changes are, and if necessary wait some, for example until 3rd party vendors updating their fw.

 

[Random Orbits]

Re: EOS 5D Mark III & Third Party Batteries

Except for the time that the lenses are bricked while Sigma creates the updated firmware.

You should apply to Canon as an independent fud agent

I understand the necessity of pro shooting are different than for the rest of us, but 3rd party items don't just brick by looking at them, but only after camera fw updates. But *esp* as a pro you don't just update your fw on first day of the release and just before a shooting. You will evaluate what the changes are, and if necessary wait some, for example until 3rd party vendors updating their fw.

Yeah, because people love losing functionality of their gear... not so much. In my industry it takes months to release new software because of safety and certification issues. Consumer electronics is different but it will still take time to reverse engineer and test the changes. And it doesn't have to come with a fw update; it could come with a new camera release. Of course, they never list incompatibility with extant 3rd party gear as features of a new camera. :