Cheap Ebay Batteries...Dangerous?

[carrigman]

I bought a cheap BP-511 battery for my 20D from Ebay. Including postage, it cost me just Euro 20 and it came from Hong Kong. At the time it seemed too good a bargain to pass up.
Now I'm not so sure. Are there any instances of such cheap batteries actually causing harm to the camera? I only intend to use it as a back up in case the Canon brand battery becomes exhausted. It certainly won't be sitting in the camera for lengthy periods so the danger of leakage is pretty remote.(I hope). Should I bin it and buy a more expensive battery (something not as expensive as the Canon brand - any recommendations?) or do you think it's OK for occasional use?

Regards,

Carrigman

[René Damkot]

I'ld say no problem. After all, it's not rocket sience :p I assume the price diff is mostly the brand name you're paying for, and the effort of researching rather then copying.

Nikon batteries can fail as well according to dpreview.
I assume these can as well, and so can Canon

[Wilt]

The saying is "If it is too good to be true, it probably is!". So I am a bit leary about some of those eBay ads. But I have also heard a large number of positive feedback comments from eBay purchasers of Sterlingtek batteries, and no negative comments.

[Wilt]

One other thing...be sure to read the mAH capacity of the battery you are considering, to make sure it is a battery which meets or exceeds the capacity of the original Canon battery, or else you might be paying less money for a lower capacity battery!

[Radtech1]

One other thing...be sure to read the mAH capacity of the battery you are considering...

Oh, one other other thing. Never believe anything you read.

Who cares if the sticker says 1500 mAH - the actual battery could be anything. For something as cheap as batteries, I will always pony up for the real thing rather than trust some unregulated parallel importer.

Rad

[goatee]

Sterlingtek batteries are so reasonable, and so many people are happy with them, that they're the only batteries I buy. The main thing that worries me is whether they have the overcharging circuitry in them, so that they won't overheat when charging.

[Mitcon]

I have quite a few batteries from Eforcity off ebay, I wasn't certain of what they would be like at first as they were only $1.39 each lol. I've had them for 6-7 months now and give them a pretty good work-out. Not a problem so far, they out perform the canon OEM unit easy. The main thing is to try and buy third party batteries that use a good quality japanese cell in them. I've not heard of a single Canon camera as yet damage by battery.

In the end though it's upto you, pay more for peace of mind if you need to. I know with some things I do for peace of mind.

[philpereira]

i bought two sterlingtek batteries for my rebel and i used one for 3 straight hours yesterday and it worked well i suppose. i bought that brand based on the feedback in this forum. this place is a trusted source of info for me, people won't steer you wrong.

[Wrench]

I bought some of the cheapo batteries from ebay a while ago. They work fine, but don't hold a charge as long as the OEM cells do, so I bought more. I carry 6 charged at a time and I'm usually okay :) . A single fully charged $1.50 battery will last about 3hrs with AF while I can get 6-8 out of my Canon battery. For the price of an OEM you can get 20 cheapies :)

[cruzyn56]

I have purchased 2 batteries for my 20D from sterlingtek. No problems. They work great and last a long time for a fraction of the cost of a Canon battery.

[JohnnyG]

My Sterlingtek battery performs identically with my genuine Canon battery and lasts longer too!

I totally trust Sterlingtek and have been buying from them for over a year and never got a bad product.

[rklepper]

Not sure what the big deal about $20 is. How much did you pay for the rest of your gear? Not sure you want to approach it differently on batteries. I do know that a 3rd party battery in a Canon product voids their warranty. If it explodes (okay maybe there is a better possibility of being hit by a meteor) who will cover the damages. That is why I always pay the extra to get Canon. If anything goes wrong there is just one company to deal with and noone can say "Their battery caused the problem", or "their grip caused the problem." Just makes everything simpler. At my age I have to simplify everything I possibly can.

[superkully]

As with anything, go with people who have been recommended (e.g Sterlingtek).

I bought two BP-511 a-likes for £14 each and although they have lasted me just under a year of rotation with my standard Canon battery I found some real BP-511's on sale for £9 each a couple of months ago so I've put them away now - they only hold about 1/3 the charge of the branded batteries.

[Poco]

I recently purchased some cheapo batteries from eforcity for my XT and have not had any problems until just recently. One of them refuses to charge (though it still works in the camera). Has anyone had any problems like this? Anyone know how to resolve it?

[Mitcon]

I've not heard of it or had any problems with mine from them, think I've got like 9 of theirs and have been great so far. Have you tried contacting Eforcity about the faulty battery ? I wasn't really worried if any of mine failed as at $1.39 it was cheaper than a throw away battery for me. Hope Eforcity can sort it out for you though.

