Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: haring on April 20, 2018, 05:05:04 am

Title: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: haring on April 20, 2018, 05:05:04 am
I am planning to buy a few back up batteries for my a7r iii. Which brand do you recommend and which one to avoid?

Thanks!
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: shadowblade on April 20, 2018, 02:59:25 pm
There's only one third-party battery available anyway (Wasabi), and it only just hit the stores a few days ago. Word's still out as to its performance, capacity and longevity.
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: donbga on April 20, 2018, 05:29:44 pm
It's been my experience that none of the 3rd party batteries are worth a crap including Wasabi. You are better off spending your money on OEM batteries IME.

Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: chez on April 21, 2018, 08:42:59 am
It's been my experience that none of the 3rd party batteries are worth a crap including Wasabi. You are better off spending your money on OEM batteries IME.

I use Wasabi batteries in my A7R2 without any problems. I have a mix in my bag and in use cannot tell if the battery in my camera is OEM or Wasabi.
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: E.J. Peiker on April 21, 2018, 11:19:11 am
I'm not a fan of Wasabi either, it hurts my tongue!!!  :P
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: Ivophoto on April 23, 2018, 03:10:52 pm
It's been my experience that none of the 3rd party batteries are worth a crap including Wasabi. You are better off spending your money on OEM batteries IME.
+1
I tried plenty of third party batteries for my Fuji, Canon, Nikon......
Lenmar: rubbish. Loose power after charging very quickly and max loading cycles irritating low. (Canon Mkiv)

Jupio: same problem as above (Canon 1Ds Miii and Fuji x100)

Hahnel: worst of them all. The new ‘Extreme’ should be ok, but I will not spend one Euro on this junk to try out.




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Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: Ivophoto on April 23, 2018, 03:18:12 pm
I am planning to buy a few back up batteries for my a7r iii. Which brand do you recommend and which one to avoid?

Thanks!

I don’t get it to be honest, a +2k camera and going for cheap battery solution?
I can only discourage to choose not original batteries. First of all, I never had a replacement battery good as the originals and some camera makers (pe Canon) cripples the functionality when a not original battery is detected.
I have bad experiences with not original battery’s not only with photo gear. Same for Power tools, etc. Original Makita battery’s are powerful and last long, replacement battery doesn’t come close.
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: haring on April 23, 2018, 04:28:15 pm
I would need 5 batteries. That's why I want to save some money on the batteries.
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: Martin Kristiansen on April 24, 2018, 12:08:21 am
You don’t need 5 batteries to shoot a wedding with that camera. Three max
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: donbga on April 24, 2018, 07:54:08 am
I would need 5 batteries. That's why I want to save some money on the batteries.
Check with KEH.COM, I've purchased quite a few OEM batteries from them in LN condition at about 50% of new along with OEM chargers.
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: shadowblade on April 24, 2018, 03:54:36 pm
I don’t get it to be honest, a +2k camera and going for cheap battery solution?
I can only discourage to choose not original batteries. First of all, I never had a replacement battery good as the originals and some camera makers (pe Canon) cripples the functionality when a not original battery is detected.
I have bad experiences with not original battery’s not only with photo gear. Same for Power tools, etc. Original Makita battery’s are powerful and last long, replacement battery doesn’t come close.

Clearly you've never done a long trip into the wilderness, with no access to electricity and limited solar (either due to jungle canopy or climate/geography). Sometimes you just need to have 20 batteries. They don't need to have longevity - you're only going to use them a few times - but they need to have power storage capacity. And that's what some of these aftermarket batteries bring - they may not take as many recharges as an OEM battery, but store just as much (if not more) power and are a quarter the price. Sure, you get 2-3 OEM batteries for general, long-term use, but the cheap aftermarket batteries are useful for trips like that.
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: Ivophoto on April 24, 2018, 03:59:04 pm
Clearly you've never done a long trip into the wilderness, with no access to electricity and limited solar (either due to jungle canopy or climate/geography). Sometimes you just need to have 20 batteries. They don't need to have longevity - you're only going to use them a few times - but they need to have power storage capacity. And that's what some of these aftermarket batteries bring - they may not take as many recharges as an OEM battery, but store just as much (if not more) power and are a quarter the price. Sure, you get 2-3 OEM batteries for general, long-term use, but the cheap aftermarket batteries are useful for trips like that.
I understood it was about reportage photography, not spending a few weeks in wilderness.
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: shadowblade on April 24, 2018, 04:05:54 pm
I understood it was about reportage photography, not spending a few weeks in wilderness.

