Toronto Photography Meetup Group

This is a two part question.

1) Where to get real canon batteries at a good price, shipped from B&h will cost me $75, local stores are even more expensive. There are plenty of fakes around, even the genuine canon batteries sold through amazon are turning out to be fakes. Any good source of well priced real canon batteries?

2) Alternatively who sells good knock offs, previously I have purchased from company called sterlingtek, don't think they are around anymore, and while original canon batteries I have are still going strong, these knock offs stopped charging long time ago. Anyone selling knock offs that are as or nearly as good as canon originals?

Thanks

I got some Sterlingtek batteries this summer. They are still around.

$75 for an original Canon battery seems like a good price to me. What do you consider to be "well-priced" ?

Probably $30-35 with reasonable shipping charges (costs next to nothing to make them, and there are good sourced for other items like filters that are much cheaper than the main stores, hope to find similar for batteries).

2.) BattDepot.ca - got my 5D batteries there and they seem to be holding up as well as my OEMs. Super inexpensive btw. At the time I combined it with a laptop battery I needed so I got the >$100 free shipping

$30-$35 for genuine Canon batteries, keep dreaming.

Thanks, I will check them out.

Battery Barn in the USA -- stay away....

thanks, list not to shop is just as good (may get very lengthy though with all the counterfiting going around

I have bought iCAN batteries (enel3, enel4, macbook) from canada computers and they have been excellent so far. Very inexpensive too.

I think I have bought from them too. If you buy the right knock off, you can exceed Canon OEM performance (more shots per charge). I only buy non OEM batteries nowadays.

The only flaw I have found with some knock off batteries is the latching mechanism on batteries for EOS-1 camera bodies. Specifically with the 1D(s) MK III or 1D MK IV. The twist-to-lock tab MAY be looser than it should be. The lock itself always works perfectly and is unaffected by the loose tab. However, the cosmetic faux-pa of a possible hanging tab may be enough to deter some. Personally I don't mind, as taking more shots per charge at a fraction for the cost is an easy trade off.

I found that to be the case initially, however all the once I have stopped charging after a while (I tend to hold on to equipment for a while) for folks upgrading frequently they may not even notice.

For me the right knock off would be the one that still charges after 5 years or so, just like canon originals do.

I have had good lick with 511's (40D, 5D, etc) from http://www.espow.ca/. These are non chipped batteries and were something like 15.00 each. That said they are non-chipped batteries.

When you get into the chipped batteries for the 5D2 and 7D - then you should be more concerned about compatibility. There are apparently decent 3rd party chipped batteries around now.

Just checked the store but they don't have any for my camera.

How long have you had them?

Thanks, the chipped batteries are for higher end models or newer once, I have canon T3i?

Apparently the T3i battery [LP-E8] is not chipped.

Here is a thread from FM that talks about them:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1005725

Here is a link to espow for your battery:
http://www.espow.ca/digital-camera-batt ... -lp-e8.htm

Less than $75...

I have used ebay knock off batteries for XT, XSI, 40d and 7d without any issues on losing charges. Some of them are over 3 years old.

Did the knockoff battery work fine with your 7D? I ask as it has chip functionality that tells the camera how many shots are left.

has anyone tried the Digipower batteries from bestbuy / futureshop?

The ones I bought were not chipped, so no battery indication. But they last just as long as the original canon one.

My 40D batteries are not chipped (BP-511's) but the camera has an indicator which I assume is based on voltage remaining - do the non-chipped 7D knockoffs not indicate remaining battery level at all?

Canon introduces this new special battery chip thing starting with 5dmk2/7d. The older batteries (i.e. 20d/30d/40d/50d etc..) do not need special chips to show battery level.

I know that. My question was, does the non-chipped knock-offs, in a 7D, not indicate remaining battery level at all?

Yes no battery level at all.

Interesting, so the camera working one second and shuts off the next without any warning?

Try this place http://www.batterybuyer.com/
I've bought my ipod and some Nikon batteries from there about 2yrs ago. The batteries are still holding their charge about the same as their original counter parts.

Good luck.

good thing this thread is up. I just bought a 7D and heard about this "chipped" battery. Does the chip only communicate battery level info to the camera or is there something else? I was thinking of getting a 2nd battery but if a non-chipped battery is an issue then I'd rather stay away from it.

Thanks!

Apparently there are now chipped third party batteries available. Perhaps others can recommend a site to obtain them.

Yes if the battery is drained then the camera will shut off automatically without warning.

Ooooh sweet!!! Thanks Rhommel!

The only thing is this:



But then the only thing I really want to know is the charge I suppose.

Or for $14 more you get a brand new Canon one shipped to your door from B&H ($91.55 according to Photo Price).

Seems like a bit of a no-brainer to me.