Nikon battery - COUNTERFEIT!

[Malone]

EN-EL3E are 89.99 and the knock off one are 11$ thats alot more than 15$ of saving.


I used over 10 off brand batteries in my dsrl's and they never "leaked" lol

Nikon batteries are $59, not $89 - see link.

EN-EL3e Rechargeable Li-ion Battery from Nikon

Any battery has a chance of "leaking" lol

 

[Malone]

Wow that's crazy... Are they legally allowed to do that?

No, its very illegal.

 

[levinest]

David Busch writes in his books about non-OEM batteries, and I tend to agree with him, "Not that they're going to fail, but why would you cut corners on a relatively-inexpensive component like a battery and take any chance that it could harm and/or render the warranty void on your very-expensive camera?" A paraphrase, not a direct quote.

 

[Gaerek]

David Busch writes in his books about non-OEM batteries, and I tend to agree with him, "Not that they're going to fail, but why would you cut corners on a relatively-inexpensive component like a battery and take any chance that it could harm and/or render the warranty void on your very-expensive camera?" A paraphrase, not a direct quote.

All of my batteries, except the one that came with the camera are third party. They work better than the OEM and cost half the price. You are paying for a brand logo with an OEM part. I have never had an issue with a third party battery, and I've never heard of anyone having any problems with a third party battery. It's your money, spend it how you want, but remember, the manufacturer has a reason for wanting to scare you into buying OEM parts. It's called, markup.

 

[subscuck]

I think maybe you need to back up and take a breath or two before jumping to conclusions. This may require a little more investigation. You say you have an automotive background, so do I (Tool and Die Maker before I changed careers). I've worked for first tier suppliers for Ford, Toyota, Mitsubishi, GM, VW, BMW and Chrysler/Jeep. While the sheet metal is typically produced by only one supplier, electronic components are routinely sourced to multiple suppliers, and quite often, to the cheapest. This very often results in physical variations. I personally have replaced parts on my vehicles that looked slightly different than the OEM part, yet were still stamped FoMoCo, and indeed were ​OEM, but somewhere along the way Ford changed suppliers. I doubt very much Nikon, Canon, Pentax, et al, manufacture their own batteries. While it's possible there is something amiss here, the evidence is far from conclusive. I suggest contacting Nikon.

 

[Malone]

I did contact Nikon; they directed me here.

Of course, they cannot tell me if it is or isn't without physically inspecting the battery. They simply advised to return it to the seller if it was suspect.

 

[subscuck]

Then there you go. If you're not comfortable with it, return it.

 

[flea77]

All of my batteries, except the one that came with the camera are third party. They work better than the OEM and cost half the price. You are paying for a brand logo with an OEM part. I have never had an issue with a third party battery, and I've never heard of anyone having any problems with a third party battery. It's your money, spend it how you want, but remember, the manufacturer has a reason for wanting to scare you into buying OEM parts. It's called, markup.

Yes, you do pay some for the Name, you also pay some to maintain your warranty, provide support if something happens, etc. For me, I stick with OEMs for my batts.

Never heard of a problem with aftermarket batteries? My primary job is in IT. We routinely have issues with cheap aftermarket batteries, at least a couple a month leak, bulge, die prematurely, etc. While we have OEM batteries that do the same, we have 100 times the OEM batteries come through our shop (since they are shipped with every laptop from the factory that way) and have 1/100th the problems from the OEM ones.

Believe what you want, and I wish you the best of luck with your batts, but I will stick with the OEM thank you.

Allan

 

[Gaerek]

All of my batteries, except the one that came with the camera are third party. They work better than the OEM and cost half the price. You are paying for a brand logo with an OEM part. I have never had an issue with a third party battery, and I've never heard of anyone having any problems with a third party battery. It's your money, spend it how you want, but remember, the manufacturer has a reason for wanting to scare you into buying OEM parts. It's called, markup.

Yes, you do pay some for the Name, you also pay some to maintain your warranty, provide support if something happens, etc. For me, I stick with OEMs for my batts.