[numbers]

Just back from China where I enquired about BP511A's for my 20D (all prices in AUD for the purpose of this post)
Available on the market are three(plus one more) BP511a batteries.
1. Canon OE with cover, and Canon packaging ($80-$110)
2. Canon copy with cover, and Canon packaging ($50-$70)
3. After market brand (dont remember name, Made in China), own packaging($30-$43)
plus the full range of BP511 which I think was released for the Canon DV's(I stand corrected)
Problem for me was that out of the three Canon copies I was offered, I could only pick that one only was in fact a copy, the other two were spot on like the original that came with my 20D.
Also, the above figure are without any bargaining or negotiating.
In closing, I didnot buy any of them, it got too confusing weighing up the pros and cons (perceived as they may be)
Thanks, Numbers

[wilflee]

I've had mixed experiences with batteries bought on-line. Bought a BP-511 from Batterybarn for my venerable G1 years ago because the original Canon BP-511 isn't holding as much charge as it used to. Two years later, the original Canon is still about the same (voltage drops after about 3 - 4 hrs). But the Batterybarn battery will show low voltage after about 15 minutes of usage.

But I've positive experiences as well. Bought 3 NP-E3 batteries from EBay for $24 Cdn each. These came complete with weather seal and all. And it outlasts my Canon battery.

So, my conclusions that you have to take your chances.

[Zepher]

I just bought the Sterlingtek batteries and I have to say that they last quite awhile.
I don't have any new canon batteries to compare with though.
I snapped about 200 pictures with the flash the other night and looked at all the pictures a few times on the LCD screen and the camera still showed the battery as full.

[S230]

I have 1 original Canon BP-511 battery and 4 generic brand. I noticed that it depends on luck on what kind you get. eventhough they are same brand, I had one that failed me less than 2 months of use. Another two, used for over 6 months, don't hold charge as long as they used to. I had one that is still perfect condition. Overall, I am still better off than buying originals because Canon charges way too much to justify the cost.

[wu_wei0]

My sterlingtek batteries outperform the canon battery that I have. they are a fantastic price, ship fast, and work wonderfully.

[uktrailmonster]

I don't think the OEM Canon batteries are particularly good anyway. I've got 3 of them and only 1 of them keeps a decent charge after 3 years light usage. I'm going to take my chances with cheap copies next time.

[F. Stop Fitzgerald]

I suspect that there are only two actual manufacturers of these batteries, and that they're probably both in China now. Japan had a really bad experience with local cadmium poisoning after WWII. Cadmium dumped in the water supplies caused a syndrome with disastrous birth defects known as "itai itai" (literal translation ouch ouch). Since then, heavy metal processing has been controlled in Japan. For many years, there was only one manufacturer of AA, B, C, and D batteries. That was Ray-o-Vac. Batteries were supposedly made to different specifications for different labels.

Similarly, for many years, there was only one manufacturer of audio recording tape. That was Scotch. Then BASF and a few other companies sprung up to meet the burgeoning growth of the audio cassette industry.

Though your battery may say "Made in Japan," that verb "made" has become pretty vague in meaning in the world market. The actual cells and the shells may have been manufactured in China but assembled in Japan. Trade conventions may then allow the assemblers to slap a sticker onto the product saying "made in Japan" or even MANUFACTURED in Japan!

For years, there was one manufacturer of television picture tubes. That was Matsushta. Philco, Zenith, RCA, and a few more whose names i can't remember now all used the Matsushta picture tube. Matsushta also assembled most of the television sets made for the American market, and often, the only appreciable difference between one tv set and another was the day it was assembled, and the cabinet or shell that it was shipped in.

Anyone who has owned or seen a 90's Chevy Geo Prizm might have noticed a strange similarity between it and that year's Toyota Corolla. That's because it IS a Toyota Corolla which was manufactured in Japan, shipped the the U.S. as parts and then reassembled in the U.S.. The car actually carries a tag saying : made in U.S.! I know. I own one, and it's a great car.

Though China and Japan appear to have a tempestuous political relationship, outsourcing has become a very common occurrence in Japan during the past thirty years.

I've heard it asked why some brands seem to be more reliable than others if there are supposedly only a small number of manufacturers. (I'm not the only one who believes this). My answer is that there are probably different grades of manufacture which may result from availability of certain battery components, as well as shifting cost structures, and other variables at play. (Many manufactured items-- and foodstuffs too!-- fall into a grade category for the sake standardization, trade purposes and for government sales).

I've experienced the same things which others experienced: my OEM battery cr@pped out shortly after purchase, but Brand X batteries from god-only-knows-where are still chugging along. I have owned about a dozen batteries, and three of them are now dead and buried. At about seven bucks apiece, I'm happy with their performance over almost three years. None has exploded, leaked, or eloped with a musician or got its navel pierced.

So, yeah, I'll say that they're safe.

[bones]

Quite a few of the OEM Batteries are made in China just like the ones on Ebay. I would not hesitate.

[sugarzebra]

I have had great luck with Sterlingtek (however purchase via their own online store or via telephone....their EBay store charges more for shipping)