Huddy Loc: Fitzgerald, GA

Canon makes a big deal about using after market batteries. They say there is a danger of explosion. I have used other than OEM batteries for a long while without a single problem including durability and service life per charge. I am now having fears though due to having read Canon's write up about this. They say that their OEM batteries are made under strict quality control and have a safety circuit board to eliminate problems.

Please, lets discuss the issue. What about quality control, safety, leakage and irregular voltage output. Could these be issues with after market batteries? Some are cheap at about $5 which I like.

I don't want to have one blow up (two cases sited by Canon in which no one was hurt) or leak in my camera or ruin it with improper voltage (not mentioned by Canon). The chargers might even be defective.

Do you know of any non OEM batteries that have a proven record?

What do you photographers say?

Thank you all

heltonjkv96 Loc: southwest Virginia

i've been using the power2000 in my canon for a long time, no trouble

JimKing Loc: Salisbury, Maryland USA

I have two eBay batteries which I rotate with Nikon batteries in my D200. No problems.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

I have never had a problem with EBay, China direct free shipping Batteries. Some of mine for the Panasonic are getting short lived, but then again, so is the original Panasonic. That has been 5 years so I have no complaint and will do it again.

jxgmitr Loc: Buffalo, NY

When I recently purchased my Canon at a local camera store and questioned the cost of an additional battery I was advised the price of the Canon battery and that there are others for purchase that are cheaper. However, they also advised that I should stick with the Canon battery as when charging in the Canon charger there is an automatic shut off when fully charged and using the Canon battery. Apparently the Canon charger will not automatically shut off for a non Canon battery and this can cause an explosion. So I am told anyway.

sinatraman Loc: Vero Beach Florida, Earth,alpha quaudrant

think of it this way, youve invested $600.00 to over $1,000.00 on a premium piece of electronics, do you really want to risk damageing or ruining that camera just to save $30.00? Does that seem logical or does that seem cheap to you? photography like golf is an expensive hobby, you accept it or find another hobby. Instead of no name made by chinese slave labor no quality control chicom knockoffs, stay with the made in Japan oem batteries. There is a cliche saying "penny wise, pound foolish."

JimH Loc: Western South Jersey, USA

Do not believe it. Canon/Nikon/et el buy their batteries from the same factory(s) that makes all the other batteries, and simply put their name on them. Canon does NOT operate their own battery manufacturing facility.

They tell the battery manufacturers, "Here are our specs : 1100mAmpHours, three contacts, 7mm by 4 mm by 3mm, grey plastic body enclosure, Nickel MetalHydride internals..." etc etc etc.

Battery factory builds batteries. Sells to Canon at X yen per thousand. Canon sells them to you for 3X yen per thousand.

Battery factory then sells same batteries to third party at x yen per thousand. Third party then sells them to you for 2X yen per thousand.

Now who's penny wise and pound foolish?

So long as the batteries pass final QC test and supply the same voltage, etc etc, a battery charger does not know the difference between them.

Does you car know the difference between a DieHard and a Motorcraft?

Don't fall for that kind of marketing junk.

iresq Loc: Annapolis MD

I tend to agree that it's ok to purchase aftermarket. With that said I have purchased different items Chinese manufacturers that have been plagued with counterfeit parts (subwoofer amplifiers and Christmas lights - yes Christmas lights). What you might get by buying brand name is tighter quality control, but there are no guarantees. In the two instances I was involved with it was claimed by the manufactures that they did not know they were using counterfeit parts. But who knows.

I have used aftermarket batteries for many years with no issues.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

The last time this was discussed the people went crazy over the problematic wall board and that it was a commie plot. When actually according to Chem-Engineering News, it was the mine for Gypsum was high in Sulfur, not political. Some said your camera will burst into flames like the Laptops. The laptops were probably from small batteries put in a high drain laptop causing over heating and smoke and smell and melting of plastic, not actual flames like a special effect movie auto crash.

Making batteries is not the same as using a mined material. and I fully agree that the Factories build to specs or under label, i.e. may label a 1200 as a 1000 because why change production; give more than was asked, it is cheaper than breaking production for a short run.

