Jordan took it on vacation to find out. PL provides various digital photography news, reviews, articles, tips, tutorials and guides to photographers of all levels, By John Sherman 30 CommentsLast Updated On July 6, 2015. The GOOD has a fake battery power gauge, its superficial. Getting in my first fitness magazine publication! This is an old thread and I'm wondering what the current favorite after-matket replacement battery is for the LPE6N? That said, why not spend that money on the 2 batteries and charger combo from Wasabi.http://www.amazon.com 8-1&keywords=wasabi+lp-e6I have a pair and love them. All cams were bought used with BLC12.We are still using all of the BLC12 batteries and I wouldn't be able to tell which are the oldest ones amongst them by perceived capacity.During the same period we bought three different aftermarket batteries of which two of them have died and the one remaining is now so low in capacity that we stopped using it. I purchased the battery from a reputable camera store who said theyve been selling their products for 10 years. All cams were bought used with BLC12.We are still usingall of the BLC12 batteries and I wouldn't be able to tell which are the oldest ones amongst them by perceived capacity.During the same period we bought three different aftermarket batteries of which two of them have died and the one remaining is now so low in capacity that we stopped using it. Anyone know of a way to persuade it? At which point I decided to actually test the batteries for myself. Good luck. No issues from me.Initial review of EZO Power LP-E6 batteries for my 7D. That's roughly 80% of the capacity of the $52.00 Panasonic battery. With no luck on eBay, BH or Adorama I looked to Amazon. I bought one as a spare battery for trip I did a year ago to Tanzania. What's the best camera for shooting landscapes? It worked just fine so I got more batteries, both the Wasabi and the Watson brands, for my D4s and my D7000 and D810 bodies. The funny thing is my old d5100 has the same two original nikon branded batteries and they are still going strong. I got these into Toronto without issue, despite the April 1st ban on shipping batteries by air. I love having a handful of batteries ready to go for travel, and I've found they hold their charge for long periods of time. I happen to have a lot of Lithium based batteries I use for camera drones and other lithium polymer batteries. I strongly doubt that any camera manufacturer makes their own cells. The batteries wont let you do updates. There are hundreds of possibilities about the cause, and maybe one of it was the battery. Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2016. These capable cameras should be solid and well-built, have both speed and focus for capturing fast action and offer professional-level image quality. When I bought my Nikon d610, B&H three in a spare Watson brand en el15. Hope that helps, --------------- 50D, Rebel XT, EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS, 28-135 IS,430EX, AT858Everything you wanted to know about aftermarket batteries. I've purchased a variety of batteries from Wasabi Power and have not been disappointed after years of use. The Nikon batter is empty in a much faster time (and, yey, I use a brand-new Nikon battery, shipped with the camera from Amazon). DJI has a new gimbal, and it's compatible with some of the revolutionary accessories from the Ronin 4D. Hold a good charge! Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2015. Theres a wasabi deal on amazon where you can get 2 en el15s fir $29.95. Okay boys and girlsany good deals on a battery for a 1DsMkIII. Two, three thousand dollar camera. I'm writing this review now because I was struck this morning, when I went to take a few quick photos, that I hadn't changed the battery in a long, long time. The charger also comes with a 12V cigarette adapter for charging in the car. The fair price would be closer to $25.00 - $30.00 but they will of course price them at the highest amount the market will bear. Whether you have had good or bad luck with third party batteries, please consider taking a minute to answer these poll questions. Thankfully I live in Vancouver with numerous shipping options to Blaine, so a short hop across the border and I got my Wasabi's for about $32 CAD. What I am concerned with, is that buying Nikon branded batteries may/may not be any safer, considering the number of counterfeit items being sold on the internet these days, even on reputable web sites. Conclusion: If you want maximum battery life, you are stuck with the Panasonic LUMIX OEM battery at $52.00 If you are ok with less time per battery you can get the cheaper batteries and replace them more often during shooting. This thread helped me a lot in making a sound decision. First I weighed several different batteries because sometimes weight difference can suggest capacity differences. Compare prices and you'll find Wasabi is a great value for a quality product. It also communicates if it is an OEM battery or not. Weve chosen cameras that can take great photos and make it easy to get great looking video, rather than being the ones youd choose as a committed videographer. If the cheaper batteries cells degrade faster, the actual cost per milliamp hour would rise accordingly. