Lumix camera and batteries: A friend has a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ200. She says even with the battery fully charged, and installed, the camera says "Battery Unaccepted". Can anyone help...

torchman310 Loc: Santa Clarita, Ca.

A friend has a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ200. She says even with the battery fully charged, and installed, the camera says "Battery Unaccepted". Can anyone help as to how to deal with this problem?

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

torchman310 wrote:

A friend has a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ200. She says even with the battery fully charged, and installed, the camera says "Battery Unaccepted". Can anyone help as to how to deal with this problem?

Sounds like an offbrand battery that Panasonic does not like.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Has she used that battery previously? If not, a note I found online:

You may have noticed that Panasonic have gone to great lengths to warn
you about the use of counterfeit or third party batteries because of the
risk of fire or explosion within the camera and have introduced a method
of establishing if the inserted battery has the Panasonic safety check
mechanism warning you that “this battery cannot be used” if a nonapproved battery is inserted.

torchman310 Loc: Santa Clarita, Ca.

She is using the battery supplied by Panasonic for that camera.

Robg

I used to have the DMC 200 and now have the 300. Have used 3rd party batteries in both without a problem.

torchman310 Loc: Santa Clarita, Ca.

She is using the battery that came with the camera. She used it for about a year, then the camera refused to accept it, even with a full charge.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Perhaps a contact is damaged.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

torchman310 wrote:

She is using the battery supplied by Panasonic for that camera.

Time to get a new battery.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

Linda From Maine wrote:

Has she used that battery previously? If not, a note I found online:

You may have noticed that Panasonic have gone to great lengths to warn
you about the use of counterfeit or third party batteries because of the
risk of fire or explosion within the camera and have introduced a method
of establishing if the inserted battery has the Panasonic safety check
mechanism warning you that “this battery cannot be used” if a nonapproved battery is inserted.

Nikon does the same for their newer models. The non Nikon batteries that worked in my D800 don't work in my Z6. The battery mfgs will catch up.

But I don't believe the explanation. I suspect it is a marketing ploy to sell branded batteries.

Steve DeMott Loc: St. Louis, Missouri (Oakville area)

IDguy wrote:

Nikon does the same for their newer models. The non Nikon batteries that worked in my D800 don't work in my Z6. The battery mfgs will catch up.

But I don't believe the explanation. I suspect it is a marketing ploy to sell branded batteries.

I agree

torchman310 Loc: Santa Clarita, Ca.

Yes, I have a NIKON D 4 S. I used an off brand battery as a backup. it worked fine until the battery itself gave up the gost.

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

torchman310 wrote:

A friend has a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ200. She says even with the battery fully charged, and installed, the camera says "Battery Unaccepted". Can anyone help as to how to deal with this problem?

Does she have another battery that does get accepted ok? Has the battery worked previously? Is the battery visibly damaged in any way? Is it a genuine Lumix battery or a third party one?
I use both Lumix and third party batteries in my GX8 without a problem.

User ID

IDguy wrote:

Nikon does the same for their newer models. The non Nikon batteries that worked in my D800 don't work in my Z6. The battery mfgs will catch up.

But I don't believe the explanation. I suspect it is a marketing ploy to sell branded batteries.

Just ordered some Wasabi batteries and encountered a new thing. $30 a pair for the basic version, $60 a pair for smart version that will play nice with the latest camera firmware. $60 a pair is still half the price of OEM branded batteries. And every pair comes with a dual charger.

User ID

Delderby wrote:

Does she have another battery that does get accepted ok? Has the battery worked previously? Is the battery visibly damaged in any way? Is it a genuine Lumix battery or a third party one?
I use both Lumix and third party batteries in my GX8 without a problem.

GX8 is Stone Age, so it’s not fussy. I use cheap batteries in mine. Same batteries in the G85 which is late Bronze Age, likewise no problems there.

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

User ID wrote:

GX8 is Stone Age, so it’s not fussy. I use cheap batteries in mine. Same batteries in the G85 which is late Bronze Age, likewise no problems there.

FZ200 launched 2012, GX8 launched 2016, G9 launched 2017 - so that theory is out the window.
I bought a Lumix G1 in 2008 - it would not accept pattern batteries, although someone found a sequence of button pushes that got round it. Panasonic's reasoning at the time was "fire risk" when using any batteries but their own. They were £30 in 2008! And we complain about the price of printer inks! However, we have not solved the OP's problem.