I feel safe and agree with JimH

ole sarg Loc: south florida

You buy a non brand battery manufactured by the Chinese company Cumofsumdumbboy and it blows up or ruins your camera because it leaks. Canon says tough. You spend the extra 10 or so dollars and the same thing happens, but canon is on the label. You go to canon and they may hem and haw but will have to do something for you. They want your continued loyalty, good will and business. Spring for the extra bucks.

Nevada Chuck

I have discovered that OEM batteries can be had directly from Hong Kong sellers for about half of what they would cost here or from a US supplier. If the asking price is much below that, stay away from them.

When checking on eBay, watch the wording of the listing carefully. The ad should specifically say OEM battery for . . ., and not something like "made for the Sony a77" or "fits the Nikon D3x" etc.

Personal experience: Adorama sells the OEM battery for my camera for $51.95; Gadget Infinity (Hong Kong) sells it for $25.95. Another Hong Kong house sells a clone for $17.95. When loaded into my camera, the camera rejected the cheapo battery, saying "not OEM battery". After displaying this message for a few seconds, the camera shut down. The one from Gadget Infinity works perfectly. Caveat emptor.

Rich Maher Loc: Sonoma County, CA

Great reply JimM. Think about it. do any of the camera makers have their own battery plants? I've used oem batteries from ebay for years and never had a problem. If I'm blown up and killed some day by I oem battery I will let you know.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Yep, same goes with filters, who makes those filters? One person in a forum said well the good ones are made in the Philippines by Philistines!! huh,,, how is that better than China? I can not see problems with the ones I have gotten. One argued that the IR filters were inferior What how ??, they do not pass the visable light. The antiglare coatinge coating they were claiming would improve the filters had noting to do with IR. IR is IR no visable light is the game.

Satanta Loc: N.C.

Not exactly cmaera related but moreso on the batts.

Li-ons cam vent and burst into flames.

Sometimes it is from overcharging and sometimes it just *is*.

Your cell phone, your laptop and almost any portable device you carry contains a Li-on.

I am also part of a flashlight forum. I joined it when researching the type[s] of flashlights and, because my vision is a mess I needed something special-I simply cannot use the 'avarage' flashlight one gets at Wally World nor do I want one so bright it blinds me on close-up work.

Some of the threads discussed and *showed* the kind of damage that can happen when a Li-on battery gies ~WHOOSH!~ inside an aluminum tube and it is not pretty.

[[I ended up going with an AA and recgargeables but no L-ions.]]

So, back to a point made earlier-Canon and Nikon and them do not make their own batteries. You can, for the most part, use aftermarkets safely. [[That is all I have left for my 10 year old Nikon as of now]]

*most* L-ions have a safety switch that shuts them down when overheating. Some real crappy ones may not.

The single rason Canon and others want you to use *Their* batteries is the bottom line $$. Who gets your $$ if you buy non-Canon stamped products?

FORD will tell you to bring your car into the Ford dealership for 'Real Ford parts'...cool, so it costs you $300 to replace the upper radiator hose rather than $50 and a couple hours worth of work if you had gone to Autozone and got an Autozone stamped part.

The only guarantee you have buying OEM is there is likely a warranty if the battery goes nuclear.

Otherwise, unless you are going to "Joes Crack Shack and Battery Depot" chances are, the aftermarlets are fine.

JimH Loc: Western South Jersey, USA

Much of the Li-Ion hysteria stems from, and is a holdover, from the 2006 'scare' when there were reports of some Dell laptops overheating and portions of the plastic case melting due to an overheated battery. There were six (6) actual reports to the CPSC of 'melted' laptops. Dell recalled nearly three million battery backs for replacement.

Since then, there have been no reported 'laptop meltdowns'. And the few camera overheatings have been related to shooting VIDEO for a lengthy period of time. I've said, and continue to say, that DSLR bodies are Not Designed For Video. If you shoot video at 24FPS for a long period of time, e.g. 20-30 minutes NON STOP, with a DSLR I just think you're asking for trouble. Even Real Live Movie Cameras don't shoot for 30 minutes at a time.