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. One thing about Lithium Ion batteries is that they degrade faster when fully charged. Only my original battery that came with my 5DII has ceased holding charges. Since giving Wasabi and Watson batteries a chance, Ive shot over 100000 exposures so theyve been charged and discharged a lot. Only thing is, the reviews for the Watson batteries on Amazon are dismal, https://www.amazon.com/Watson-DMW-BLC12-Lithium-Ion-Replaces-Panasonic/dp/B00LW7SYQM#customerReviews. Maybe they just changes too many things for this model, but afor someone that shoots professionally several times a week, its annoying wondering when you have to drop another $20-$60 on another battery. Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2015, Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2018. Notice the wasabi batteries even say "Premium Grade A Cells" right on the battery. In this scenario, I got just as much shooting out of the brand new third party batteries as I did my OEM batteries. I buy only OEM. Will report back what I find. Finally, bit the bullet and got a Panny batterynever a problem with functional longevity. I am lucky if I can get 15 minutes of power per charge. Perfect spare batteries to have so that I can keep filming/taking pictures. They stopped me from using Bluetooth. There is. We dive deep to find out where it excels and what it's like to fly. They also have a POWER2000 battery for $22.95 but that one claims 1400mAh and usually claims of capacity higher than OEM are a warning sign. He has since submerged into internet notoriety but comes up occasionally to contribute to Arizona Highways Magazine. And before the cam shuts down they give the red blinking warning signal for quite a long time.The third party batteries of different brand all behaved the same in that they would indicate full capacity until they are an estimated 95% empty and then the indicators are racing down finishing with avery short red warning period that hardly lets you finish what you are at. Not bad. Ive read some horror stories as well as comments from people who have not had problems. Both Canon and Nikon have been known to issue firmware updates for their cameras that have disabled third party batteries (the charge meter no longer shows and perhaps other issues). When I looked up the Sony OEM batteries they were outrageously expensive, $300CAD for a single BP-U60. The Kastar brand was also the only one that shipping packed and sealed in a box with warranty information. And my replacement battery, if needed is a Watson. Sure. It's just my opinion that Panasonic is over-charging (no pun intended) for their OEM batteries. Sorry couldnt read all the pages of this thread to find the answer to my question but will a 7.4v (2600 mAh) DSTE battery damage my 6D in anyway? Not cost effective to bother sending just 1 battery back, so simply disposed of. They are advertised at 1200mAh and the one I tested was VERY close to that. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. Most batteries have a chip in them. $10 per battery for Wasabi batteries = $10 / 800mAh = .0125 cents per mAh. But is it enough to outclass the competition? All things considered, a charger + 2 batteries for the EZO power isn't a terrible deal, but the Wasabi are probably the best non OEM alternative from my experience. I have tried these two, and they didn't last more than many 100, or less, shots. The Sony BP-U30 realistically gets 1h 45m of use and the GOOD brand gets me 4-4.5 hours. Canon's high end APS-C mirrorless camera has plenty of compelling features, but is it worth the price? I have bought several types of aftermarket batteries and the only issue I've ever had was with a charger/2-battery set I bought for less than $15 and the batteries don't communicate with the camera, but they power it. This battery had also swollen. People online complained that the batteries would "get stuck" in the charger, but if you look at the CLEARLY MARKED instructions before you insert the battery, you slide it to the right (I think) and then pull it out, not just straight out like the OEM charger. Is this the gimbal to get? The cheep battery will work, but its not warranted. For ages Ive heeded the warnings from camera manufacturers that inserting non-OEM batteries into my camera could make the camera explode or at the very least give it a nasty case of shingles. Interestingly it was in the same ziplock (also leaky) with a Nikon EN-EL15. Some of the bigger concerns about using third party batteries are: All batteries are not created equal. Well, that certainly looks like a better deal lol.Thanks! Since them I have used it countless times with good results. Considering I received the packages in 4 business days they most definitely shipped them by air, perhaps thats an international issue, or I just got lucky again. I used them on a single trip to Moab. Back up batteries, if your so much a pro you should be able to afford the batteries. Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them. They lasted at least 2 days each, through heavy shooting/video recording while on a trip in Ireland. However, there are no reviews and you didn't use them yourself so I'm a bit hesitant. Something went wrong. In addition to the weight differences, the mAh rating of the batteries differs. In my personal experience 7.4v and 7.2v on batteries yielded fine results. Not sure what Camera brand you own, but it has been highly suggested to me that you should Only use OEM batteries in the Camera brand you own, Nikon Camera use Nikon Batteries, Canon Camera use Canon batteries, etc. No complaints at all. But I need more! On Sunday, 11/26/27, while doing some video work outside (temperatures in the mid 50s) with the D5500, one of the Kapaxen batteries discharged completely. This communicates charge info to the camera. The dot.foto BLG10 replacements that I bought 20 months ago cost 1/6 the Panny price (if you buy two of them) and yet the Panny battery doesn't take six times as many pictures, or anything like six times. Mathematically, that would mean I could theoretically end up with 800 shots with live view, but that's not to say the battery indicator is 100% correct, I would expect it to actually be less as the 7D manual indicates around 400 shots with liveview on, 800+ without. They all crapped out pretty quickly. I was planning to order one and test it. I'm wondering if maybe they "vet" their battery suppliers better so as to ensure better quality batteries? Two weeks ago the nikon branded one refused to charge, today as I am commenting on this and researching affordable 3rd party, the watson discharged within 20 minutes of shooting. - New Years Resolution - Take at least a picture a day!! I bought a "counterfiet" LP-E6 from a Chinese supplier online that looked EXACTLY like the real thing (had to mark it to keep it seperate from the "real" ones) for $20 (including shipping from China) and it came with the box and contents not assembled. If you want to test another batt, IMHO this should be the one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IR0YLZU/?coliid=I1UW1OF38XJTTF&colid=3PUXY8YWMEWAE&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it, https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMW-BLC12-Lithium-Ion-Battery-Lumix%C2%AE/dp/B004KDVNZO/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=panasonic+dmc+12&qid=1571429141&sr=8-8. It may be just a failure, but if its a Lithium Ion batterythere is a danger of fire. To remove the doubt and replace it with tested fact. That sums up my experience with third party batteries, but because third party battery horror stories abound out there, I thought it would be more informative for our readers if we were to conduct a poll of their battery experiences rather than to just rely on my experiences with a handful of samples. Again, I had great difficulty removing the battery, this time having to resort to a pair of ice tongs when I got home. Copyright 1995-2022 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. Having used my Wasabi's here and there, it looks like they perform pretty close to the OEM LP-E6, so if you get something that seems defective, it likely is. I knew the included OEM SOny BP-U30 battery wasnt adequate(130min claim from Sony) wouldnt be adequate, so I bought a generic Chinese brand from eBay for $80USD called GOOD(claimed 7800mAh capacity). I then replaced it with a second Kapaxen battery, which was fully charged. The Wasabi is still available on Amazon and you can get them directly from Bluenook which also ships from the US. Buy the batteries that are made for your camera. I've encountered that same website as well. It will be used in the Panasonic Lumex GX8 camera. Finally, bit the bullet and got a Panny batterynever a problem with functional longevity. The Nikon actually survived and continued working. Indeed there's a tremendous amount of cheating on the part of 3rd party manufacturers. My test rig consisted of a converted BLC12 charger modified to act only as a cradle for holding the batteries and for connecting the discharge device. That was the whole idea of the actual capacity tests. I attempted to contact the manufacturer, but to date have gotten no response ( two days later). Luckily Amazon's customer service is top notch, so you'll have everything rectified asap. In my opinion, nikon, watson & wasabi have roughly the same charge life and overall life that it just makes more sense to go 3rd party. It's small, inexpensive and incredibly wide. In this buying guide weve rounded up all the current interchangeable lens cameras costing around $2000 and recommended the best. I bought these batteries with my Canon Rebel T5i three years ago. very pleased overall. The very slight weight difference suggested otherwise. These Wasabi Power batteries are great! Considering I paid just under $30 CAD for 2 batteries and 1 charger, I'm very impressed. The 3 batteries are all the same physical size but there are substantial differences. However, I have read that the cheaper batteries will simply shut the camera off while capturing video or photos with no warning possibly resulting in the loss of the entire video. What I generally found in testing is that these replacements were about 63% the capacity of the OEM battery. Since there is so much reported inconsistency with these batteries, I'd