3rd party battery?


ShawnKohJyhShen

New Member
Jun 22, 2010
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hey guys, i was looking for spare batteries and may be a battery grip as well for my canon 500d

the question in my mind is if the 3rd party battery will damage the camera and void the warrenty?

the other question is that if the 3rd party battery will damage the original Canon grip and Canon battery when put together?


Hope to hear advice from you guys, thanks :D
 

if you want instant answers, search under this forum.

1st question - yes
2nd question - no
 

thanks but in regards to the warranty voiding part, how will canon know if i used a 3rd party batt?
 

haha i got 1 canon original batt and 3 third party batt..
and it is damn shocking that the third party batt is more lasting than the canon original batt.

i dont think that the warranty will be voided if you are using a third party batt.
correct me if i am wrong.
 

the question in my mind is if the 3rd party battery will damage the camera and void the warrenty?
Which shop would sell such batteries? After a short period they would face a lot of damn angry customers and their lawyers.
Officially, Canon will not approve the usage of 3rd party batteries. It's just protecting their turf and making some legal disclaimer. In real life, many people use 3rd party batteries, including me. Some have bad experiences, though. But on average the batteries seem to work at least up to 80% of the capacity of original battery. 80% life time for 40% costs - your call. The stories of blown-up batteries are grossly exaggerated.

the other question is that if the 3rd party battery will damage the original Canon grip and Canon battery when put together?
Canon will tell you "yes", real life says "unlikely". The grip has hardly any electronics inside, nothing much to damage. If the voltage of the battery is the same where should the damage come from? Personally I only use one battery at a time, but that's because I have the grip purely for better handling. I don't need 2 batteries in parallel, I have the time to change when necessary.
 

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haha i got 1 canon original batt and 3 third party batt..
and it is damn shocking that the third party batt is more lasting than the canon original batt.
Have you tried this in real life and counted the amount of pictures you can take or are you purely looking at the capacity labels? You wouldn't be the first one being surprised about the gap between fantasy capacities stated on 3rd party batteries and the actual performance. All my 3rd party batteries have capacities stated that are at least twice the capacity of the original Canon one. But none lasts as long as the Canon one in terms of pictures taken.
 

Search this forum, and you will find a couple of reputable 3rd party battery brands. And you will also find many happy users of these 3rd party batteries.

It's your call. A bit less in capacity and costs much less than original battery. Or if you're still worried, go for the original.
 

Which shop would sell such batteries? After a short period they would face a lot of damn angry customers and their lawyers.
Officially, Canon will not approve the usage of 3rd party batteries. It's just protecting their turf and making some legal disclaimer. In real life, many people use 3rd party batteries, including me. Some have bad experiences, though. But on average the batteries seem to work at least up to 80% of the capacity of original battery. 80% life time for 40% costs - your call. The stories of blown-up batteries are grossly exaggerated.


Canon will tell you "yes", real life says "unlikely". The grip has hardly any electronics inside, nothing much to damage. If the voltage of the battery is the same where should the damage come from? Personally I only use one battery at a time, but that's because I have the grip purely for better handling. I don't need 2 batteries in parallel, I have the time to change when necessary.


so does it mean that the grip can function with just one battery pack in side and the other slot empty?
 

Have you tried this in real life and counted the amount of pictures you can take or are you purely looking at the capacity labels? You wouldn't be the first one being surprised about the gap between fantasy capacities stated on 3rd party batteries and the actual performance. All my 3rd party batteries have capacities stated that are at least twice the capacity of the original Canon one. But none lasts as long as the Canon one in terms of pictures taken.

nope.
And i didnt look at the capacity labels, it just feeling,
i felt that my 3rd party batt last longer than my canon one.

Mounted 2 3rd party batteries can last longer than 1 canon and 1 3rd party.
From my experience, like going for overseas trip as a photographer, I can last 2 - 3 days with that 2 3rd party batteries while for the one with 1 canon and 1 3rd party, I can last like about 2 days.

That is just a estimation from my past or recent trip.
 

haha i got 1 canon original batt and 3 third party batt..
and it is damn shocking that the third party batt is more lasting than the canon original batt.

i dont think that the warranty will be voided if you are using a third party batt.
correct me if i am wrong.

There are some 3rd party batt that are indeed stuffed which much more capacity than the originals. But the ones I had experience with seems to hold their charge less and less after around 6 months of usage, until they are about 60-80% of the capacity of the orig batt.
 

how and will canon find out if i use a 3rd party batt?
 

how and will canon find out if i use a 3rd party batt?

Let's say your 3rd party battery leaked and so your cam can't turn on anymore.

I think if you bring your cam to CSC, you'll have a hard time convincing them that their own Canon battery caused the leak, because you might be the only 1 reporting such case.
 

Let's say your 3rd party battery leaked and so your cam can't turn on anymore.

I think if you bring your cam to CSC, you'll have a hard time convincing them that their own Canon battery caused the leak, because you might be the only 1 reporting such case.


mmmm good point haha thanks :D
 

how and will canon find out if i use a 3rd party batt?

The question now is, what if they find out? What if they tell you they will not fix a certain problem for free because you used 3rd part batt? Will you be happy paying for that repair? Can you afford to take that risk?

So are you willing to risk all that just because you want to save like 20-30? If you answer is yes, just do it and don't look back.
 

Let's say your 3rd party battery leaked and so your cam can't turn on anymore.
If those Lithium Ion batteries leaked .. well.. then CSC should have a lot of repair / replacement work to do or they would suggest you getting a new camera. Can't imagine how the cam looks like after a Lithium / Oxygen firework ...
This discussion is somewhat funny and turning around a lot of "what if clauses" when, on the other hand, real life has shown that 3rd batteries either just work (with more or less capacities, with more or less accuracy in battery capacity display on camera) or they simply don't work (when the camera or charger expects the manufacturer chip).
As long as there is no gross design flaw that either results in a higher voltage that the battery delivers or in a leakage / firework I don't see any risk here. Higher voltage is unlikely, the standard charger won't deliver more suddenly. Some chargers will refuse to charge 3rd party batteries (e.g. 5D2, iirc). Cases of defects resulting in fireworks seem to be very rare now, luckily.