Aftermarket Ebay LP-E6 Batteries, Tested..

[SCraig]

Sounds like the consensus is pretty even now. Aftermarket is actually ahead. As I said in my earlier post, I have both aftermarket and Canon OEM batteries and can tell absolutely no difference.
So, what was those reasons again?

Well, if they are even then I'll tip them in favor of OEM:
1. When I bought my first DSLR I got a second battery to go with it. I didn't realize until I got home that it wasn't a Nikon battery. I figured it would be fine since the rated ampacity was higher than the OEM and the voltage was the same. I wasn't really surprised to find out that the rated ampacity was much lower than advertised and in reality a charge lasted nowhere near as long as the lower ampacity OEM pack.

2. I bought a camcorder for my office a couple of years ago. I also bought a second battery with it, however this time I knew it was an aftermarket battery. When I got everything the aftermarket battery wouldn't even go into the camera. I verified that it was the correct pack, and it was, but it would not go into the camera.

The other argument is perfectly exemplified by this topic. Several people have reported no problems whatsoever with aftermarket batteries, some have reported problems. The bottom line is that it's a crap shoot whereas with OEM packs there is absolutely no question that they will fit, they will work, and they will live up to what is expected from them.

Everyone can do what they want to, but personally I'm done with aftermarket batteries and will only use OEM packs in my cameras.

 

[MarshallG]

While we're on the subject, I needed a new battery charger, and I bought a Canon charger on EBay.

The charger says Canon and it works just like a Canon charger. It's impossible for me to tell this charger from the actual Canon charger. May e Canon does sell their battery chargers in Bulk. It came packed in a clear plastic bag only.

All I can say is that it looks great and works just fine.

 

[pharmakon]

I buy aftermarket batteries from a company called Sterlingtek, which I found through some old threads on this forum. They sell on amazon and also have their own website. I have had good luck so far with 2 batteries for my 50D and one for my S100. The BP-511 equivalent have worked flawlessly for over 2 years now.

 

[tirediron]

Re-read posts #s 1 & 3!

And ignore those who have experienced otherwise? That's solid logic.

Well... let's see; after-market is running 50-50; OEM is running at or close to 100%. That's enough for me, but putting that aside, if one of those after-market batteries were to leak inside your camera, what do you think your chances of a warranty repair are? Just sayin...

 

[SimpleSimon]

Update.

The supplier of these batteries is sending me 2 more as they stated the 2 they sent me must be faulty. Once these arrive i will conduct the same tests. Also i re tested these batteries will a lower discharge rate (100ma) and they have not shown any improvement.
Currently testing the OEM Cannon battery again, just to double check what it's actual rating is.

 

[HughGuessWho]

I doubt if Canon manufactures a single batter themselves, so, aren't all "OEM" batteries "third party"?
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the "Chinese" batteries that are being bashed are sold to Canon with their label on them and distributed as "OEM".

It's the same old argument we hear every day. Buy what you want and have had luck with.

 

[HughGuessWho]

Consider this;

Canon EOS Error Messages: An explanation and understanding

 

[MarshallG]

I bought a few of them. They work OK but the cameras, 6D and 7D, say they can't communicate with them.

My aftermarket battery works exactly like my Canon battery in my 7D and in my battery grip. The camera reports shutter count, battery health and serial numbers for both batteries.

 

[OldSlowHans]

I bought some by STK (SterlingTek) on Amazon about a year ago, 4 for $60. So far they've been perfect. Now Amazon is selling them for $20/each.

Amazon.com: STK's Canon LP-E6 Battery 2600 mAH - for Canon 7D, 60D, 5D Mark III, & Mark II Digital SLR: Camera & Photo

 

[SimpleSimon]

Sorry, forgot to post the results of the test on the OEM Canon LP-E6 battery. I tested this battery twice, it was charged both times with the canon battery charger.
This battery is 3 years old and NEW it should have a rating of 1800mAh.

The results were:
Test 1 -- 1561mAh.
Test 2 -- 1572mAh.

So given the results being so close togeter i am confident that this battery after 3 years is sitting at about 87% of capacity.

Cheers.

Simon.

 

[EDL]

I doubt if Canon manufactures a single batter themselves, so, aren't all "OEM" batteries "third party"?
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the "Chinese" batteries that are being bashed are sold to Canon with their label on them and distributed as "OEM".

