3rd party canon batteries?

[Dmitri]

I recently discovered that my batteries are about dead (at least one, anyway) and will need to be replaced. Someone mentioned that batteries are as cheap as $15 so I looked into it. Indeed, instead of a $40+ Canon battery there are several 3rd party batteries for much cheaper.

Does anyone have any experience with any of them and can give advice on how they stack up against the Canon batteries? Thanks in advance.

 

[TenaciousTins]

I have a Dolica and another one that doesn't have a name on it and they honestly don't stack up against the Canon even though the no-name one is supposedly more powerful than my Canon original.

 

[MLeeK]

I have several off brand batteries for my cameras and I have had excellent results with them.

 

[mangtarn]

they are just normal batteries, comes in real handy

 

[Ryan L]

I have about 8 3rd party and 4 Canon batteries. I see no difference, actually a couple of my 3rd party have a higher capacitance and do indeed last longer. I am 3rd party kinda guy...with the exception of glass, then I am a brand snob (but I do have a Tamron lens in my bag as well). For the price difference I see no reason to stick with OEM batteries.

 

[Dmitri]

oh great! What brands do you guys find work well for you?

 

[Ryan L]

I dont see any branding on most of mine, just made in China. 2 of the batteries say Digital Technoligies.

 

[Dmitri]

Great, thanks Ryan.

 

[Felix0890]

I bought this combo pack that includes a battery and charger for less than $10. So far it works wonderfully and the extra charger means I can charge both my grip batteries at the same time.

 

[Dmitri]

Felix, really? I saw a few like that on Ebay and I figured "chinese knock offs" which are often less than functional. I got a white balance lens cap for $1 and it wasn't even worth that much lol. But good to see that they might be worth a shot.

 

[shootermcgavin]

Just be careful read reviews. Some don't work, most you need a different charger which kind of sucks. I've got one that won't display how full the battery is which I don't love either. I think I will just pay the extra for the canon next time. It's kind of crazy the price difference but also not worth the headache of not know what you will get.

 

[enzodm]

On my previous camera I used a 3rd party battery, virtually indistinguishable from the original (I alternated both). Brand was Uniross, not sure whether it can be found also abroad.

 

[thierry]

I have 1 OEM battery and 4 China made batteries. They all work great me. Amazon has a bunch of good looking third party batteries: Amazon.com: canon battery

 

[Dmitri]

Thanks again all.
Shooter - unfortunately the batteries on Amazon only have very few, if any, reviews. I'll find something though, as long as I know that most of them are okay. I was really just afraid of getting a battery that would either die in an hour, or would mess up the camera.

Knowing that there are good 3rd party batteries out there is very good information for me to have, and i'll probably order one or two tomorrow. Thanks again all!

 

[Dmitri]

Follow up: What is mAH? My canon battery is 720 mAH but the amazon ones are other amounts (900 mAH, 1800 mAH) - is this something I should be concerned about, or does the mAH not matter?