Your Take on Third Party Batteries?

PatrickJamesYu · Sep 16, 2011

Hello
So I've bought a 2nd battery for my Nikon d90, for pretty cheap
$20 I think, via ebay.
I was under the impression it was OEM, but its materials quality lacks compared to my original
And it barely holds a charge.

I acquired a Nikon d5000 and I need a battery for it
Browsing eBay, I found replacement batteries for $6.63 shipped
It includes a 3 year warrantee.

Whats your take?
My first experience sucked with a cheap battery, but I found this next one that appears to offer a 3 year.

Also what's your take on chargers?
Cheap chargers okay?

Big Mike · Sep 16, 2011

I've been using 3rd party batteries for years. They have been great for me. Cheap to buy and they last longer.

What you have to watch out for, are counterfeit batteries...which sounds like what you got.

I've bought batteries from www.sterlingtek.com and I recently ordered a battery grip with two batteries from Link Delight (check them out in the vendor section of this site).

As for chargers, I've never used anything but the Canon chargers that came with my cameras. I've never had the need for more chargers.

PatrickJamesYu · Sep 17, 2011

Awesome, thanks for the input.

yeah what I got seemed like a counterfeit.
If I remember correctly, It came in Nikon packaging, and the text on the battery was Nikon'ed out
But the weight, quality in plastic, and quality in print wasn't the same.
I thought it was authentic when purchasing it, but once I received it, it always felt iffy to me.

tjsphotos · Sep 17, 2011

ive bought some Canon LP-E8 off ebay for $ 12.99USD ( works out to 16.35 nzd)
bought 2 sets for battery grips used both sets about 9-10 times now and they still are working good atm

Infinite_Day · Sep 17, 2011

If I remember correctly I used batteries.com when I bought the spare for my D50. It is generic but has held up just as well as the Nikon branded battery and holds a good charge - maybe even better than the OEM battery.

FlyingScot · Sep 17, 2011

I use non Oly batteries in Four Olys now 2x 5060WZ a Stylus 1039SW and a new Stylus tough 8010 and yes i have marked them as BAT 1,2,3 ETC. but dont see any difference whatsoever between the Oly version or the much cheaper ones i bought on Ebay I did see a FAKE Nikon Battery on Ebay listed as NIKON ENEL3E EN-EL3E CAMERA BATTERY D70 D700 D90 D300 with the photograph of box and the battery showing Nikon branding but reading the blub it did say band new GENERIC Nikon Battery and unbranded/generic i reported this to Ebay as deliberately misleading product description.

trizzo · Sep 17, 2011

One genuine battery came with body and I bought 2 more genuine as spares.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

joealcantar · Sep 17, 2011

I have a couple of batteries from Calumet that have done very well, companies like this do not carry items like this that can come back and burn them. Key thing is to buy from a reputable dealer that carries your battery for a little less but honors the warranty. I believe companies like Delkin Devices make batteries that are decent. Camera Batteries Delkin Like someone above mentioned Genuine replacement is the safest way to go about it, but if you are low the 10 bucks why not try it.
-
Shoot well, Joe

Railphotog · Sep 17, 2011

I've been using batteries I've bought on eBay for several years, for several cameras with no problems. I know when I got my original Canon Digital Rebel I almost fainted when I saw the $80.00 price for a spare battery. Wised up after that, and have had Chinese eBay ones for the next three Rebels I've owned. I now have four spares for my current one, which cost about a quarter what one Canon would have cost; I have a clone grip that uses 2 batteries.

Also have spares for my Canon SX30 IS, Pentax Optio Z10 and for a Sanyo pocket model. All seem to work fine. Recently even bought one for a Garmin GPS unit that I had bought second hand. It was $8.84, and came with a leather like carrying case and screen protector - postage included!

ann · Sep 17, 2011

Like Mike, I have several third party batteries, and they are fine. No problems, I think I got 2 for $29 with free shipping.

edddial · Sep 17, 2011

I have 3rd party batteries for my D90 (i.e. Phottix), works fine as original Nikon.

table1349 · Sep 17, 2011

Big Mike said:
I've been using 3rd party batteries for years. They have been great for me. Cheap to buy and they last longer.

What you have to watch out for, are counterfeit batteries...which sounds like what you got.

I've bought batteries from www.sterlingtek.com and I recently ordered a battery grip with two batteries from Link Delight (check them out in the vendor section of this site).

As for chargers, I've never used anything but the Canon chargers that came with my cameras. I've never had the need for more chargers.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: Did I mention :thumbup:.

Derrel · Sep 17, 2011

SOME 3rd party batteries are good; SOME are average; SOME are absolute junk. The counterfeit batteries often look fairly close to the real thing. What we have seeping into the marketplace nowadays are counterfeit 3rd party batteries--not just counterfeit original manufacturer's fakes, but fakes of AFTERMARKET batteries!!!! Those are the absolute junk ones. I think the best chargers are the ones designed by the manufacturer's for the specific voltage and milliampere-hour rating of the battery that was specifically designed for the camera-appropriate battery. I've always found both Canon and Nikon battery chargers to be superb.

jdag · Sep 17, 2011

Thousands of dollars on camera equipment, only to try to save $25 on a battery? No thanks.

PatrickJamesYu · Sep 17, 2011

jdag said:
Thousands of dollars on camera equipment, only to try to save $25 on a battery? No thanks.

Thanks to everyone for there input, but I have specific questions for you.
You were the only one, or one of the only ones, to say "no deal".
Why?
It seems biased as you haven't given 3rd party batteries a chance
You're saying it from a "more money, better it HAS to be" kind of point of view.

To me a good example is, you wouldn't buy a 50mm f1.4 for $1000.
You would buy it for how much it goes for in the market.
Who's to say batteries have to be $100?
Why not get the $20 ones when the market shows them out there?

I'm not saying you're wrong, but you were the one who said different
If you have a good point to make, I want in
and I want to know before I make a bad purchase

Thanks!