It's the same old argument we hear every day. Buy what you want and have had luck with.

Actually, it's not the same argument and I can explain how.

It's true, Canon most likely has a third party that supplies their batteries, but you can bet they have certain quality and engineering agreements on those batteries. In addition to pretending to be a photographer I also do woodworking. Many people getting into woodworking are often surprised to find the Delta, or Jet drill press they want is the same machine Harbor Freight sells under their brand name...but with one big difference; Delta and Jet have quality assurance agreements and inspectors at the Taiwanese and Chinese factories. Their equipment is picked off the line from the ones that meet certain specific quality points in terms of tolerances. The Harbor Freight stuff is the junk no one else will take. Same basic machines, but no where near as precise.

Granted, Delta and Jet also pay to have certain changes made as well, like different motors, or changes in design to make their tools a little different too.

I bet Canon requires their batteries meet certain quality standards, where as the white label no names are just whatever comes off the line that no one else takes. In that regard, it makes sense that the generics are a 50-50 chance. Some are good, some are not.

 

[Derrel]

A good percentage of aftermarket or third-party batteries are cheap, imitation-grade, Chinese junk. Nikon's original, official batteries are AMAZING in terms of life. I have a Nikon D2x battery that was bought May 3, 2005. Right now, the in-camera battery tester shows that the battery is on 3, in a scale that runs as follows NEW 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - REPLACE.

This original equipment Nikon battery will STILL deliver over 2,000 frames in a day. And the battery is eight years old. I bet there is not a single aftermarket cheapie battery made that could have come even half that far without dying.

 

[TCampbell]

All of my "current" batteries are Canon -- I don't buy OEM anymore. But I used to.

Back when I had my T1i, I had 3 original Canon batteries and 5 after-market batteries from various brands. I noticed a definite pattern.

When you own 8 batteries for one camera, some of them are going to be setting on the shelf for a few weeks. What I noticed was that even though all the batteries were charged to full, if the 3rd party batteries were allowed to go unused for a couple of weeks, they self-discharged a lot of their power. But the OEM batteries did NOT self-discharge much power at all... an unused OEM battery could go into the camera after sitting for a few weeks (or a month or more) and still have enough charge on them to read "full".

I number all of my batteries because its' not good for battery health to allow a battery to sit unused for too long... they need to get used from time to time. This means they're all getting their fair-share of use. But after about a year, a lot of the 3rd party batteries would no longer take a charge. After about 2 years, none of the 3rd party batteries wanted to take a charge, but the OEM batteries were fine.

I paid nearly 3x as much for OEM batteries as compared to the 3rd party batteries, but estimated that the OEM batteries last at least 3 times as long as compared to the assortment of batteries I owned.

I concluded that

(a) the third party batteries didn't _really_ save me money and
(b) since I place a high value on "reliability". It's worth something for me to be confident that if I charged a battery, let it rest on the shelf for a few weeks or more, that when I grab that battery and throw it in the camera, it'll STILL have a charge on it and also when I recharge it I don't want to be surprised to learn that the battery doesn't want to accept a charge anymore.

 

[pixmedic]

I had a few third party batteries for the D300 and D90 and never had any problems with them.
when i went to get new batteries for the D7100 and D7000, ($70 each) i looked at some third party options. they were obviously MUCH cheaper, but i noticed that some of them were listed as "decoded" and some even stated they did not function in battery grips. I don't know if they just meant the batteries reporting to the camera, or not work in a grip at all....and i had never seen "decoded" vs non "decoded" before on a battery listing. I was confused just enough to go with all OEM batteries this time.

 

[runnah]

I had a few third party batteries for the D300 and D90 and never had any problems with them.
when i went to get new batteries for the D7100 and D7000, ($70 each) i looked at some third party options. they were obviously MUCH cheaper, but i noticed that some of them were listed as "decoded" and some even stated they did not function in battery grips. I don't know if they just meant the batteries reporting to the camera, or not work in a grip at all....and i had never seen "decoded" vs non "decoded" before on a battery listing. I was confused just enough to go with all OEM batteries this time.

I have a bevy of batteries, some with with my grip, some don't .