take it to mean these batteries just are not reliable. Another reason I would consider third party batteries is if you are going on the trip of a lifetime and need a bunch of spare capacity because you wont be able to recharge during the trip. Heres a Watson (black label, light green cells) and Wasabi (white labels dark green cells) EN-EL15 broken open. Ive been using two Patona batteries for my Nikon D5300 for more than a year. Impressive verbiage..not so impressive performance relative to the clam of 1400mAh capacity. If you're looking for the perfect drone for yourself, or to gift someone special, we've gone through all of the options and selected our favorites. The chargers feature a built-in two-prong adapter for US outlets and others in the 100-240V range. Some third party manufacturers use better quality cells than others. As you can see, and if you have purchased any of these aftermarket batteries you probably already know, the capacities are not equal to OEM batteries. I'm in the market for needing a second battery for the 5d mark ii. I bought SterlingTek chargers second time but continue to use the OEM Canon chargers instead for all my batteries. If you don't mind being careful and more frequent battery swaps, this is a viable alternative to expensive OEM batteries. Its interesting that the Wasabi is lighter than the Chinese 3rd party, despite that brand not having a functioning power gauge. I have Canon equipment. Wasabi BP-U60 @ 4600mAh I want to emphasize that these are the only brands of third party batteries Ive tried and that my positive experience with them is not an endorsement of third party batteries from other manufacturers. I haven't given them a full run, but they seem to charge without issue on the OEM Canon charger. In this guide we've chosen a selection of cameras that make it easy to shoot compelling lifestyle images, ideal for sharing on social media. I know. The life of these batteries is a bit pathetic. High resolution, weather-sealed bodies and wide dynamic range are all important. I like the compact wall charger better than the OEM charger - one piece rather than 2 for the OEM product makes it easy for travel and no risk of the parts getting separated. Impact Multiboom Light Stand and Reflector Holder Review, Pre-Order Links: Nikon Z50, New Lenses, Battery Pack, Swelling causing difficulty inserting or removing, Incompatibility with camera and/or OEM charger. Its too early for me to say if this is true with the EN-EL18s. Has anyone got any links to where they have purchased from in the uk. Other than the 2g weight difference and the labels the Watson and Wasabi look identical they have the same case. EOS 7D w/BG-E7 (3), 550EX (3), 430EX II, Vivitar 285HV, Opteka 6.5mm/3.5, Canon EF-S 10-18/4.5-5.6 IS STM, Canon EF-S 24/2.8 STM, Canon EF 40/2.8 STM, Canon EF 100mm/2.0 USM, Canon EF 70-300mm/4-5.6 L IS USM, Canon 77mm 500D Macro, Tamrac 614 Bag & 787 Backpack, Crumpler 8 MDH, 7 MDH, 6 MDHhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/johnebersole/sets/. I just purchased a third party battery for the first time from a company called Promaster. One thing you get from the Nikon brand battery, besides an expensive Nikon label on the side, is the assurance that your cameras warranty wont be voided if there is battery related damage. When using the GPS functionality and/or live view, this camera model consumes quite some energy so you always need a second or third battery. They served their purpose, so I bought two more. I like the car charger attachment too. This often resulted in our cams shutting down on us in the middle of a take. It seems to be just as long as the Canon battery. The .ca site is pretty much useless imo. When I tried to remove the battery, I found that it had swollen and it took me about 5 minutes working with it to get it out. Try cleaning the contacts with a cue tip and rubbing alcohol. After posting this I found a series of one star (really bad) reviews for Watson batteries. Registered members may log in to forums and access all the features: full search, image upload, follow forums, own gear list and ratings, likes, more forums, private messaging, thread follow, notifications, own gallery, all settings, view hosted photos, own reviews, see more and do more and all is free. Wasabi, Kastar and other aftermarket batteries, If you believe there are incorrect tags, please send us this post using our, Re: Wasabi, Kastar and other aftermarket batteries. It also quickly discharged. BTW I bought, tested and quickly returned a Watson a few years back. Watson batteries may be the ticket. I also bought a third FZ200 very cheap in 2016 as a backup cam. I also bought a third FZ200 very cheap in 2016 as a backup cam. I haven't tried the EZO charger yet. Just purchased this kit from amazon.com. Do you drink no name beer. Most modern cameras will shoot video to one degree or another, but these are the ones wed look at if you plan to shoot some video alongside your photos. My Watson EN-EL15 bit the dust as described below (all my fault). From lowest to highest mAh for the EN-EL15s it goes like this: Watson 1800 mAh, Nikon 1900 mAh, and Wasabi 2000 mAh. Ive been using the Wasabis for a year and the Watsons for 7 months.