dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

I've been riding motorcycles on the streets and highways in Oklahoma, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida and in between and have never had an accident. But that doesn't mean it cant happen and I've had plenty of near misses because of stupid other drivers (especially the ones trying to talk, text or look up stuff on their smart phones while driving). It does mean that A: I've been lucky. and B: I've been attentive. Your camera is ONLY as good as your lens, battery, the memory card and you the shooter. If any of them fail, you miss the shot. Are 3rd party batteries as good as OEM? It depends. Some are made as good and some are not. Of those made as good and those OEM, both will have some with flaws. New cars, trucks, etc. can have flaws. But it is up to the manufacturer to repair the flaws. If I buy a 3rd party battery and it ruins my camera, Nikon (or whoever) isn't going to fix it, nor is the battery company. If I buy a Nikon batter for my Nikon, they will fix it. It has nothing to do with how I make my living. If I was on fixed income I would be even more concerned and use ONLY equipment that, if it failed, would be covered under their warranty and Nikons. Watson and Wasabi's guarantee that they will replace the battery is no good. If they damaged my camera with a lousy battery they should fix it too. They won't so their warrantee is meaningless. Nikon's (and other camera companies) will.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Yes, Nikon will as long as it is within the one year warranty period (unless you purchase the two year extension).

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

Well, I live in Florida and the odds of getting hit by lightning are pretty good here, especially if you're in an open field or on a boat. So, I wouldn't take that chance either. It's your money and you do what you want and so will I. But, if the battery fails and the camera company laughs at you, don't come complaining on here. You earned it. As for me, while the chances of getting hit by lightning appear to be small, I don't go out carrying a long metal pole or stand under trees in a thunderstorm. And I don't use non-oem batteries in my camera. It doesn't make sense to try to test the odds. Oh and while I do occasionally go to the casinos, I rarely gamble and never more than $25 or $30 a trip. If I win (and I have) I put the money away and still stick to my $25 or $30 budget per trip. I do take the fund back up to the original amount out of the earnings but I don't throw it all in (unless the winnings don't come back up to the initial amount. I did all of my risk taking in the military so I figure that I'm not going to gamble with my hobby/livelihood.

alandg46 Loc: Boerne, Texas

Guess I'll just continue to live dangerously. BTW it's lightning here right now.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Was just researching Nikon battery warranties & found this listed on Thom Hogan's website. He was talking about different scenarios.
"NikonUSA will honor the warranty and repair these items for no charge to the original owner under warranty. Note that warranties are not transferrable, and do not include misuse, abuse, abnormal use, neglect, alteration, or accidents. Also, note that the warranty does not apply to the battery!"
Refurbished DSLR's only carry a 90 day warranty as well. Here is the link to the article... http://www.dslrbodies.com/nikon/about-nikon/nikon-warranties.html

Another interesting thread over on DPReview... https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/35586416

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

I understand but I do know from having worked there that Nikon will warrantee or repair damage caused by THEIR batteries but not 3rd party ones. While Thom Hogan is good (generally) and while the Warranty does seem to exclude batteries in general, Nikon does repair (speaking from experience) any damage caused by their batteries. And, I do know that if a camera comes in for mysterious electronic issues and has a Non-Nikon battery in it, they will send it back and tell the customer to verify that the problem continues with a Nikon battery before attempting repairs.

Just Trying To Focus Loc: Jackson County, Michigan

I, too, use third party batteries in all my Canons and my Nikon. I do a little research on Amazon and only buy ones with a lot of good reviews. Occasionally I will get one that fails after a year, but for the money I save I don't worry it about, and just toss it in the trash. I might regret it one day, but so far I've been using generic batteries for 12 years.

Sandy

alandg46 Loc: Boerne, Texas

I am much more hazardous to my cameras than the batteries.

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

Some are better than others. I've had several brands, but the Wasabi brand batteries I've had for several cameras and they gave me nothing but good service.

JeffinMass Loc: MA

Generic batteries are in expensive. Ever wonder why? They may not be the same voltage and/or mamps as the original brand's battery. Why skimp on inferior products? You spent good money on a nice camera. It all goes with the territory.

PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

As I identified - Canon does NOT warranty with that language - another reason to avoid Nikon !!! Think of it this way - how many batteries do you usually buy for your camera over its lifetime ? If you have 9 and you can save anywhere from $40 to $60 per battery, how long before you have paid more than it would cost for a new body ??? To each their own. I don't know about Nikon bodies but when you upgrade, do the batteries tend to be the same ? Even more 'wasted' money for some folks if they are not usable in your next body. Certainly as a professional, the batteries are a writeoff but there are a lot of amateurs here that can't get a tax deduction for expensive batteries.

Just my opinion based on my situation and my photographer friends.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

You're forgetting that with the OEMs, you are also paying for the name... Kinda like a "status symbol". I would guess that a number of the aftermarket brands are made in the same factories as the OEMs are.

ggttc Loc: TN

I gave my daughter in law my d5200 and two batteries...one Nikon and one third party....she had trouble getting the third party battery out of the camera...while I never had this problem.

She had to stick a piece of duct tape on the bottom of the battery...thought she had messed up the camera.

PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

So, how many readers here have had their camera damaged by a bad battery themselves. Not 'I know a guy' or 'I heard about...' . So far I have not read any post that said, 'my camera was damaged' . Again, not asking about if you had a battery fail or swell but had a situation where you had to repair/replace a body. Sure there may be some, just have not heard from any of them in all the posts about batteries over the last few months.

Been thinking about mitigating the supposed danger. If the additional weight is not an issue, you could always get a cheap battery grip and use the third party batteries in it. If they leak or damage the grip, you can always toss it for less than the cost of new OEM batteries ...

Just thinkin'

DMGill Loc: Colorado

It isn't just a question of damage to a camera, but damage to near by people and property. Not all Lithium-Ion battery cells are created equal and not all batteries have protective circuitry to prevent over charging. A battery charger that switches to a trickle charge when the battery is fully charged is fine for a NiCad or a NiMH battery, but that type of charger can overcharge a Li-ion battery if it is left on the charger when full charged and an overcharged Li-ion battery is dangerous. If it is a quality aftermarket battery there should be no problem, but we need to be careful in what we purchase.

http://www.9news.com/news/health/colorado-teen-severely-burned-in-e-cig-explosion/39581822
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/03/watch_flashlight_battery_cause.html
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?262234-TK-Monster-Explosion
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?178411-My-flashlight-exploded