PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

I am not looking at general merchandise or store brand batteries. I am specifically referring to the practices involved in battery manufacturer in the instance I researched with Vivitar and Canon. In that instance, the finished, unlabelled batteries came off the same line - some went to the Canon labeling process and the bulk went to 3rd party marketers.

It is not a 'belief' that the batteries were the same - it was confirmed through industry articles and company disclosures. I don't have a problem with any person who wants to maintain their use of branded batteries - I just don't like when some of the folks here state their own speculation as 'facts' and belittle others who actually do the legwork to find out how things really work. I don't deal in speculation about how your camera could be ruined because of a false narrative or mythology about non-branded batteries.

I challenge all in this discussion to actually do the research and find out. What companies makes the OEM batteries for your camera (often more than one depending on volume) and do they only produce the branded product ? What is the agreement that the manufacturer has with the supplier ? Is there a difference in the lines for branded and non-branded products ? You might just be surprised at the results !

Sorry for the rant - Still have not seen any actual first person examples of when a 3rd party battery fried their camera and needed repair.

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

I have lost batteries for my Canon camera. After a while, they get expensive. But, I prefer Canon batteries over other manufacturers. I like to limit as many of the complexities with capturing a photograph. Ignore risking voiding a warranty; I would rather not risk damaging my new toy.
Many should refer to restraint of trade rules that penalize an individual that purchases an after market product. A good example of that would be buying a brand new car. The car salesman tells you you must buy their brand of GPS. If you buy one in another store, you would void the warranty on the car. Now, that is ludicrous and officially called restraint of trade. I'm not a lawyer so this policy of buying a name brand product is besides being wrong is illegal. I believe damaging the battery contacts would be exorbitant. I don't like paying upwards of $60 per battery but will to avoid future calamities.

PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Why would a company want to increase their profit margins ?? Are you really asking that ? It may even be that the price is not really that profitable once you factor in all the overhead and marketing costs.

BebuLamar

While almost if not all camera manufacturers don't make batteries and they do jack up the price of their batteries but the price of the batteries isn't all that much for me to try to save. Some third party battery manufacturers can certainly makes better batteries and sell for less because that's all they do. However, it's difficult to determine which is which.

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

Point 1: I also am a Canon user. Despite how it appears sometimes, this is not "Ugly NIKON Hedgehog", though the Nikon users sometimes try to overwhelm all else with their "superiority".
Point 2: Leakage is not an issue with lithium batteries, as it is with alkalines. So you shouldn't fear aftermarket batteries on that basis.

I could say "Canons Rule!" to sign off, but I won't. :-)

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Personally speaking, I have never experienced damage to any of my cameras or flash gear due to battery malfunction or leakage. I have mostly used camera batteries marketed by the manufacturers of my cameras and high-quality name brand batteries in my flash gear. I use all my equipment professionally and have a maintenance schedule program in my office computer to keep track of usage, charging cycles and age and I am very careful about charging rates, and issues such as battery memory, etc. I do this because my battery usage is kinda "heavy duty" and expensive and I can't afford battery failure when out on assignments. I am running 8 cameras, 12 portable strobes. 6 speedlights, 12 radio slaves, and 4 exposure meters plus all my household gadgets.

I have found that some of the aftermarket brands that I tried out, performed perfectly but others yielded fewer shots per charge as they age, and their all over longevity was not quite as good as the name brands. Perhaps there are quality control issues?

My other experience was that I, for a period of about 12 years, operated another business which specialized in electronic flash modifications, repair and custom build. I shared premises with a camera repair technician and I can relate some horror stories about battery leakage. Frankly, some of it may have been caused by inferior batteries but a great deal of this damage was caused by misuse, overcharging, overcharging batteries IN the camera or flash unit, long terms storage of dead batteries in the equipment, rapid charging of batteries that are not designed for that kind of treatment etc., the use of inappropriate battery chargers without protective trickle circuitry and more such mistakes. Y'all would be surprised how hard professionals can be in their equipment and some of the shenanigan or not the pull off out of impatience or not knowing exactly what they are doing with their electronics.

I am not an electronic engineer, however, my business partner was an engineer and circuit designer but sadly he passed away and I decided to close the business shortly after his death. My function in the business was mostly in lamp head and reflector design, custom studio, and location installations and modifications. I did, however, learn to do minor electronic troubleshooting and repairs and gleaned lots of information about battery technology. Back in the day, there were only a few basic types of batteries to contend with- lead acid, sealed lead-acid (gel-cells), Nickel Cadmium and of course dry cells. I still get newsletters from the energy storage companies and associations and MAN!- things have changed way above my pay rate! The latest batteries have many different characteristics. So...I advise folks to stick with known quantities unless they are willing to experiment, try out different aftermarket brands, learn the characteristics of the batteries they need, and make judgments based on their own research and experiences.