You made a blanket statement - you never qualified your recommendation.
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: FabienP on April 24, 2018, 04:56:45 pm
Clearly you've never done a long trip into the wilderness, with no access to electricity and limited solar (either due to jungle canopy or climate/geography). Sometimes you just need to have 20 batteries. They don't need to have longevity - you're only going to use them a few times - but they need to have power storage capacity. And that's what some of these aftermarket batteries bring - they may not take as many recharges as an OEM battery, but store just as much (if not more) power and are a quarter the price. Sure, you get 2-3 OEM batteries for general, long-term use, but the cheap aftermarket batteries are useful for trips like that.

Actually, there were reports that the Wasabi NP-FW50 battery clones would self-discharge in less than a week. I think I read reviews about this in 2014. This very quickly nullifies the benefit of storing many aftermarket batteries.

It would be interesting to know if these issues have been sorted and / or if they also apply to the larger & newer NP-FZ100 battery clones.

Cheers,

Fabien
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: shadowblade on April 24, 2018, 06:38:16 pm
Actually, there were reports that the Wasabi NP-FW50 battery clones would self-discharge in less than a week. I think I read reviews about this in 2014. This very quickly nullifies the benefit of storing many aftermarket batteries.

It would be interesting to know if these issues have been sorted and / or if they also apply to the larger & newer NP-FZ100 battery clones.

Cheers,

Fabien

I never had a self-discharge problem (they'd discharge to around 90%, then stay there) but they lost capacity a lot faster than OEM batteries did. So, I only used them for long trips with no access to electricity.
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: Ivophoto on April 25, 2018, 12:52:53 am
Actually, there were reports that the Wasabi NP-FW50 battery clones would self-discharge in less than a week. I think I read reviews about this in 2014. This very quickly nullifies the benefit of storing many aftermarket batteries.

It would be interesting to know if these issues have been sorted and / or if they also apply to the larger & newer NP-FZ100 battery clones.

Cheers,

Fabien
This is also my experience with Jupio and Lenmar


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Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: Ivophoto on April 25, 2018, 12:55:09 am
You made a blanket statement - you never qualified your recommendation.

The statement’s qualification is in the series of topics the topic started posted around this subject.
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: Eric Brody on April 25, 2018, 11:37:10 am
This is a recurring theme on these boards, whether to buy an off brand lens, battery, etc. Some say... rubbish, get the OEM, others tout their excellent experience with a given off-brand. I think a lot of it has to do with one's overall view of their photography. Clearly someone whose income depends on one's camera will probably buy OEM batteries and lenses. There are a few folks out there who seem to glory in the "deal" and love to boast of their "bargains." If the only 10-18mm full frame lens in the marketplace is an "off brand" and one needs/wants that focal length, there's no choice. Some just prefer Zeiss or other brands. Otherwise one is parsing value for money.

For my A7RIII, I have almost all Sony lenses, a friend, whose work is excellent has only Zeiss and Voightlander's. I used a few off brand batteries in my Fuji's but am now sure why. When amortized over the life of the gear, the difference is pretty trivial. There was even a discussion, I believe on Fred Miranda, about whether the owner of a new A7RIII even needs a second battery! Seems a bit silly to me, but to each his own.
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: FabienP on April 25, 2018, 05:09:30 pm
There are reports (https://www.sonyalpharumors.com/warning-wasabi-sony-np-fz100-clone-is-not-working/) indicating that the first batch of the Wasabi NP-FZ100 clone batteries contains faulty units and these are no longer offered for preorder by some retailers.

Cheers,

Fabien
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: E.J. Peiker on April 26, 2018, 08:32:47 am
Note that there are reports on Amazon that the Wasabi battery returns an "incompatible battery" error message.
http://sonyaddict.com/2018/04/25/some-wasabi-sony-np-fz100-not-working-manufacture-has-halted-shipments/
Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: Kirk_C on May 03, 2018, 10:46:17 pm
I would need 5 batteries. That's why I want to save some money on the batteries.


You may spend less money but you're not going to save anything. You're going to get less for less.

Sony's batteries are outstanding. Every review raves about them.

Title: Re: Recommended aftermarket battery for Sony a7r iii?
Post by: sharperstill on July 30, 2018, 07:49:04 am
Note that there are reports on Amazon that the Wasabi battery returns an "incompatible battery" error message.
http://sonyaddict.com/2018/04/25/some-wasabi-sony-np-fz100-not-working-manufacture-has-halted-shipments/

I let myself get talked into a Julio battery when I recently purchased my A7r III.
It wouldn't charge initially, then eventually seemed to take a charge. When I went to use it a few days later it threw an incompatible battery error and I've sent it back and demanded a genuine as replacement.

Jon