Backup Batteries: Canon Genuine vs Cheapie

FlipperThePriest

Is there a considerable difference in the performance of the genuine Canon batteries and the cheapie alternatives for 10quid from ebay? I know with laptops the genuine replacement batteries are about 5 times more expensive than the cheapie alternatives - but the genuine batteries perform only about 2X that of the cheapie, so in my eyes that's worth it!

I got a 20D with a genuine battery.

Later bought a battery grip and two generic batteries. Have never had an issue. I'd easily get a full day or two of shooting without having to charge (at times when the camera wasn't getting much use, say an hour or two per week, i'd get away with charging it for 20 minutes each week, so the cheap ones have been good at holding a charge for me, too).


I'd certainly be in no rush to get genuine ones, but that said, I have heard of people buying batteries and getting nowhere with them as they were crap. So it's down to luck as well, I suppose.

hbr

zippy84 wrote: »

Is there a considerable difference in the performance of the genuine Canon batteries and the cheapie alternatives for 10quid from ebay?

I have a genuine Canon battery and an eBay battery for my Canon 500D.

The claimed capacities are 1080mAh for the original Canon battery and
1600mAh for the eBay one. Both batteries are about 15 months old. After
20-30 charge/discharge cycles for each battery, both are still as good
as new. The eBay battery lasts noticeably longer than the Canon battery.

challengemaster

For the sake of 10 quid, chance it sure...

Borderfox

I have two canon batteries for the 5d and one generic, all batteries are the same age (approx) the generic now only lasts about half as long as the Canon ones.

FlipperThePriest

Cheers folks, just wanted a rough idea. Seems the quality varies, which is understandable given the price.. As was said: for 10quid, it would be rude not to!

Worked out at slightly under 10eu incl shipping from UK!

City-Exile

You don't mention the camera you're buying for.
The new Canon batteries have a chip in them, which the camera can read.
If you use generic, the camera will sometimes fail to recognise them.
You almost certainly wouldn't get a reading from the battery meter, so you could be running low, without noticing. This is what I have found with my Canon 7D & grip, with generic versus genuine Canon batteries.

FlipperThePriest

City-Exile wrote: »

You don't mention the camera you're buying for.
The new Canon batteries have a chip in them, which the camera can read.
If you use generic, the camera will sometimes fail to recognise them.
You almost certainly wouldn't get a reading from the battery meter, so you could be running low, without noticing. This is what I have found with my Canon 7D & grip, with generic versus genuine Canon batteries.

Hmm... point taken. It's a 550d and the battery advertised on ebay was exclusively for 550d so I'd imagine it's fully compatible.

Having had another look at the item after reading your post it looks fully compatible

The advert says "new chip" and "100% compatible with genuine canon batteries"

mdebets

City-Exile wrote: »

You don't mention the camera you're buying for.
The new Canon batteries have a chip in them, which the camera can read.
If you use generic, the camera will sometimes fail to recognise them.
You almost certainly wouldn't get a reading from the battery meter, so you could be running low, without noticing. This is what I have found with my Canon 7D & grip, with generic versus genuine Canon batteries.

Besides the missing readings from the battery meter, you also need a new charger, as the original Canon charger won't charge batteries without the chip.

There are however now new non-Canon batteries out there, which have the chip, so they should work fine in the battery reader and Canon charger.