My big "old school" portable strobes still use 12 Volt gel-cells. I find that the name brands like Varta, Sonenshine, Dry-Fit, Panasonic and a few others perform best and last the longest. I have been disappointed by the made in China imports- nothing dramatic- the don't explode, they just don't last as long.

So...I don't consider myself an expert on battery technology but my studio is a good "laboratory" and practical testing ground for battery usage. I don't have the time or patience to experiment with off-brands. If any of my gear unceremoniously drops dead in the middle of a shoot, that can be more costly than the price differential between the brand-names batteries and the third party units. I buy them from my regular dealer and he says he will guarantee the batteries in so far as if they should die exceptionally prematurely or eat my equipment, he will cover the costs- so far so good. In the last 10 years,- no claims, no failures, and no issues.

If any of y' all don't use your gear as frequently or heavily as I do, you could probably get away with less expensive batteries. Just remember to check out the voltage and amperage specifications, observe proper charging procedures and times and don't leave batteries in the equipment, unattended, for long periods. Keep all battery contacts and charger contacts and terminals clean and free form dirt and corrosion. Always carry spare batteries- even the best of the brands can occasionally fail!

If you are an electronic engineer or experienced technician, I yield to your expertise.

BebuLamar

Although camera manufacturers don't make batteries many of the third party brands don't make batteries either. Take Wasabi Power for example, I don't think they make any battery.

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

The rating stated is storage capacity. The battery voltage should be the same, so it merely means fewer shots from a charge. A properly designed device uses the energy independent of "how deep the well is".

Bill P

A statement that aftermarket is worse because a US aftermarket manufacturer did thus and so is only realistic if your head is in the sand. Very few if any batteries are made in the USA.

I'm going to try to avoid politics and am not qualified to comment on recent court decisions, but anyone who reads a newspaper rather than getting their news from Facebook will know that China ain't the USA. There are serious IP concerns about employing Chinese factories. It is not without reason that you might think that the same factory that makes the OEM battery might after a production run of OEM batteries would then crank out a bunch with slightly cheaper ingredients and wider tolerances, and set up the pad printer to put their name on it. It is almost guaranteed that any product outsourced to China will be knocked off.

So how can a battery damage a camera? Not much, it could go south and swell up, leak and corrode the connections, or self destruct and set your camera on fire. That's about it. All you exclusive OEM users are two belts and suspenders guys.

DeanS Loc: Capital City area of North Carolina

“All you exclusive OEM users are two belts and suspenders guys.”

Bill P, I am practically a neanderthal in age, but your post containing this quote is a first for me. With your permission, I will add this to my gun belt. Love it!

DeanS

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Do not misinterpret what I said!

I only described how aftermarket manufacturers work and that there is no relationship between what they choose to build and how they do it versus branded. There can be no expectation that it is the same. They do not use the branded design or specifications. No way is an organization going to give those up to be used to build a competitive product. That would at the very least represent theft of intellectual property (which, of course, the Chinese have repeatedly demonstrated they do not consider a crime) and potentially a more serious crime.

In some cases, consumers said our version of products were better than the branded product, But they were always different.

So make your own decision which to buy.

DrPhrogg Loc: NJ

The only word of caution on 3rd party batteries is swelling. When they begin to go bad, they don't slide smoothly in the battery compartment. If that happens, replace it. Otherwise the worst that goes wrong is you get fewer shots. A space battery fixes that.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

My third party battery would not lock on AF with my 300 2.8 showing 50% ! All my other lenses worked ! Changed to SONY battery - no problem. I have 3 - third party batteries that came with the used camera I bought - I threw them all away....
.

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

I just did a firmware update on my Sony a7iii and now I get the message that “this battery may not be compatible with your camera”. The battery is a ProMaster which is the brand my local camera store sells. I switched to my Sony battery; but I think the 2 ProMaster ones will still be fine (they were before the upgrade, anyway). Sony is just “warning “ me that I’m not using an OEM battery, I hope.

EDIT: I think I’ll buy a second Sony battery, just in case.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Please keep us posted on this one. I bought a ProMaster EN-EL18 replacement at my camera store as a spare when Nikon batteries were not available and it was all that was in stock. It was fine at first, but now doesn't charge past 98%. This means that it doesn't reset the picture count, and probably is not counting charge cycles (or however it keeps track of battery age). It works fine and without error, but discharges much faster than my Nikon batteries (even the older, non-revision ones) whether under load or just sitting in the camera. The interesting thing is that the store was selling it at the same price that they normally charge for Nikon batteries, which is discounted from the list price but higher than most here report paying for 3rd party batteries. $59.95, I think.