Grip's & aftermarket batteries, a bad mix?

[Austin Greene]

Hey everyone,

So I'm pretty sure that there is a simple answer to this, and I have my own thoughts, but I wanted to ask you all for yours just incase any red flags came up.

Yesterday I ordered a grip for my T3i, not the $150 Canon one, but a much more affordable Mieke brand one which had solid reviews and would fit my student budget. I'm excited to stick it on once it gets here, but in the meantime I was thinking of the batteries I'd be using in it. Primarily I shoot off of my original Canon LP-E8 battery that came with the camera, however I always have two generic LP-E8 batteries on standby which I have used on occasion with no problems whatsoever. The Canon battery has a voltage of 7.2V with amperage of 1120 mAh, while the generics are 7.4V at 1500mAh. What I am wondering is whether or not I should be concerned that the grip will be stringing two of the aftermarket batteries together in series? I'd be looking at 3000mAh with the two aftermarket batteries, a decent jump from the 2240mAh of Canon batteries if I bought a second one. Would such a spike in amperage be able to damage any part of the camera, or am I good to go? Intuition tells me I'd be fine so long as I didn't mix the aftermarket and a Canon battery, but I just wanted to double check, final exams are this week and my brain is a bit mushy

Thanks!

Toga

 

[analog.universe]

The mAh is a measure of capacity, not current. It's milliamps x hours, so 3000mAh is 3000 milliamps for one hour. The camera will draw the current it needs and no more, no matter the capacity of the batteries. Also, the grip likely runs them in parallel, so the camera will still see the same voltage. It's odd that they're .2 volts hotter, but I'd say if you've been running one with no problem, there shouldn't be any difference running two.

It is probably a good decision not to mix a 7.2 and 7.4, because that will likely lead to them discharging at different rates.

 

[LuckySe7en]

I just did a shoot this weekend with the meike, one genuine canon battery and one off brand one from Best Buy. Worked fine for me.

 

[Austin Greene]

The mAh is a measure of capacity, not current. It's milliamps x hours, so 3000mAh is 3000 milliamps for one hour. The camera will draw the current it needs and no more, no matter the capacity of the batteries. Also, the grip likely runs them in parallel, so the camera will still see the same voltage. It's odd that they're .2 volts hotter, but I'd say if you've been running one with no problem, there shouldn't be any difference running two.

It is probably a good decision not to mix a 7.2 and 7.4, because that will likely lead to them discharging at different rates.

Thanks! I also thought it was odd that they are a little hot, but so far no issues

 

[SCraig]

The mAh is a measure of capacity, not current. It's milliamps x hours, so 3000mAh is 3000 milliamps for one hour. The camera will draw the current it needs and no more, no matter the capacity of the batteries. Also, the grip likely runs them in parallel, so the camera will still see the same voltage. It's odd that they're .2 volts hotter, but I'd say if you've been running one with no problem, there shouldn't be any difference running two.

It is probably a good decision not to mix a 7.2 and 7.4, because that will likely lead to them discharging at different rates.

I don't know about Canon however Nikon does not run them in parallel. It runs one battery down and then switches to the second one.