Never heard of a problem with aftermarket batteries? My primary job is in IT. We routinely have issues with cheap aftermarket batteries, at least a couple a month leak, bulge, die prematurely, etc. While we have OEM batteries that do the same, we have 100 times the OEM batteries come through our shop (since they are shipped with every laptop from the factory that way) and have 1/100th the problems from the OEM ones.

Believe what you want, and I wish you the best of luck with your batts, but I will stick with the OEM thank you.

Allan

I'm in IT also. Don't think I don't know what you're saying. I should clarify. I've never seen any problem or heard of any problem with 3rd party batts with cameras. Doing a quick google search for 3rd party dslr battery problem leads to a few complaints about 3rd party battery grips, and discussions like this without any real data, or anecdotal evidence of problems with 3rd party batts. Basically, no one seems to have any real issues with 3rd party dslr batteries.

Of course, when we're dealing with a back up power supply providing aux power to servers and DBs carrying unquantifiable $'s worth of data, I'm not going to skimp (especially since I don't have to pick up the tab). The worst I'll find with a bad 3rd party battery for my camera is a dud, and then I'm out $15.

 

[480sparky]

........ we have 100 times the OEM batteries come through our shop (since they are shipped with every laptop from the factory that way) and have 1/100th the problems from the OEM ones..........

Is this just a guess, or do you have empirical data to back this up?

 

[NikonME]

I think the point of this post is that when you buy a "BrandX" product for a "BrandX" price, and when it get it, it's a knock off.. You have a RIGHT to be upset.

It's illegal. It's called Theft by Deception.

The debate over OEM vs Aftermarket is irrelevant. That is a matter of choice. That is not the point of this thread.

 

[flea77]

........ we have 100 times the OEM batteries come through our shop (since they are shipped with every laptop from the factory that way) and have 1/100th the problems from the OEM ones..........

Is this just a guess, or do you have empirical data to back this up?

Do we keep records of who made what battery and what caused it to fail? No, why in the world would we? Is it "just a guess"? No, it was a wildly rounded account of personal experience spanning a good portion of my 26+ years of experience with computers. It was not meant to be accurate, it was meant to demonstrate that if I bet $1000 on every battery that did something stupid as it being aftermarket, I would be a very wealthy man.

Allan

 

[480sparky]

....... why in the world would we?..........

If you don't have anything to back up your statement, it IS a guess.

People used to think taking a bath used less water than taking a shower.

 

[Derrel]

There have been some absolutely MASSIVE recalls of batteries over the last few years. Nikon did a big recall on some potentially defective batteries. Sony did one as well, IMMSMC. Aftermarket batteries can be excellent, very good, good, poor, and even downright dangerous,depending on both the design and the manufacturing and materials of each individual battery model. An hour or two of internet research will turn up all sorts of horror stories about BAD aftermarket batteries; batteries that do not fit the compartment right, and which fail early, or which deliver poor performance in any number of areas; low capacity, poor performance, and short overall life span,etc.

Again,a few minutes' of internet research will show a whole range of battery issues; at least some of the problems relate to how the battery in a particular camera is inserted,and how tightly it fits; on MANY smaller cameras, the battery goes into the bottom of the camera in a vertical orientation, where gravity can cause the battery contacts to move away from the in-camera contacts, where in some of the bigger "pro" cameras, like the NIkon flagship models, the battery fits in in a horizontal orientation,sliding in from the outside of the bottom left of the in-built grip, and there is a lot less gravity at work. One thing that tests seem to show: cheap-o counterfeit batteries usually have inferior materials and lower capacity than "genuine" batteries, either OEM or reputable third-party models.

 

[NikonME]

In the aftermarket vs oem debate.. the one critical fact is that ANY battery.. oem or aftermarket can fail and leak. If your camera is damaged by a leaky battery, Nikon will want to see the camera AND the battery. If it's not an OEM battery.. well.. touch luck buddy.

This reminds me, I have a Mag-lite that I need to package and RMA to Energizer because one of the 4 D cells leaked and now the Mag-Lite is no longer working. They are going to fix or replace it, as per their warrentee. Do you think a cheapo battery company would do that? Hell, who would you even call if the Nikon counterfeit did have issues? You don't even know who really makes it because they are hiding behind the Nikon name. I would trust a third company battery better if they at least had a company name, address, phone, email, etc.