Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Digital Cameras & Shooting Techniques => Topic started by: spotmeter on April 12, 2009, 09:25:02 am

Title: Canon 5D2 off-brand batteries?
Post by: spotmeter on April 12, 2009, 09:25:02 am

Canon batteries for the 5D2 are scarce, stores are asking a premium if they have them, so I thought of trying some off-brand batteries as back-ups for my upcoming photo trip.

Anyone try any of these?

I see HK supplies on ebay has a battery and charger for $23 by Phottix. Anyone ever use Phottix batteries?

Thanks.

Title: Canon 5D2 off-brand batteries?
Post by: schrodingerscat on April 14, 2009, 09:16:52 pm

Quote from: spotmeter

Canon batteries for the 5D2 are scarce, stores are asking a premium if they have them, so I thought of trying some off-brand batteries as back-ups for my upcoming photo trip.

Anyone try any of these?

I see HK supplies on ebay has a battery and charger for $23 by Phottix. Anyone ever use Phottix batteries?

Thanks.

While many people, myself included, have used aftermarket batteries, I'd shy away from them except in an emergency. They are pretty much hit or miss as far as quality and compatibility with the gear.

I'm a tech, and there have been problems mentioned on our bulletin board regarding damage to equipment as well as just not working well. I have had good success with the chargers, which I use in the car. I use OEM only in my own gear and the aftermarkets for test purposes. Have had cameras balk with the aftermarket ones and work OK with OEMs.

Title: Canon 5D2 off-brand batteries?
Post by: rcdurston on April 15, 2009, 05:27:51 am

I've given up on Canon batteries. They only last a couple of months with me. I always use Lenmar batteries for all my Canons. They last a long time (maybe a full day in studio and about half a day on location each) compared to Canon's (a couple of hours before they are dead).
Unfortunately right now Lenmar hasn't made a replacement for the 5d mk2 yet. I'll be first in line when they come out.

Title: Canon 5D2 off-brand batteries?
Post by: situgrrl on April 15, 2009, 06:46:49 am

Not with a 5D II but with 30D used Hanmel alongside oem and was much better than the canon battery. OE batteries are a total rip off imo - but I equally could not recommend some ebay special.

Title: Canon 5D2 off-brand batteries?
Post by: Jerry Kurata on April 17, 2009, 05:14:06 pm

Quote from: spotmeter

Canon batteries for the 5D2 are scarce, stores are asking a premium if they have them, so I thought of trying some off-brand batteries as back-ups for my upcoming photo trip.

Anyone try any of these?

I see HK supplies on ebay has a battery and charger for $23 by Phottix. Anyone ever use Phottix batteries?

Thanks.

Unless the 3rd party battery specifically say they are "fully compatible" with the 5DMK2 I would consider going with the factory battery. The battery on the 5DMK2 has a ID chip in it and most 3rd batteries do not and have the following limitation:

Will not work with the charger that came with the camera, which is why they come with their own charger.
Cause a battery communications error message to appear when the camera is powered on.
The remaining battery power is not displayed in the LCD on the camera, so you need to have a spare with you at all times.
The battery status display in the menu does not display any information for the battery.

Title: Canon 5D2 off-brand batteries?
Post by: Easton on April 17, 2009, 11:44:44 pm

Yes thats exactly what I found out about my generic's, but the third party charger can recharge Canon and generic batteries so I just use it from now on.

Not having a battery-remaining bar hasn't been an issue for me (yet). I always use the Canon battery first and when it dies I start resorting to the generics.

Title: Canon 5D2 off-brand batteries?
Post by: tmx3 on April 18, 2009, 08:44:41 am

i cant comment on the specifics here as I use a 5d mk1 but i've had my backup 3rd party battery fail on me while in the middle of a job. As a result in the future i will always buy from canon.