Would you buy after-market batteries?

Yardbent said:
i wonder if Nikon may have shot themselves in the foot..?

OK I'm at the bottom end financially but refuse to pay £100+ for an original and a spare
so my camera choice - and maybe others like me - will now factor battery cost into the decision to buy/upgrade

just my2p
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Hopefully I will get the D500 soon, and I will only have the battery it comes with until a few people have confirmed some compatible batteries work with the camera. I will hopefully not need / want to do too many pics to exhaust a battery in one go until I get extra batteries. :)
 
No particular recommendations from me, but as regard to "Would you buy after-market batteries?"
I have a Duracell battery to go along with my Nikon branded version. I would guess that Duracell have more experience than Nikon in battery manufacture.
I would further guess that Nikon don't actually make their batteries and that they farm the job out to a specialist...Duracell probably.
 
Yardbent said:
i wonder if Nikon may have shot themselves in the foot..?
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I suspect that their accountants figure that the net margin on batteries is so high that it's worth taking this approach.

A body has high development costs and promotional costs. A battery will have minimal development costs and can probably be bought in and marked up massively. Where batteries are shared between products then that further reduces the cost of the battery to the camera maker. Even though the battery looks like it costs less than the body the net margin on a single battery at £50+ may be a substantial % of the net margin on a body. Sell two or three batteries to a customer and the net income from batteries starts to look quite interesting.

It's not quite the same as the printer market selling ink. But for OEMs with a system product like a DSLR and large customer bases the camera bodies may not have to be that profitable where they act as lead sales that bring in much higher margins on accessories such as batteries, lenses, and flashes etc.

Ever thought how much a £50 battery actually costs to make? I wouldn't be surprised if they cost the camera makers as little as £2 or £3.
 
Dryce said:
Ever thought how much a £50 battery actually costs to make? I wouldn't be surprised if they cost the camera makers as little as £2 or £3.
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If the copiers can sell some of them for between £5 - £10 then that would probably be close to the actual cost. :rolleyes: If people are willing to play the full price any manufacturer is charging then that is their choice. :) As long as there is no evidence of the copy's damaging cameras, I'll stick to the copy's. :)
 
I've never bought an OEM battery, all mine come from 7dayshop.

Over the years I've probably saved enough money to buy a DSLR :)
 
I have after market batteries for my X100 and Ricoh GR, I've had them for a long time and both work fine.
I did send one third party X100 battery back to amazon though as the sticker on it was so thick I'd of had to jam it into my camera...where it would of got stuck.
 
for my 70D I have 1 canon original (came with the camera), 1 duracell (bought at the same time as the camera), 2 aansman, and 2 DTSE - no difference in performance as far as i can tell

For my 20/40/50D I have about 18 511BPs - some of which are originals, and others vary from jessops through to unmarked ones from 7 day shop - again no real difference in performance except that one of the originals no longer holds its charge.
 
When you buy an expensive camera, why would anyone risk damaging its circuits just to save a few quid, on some unknown, and possibly dangerous battery from some distant seller? And the answer is because they all seem nearly as good as the makers own original, possibly dangerous, battery. I'm glad you read beyond the first bit.
 
ianp5a said:
When you buy an expensive camera, why would anyone risk damaging its circuits just to save a few quid, on some unknown, and possibly dangerous battery from some distant seller?
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I don't like being ripped off. Paying £50 or even £75 makes me feel like a fool.

They're just poxy batteries. Somehow the OEMs have created this mystique about them. The 'intelligent' batteries as much about protecting the OEM's margins as offering benefit to the customer.

And the answer is because they all seem nearly as good as the makers own original, possibly dangerous, battery. I'm glad you read beyond the first bit.
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My observation after using digital cameras for 16 years is that OEM batteries are a cynical rip-off. I've not had a problem with non-OEM batteries bought from UK suppliers for any camera that I have owned over that time (Sigma, Canon, Minolta, Sony, Panasonic, Fuji).[/quote]
 
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Dryce said:
I don't like being ripped off.
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Really?
Who is going to have the last laugh when your cheap battery explodes, throwing pieces of red hot camera parts in all directions. Be sure to wear safety glasses when using it.

I bet you use cheap ink jet inks too? Carcinogenic I've heard!

There was another thread about 3rd party lens hoods. Someone was looking to buy a cheap but identical 'looking' lens hood made of inferior black plastic compared to the OEM one, that could, in theory, let light through!!
A Leica I think it was.
 
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ianp5a said:
Really?
Who is going to have the last laugh when your cheap battery explodes, throwing pieces of red hot camera parts in all directions. Be sure to wear safety glasses when using it.
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Assuming that is not an attempt at humour. :thinking:

Are there many, if any stories documenting that? :thinking:

I would have thought if there were it would decimate the compatible battery market, and yet people still seem to be buying the compatible batteries. :thinking: :rolleyes: I mean, in the internet age stories like that would spread like wildfire, especially if it was something that happened often.

We can see how quickly the Nikon D500 incompatibility with some older batteries (some Nikon batteries too) has been found out, and reported by those involved. Yet I have never heard a story of any batteries exploding or doing damage to any camera. :confused:
 
ianp5a said:
Really?
Who is going to have the last laugh when your cheap battery explodes, throwing pieces of red hot camera parts in all directions. Be sure to wear safety glasses when using it.
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You're assuming that 'expensive' batteries are a lower risk?

Where's the evidence - and bear in mind that there have been major battery recalls affecting *branded* laptops over the years - where the batteries were manufactured and supplied by another major brand.
 
No. I'm not assuming that at all! I'm all for the cheap ones. Don't pay extra for Ex-Pro ones either. It was all in my first post.(52)
redhed17 said:
Are there many, if any stories documenting that? :thinking:
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There have been no survivors to tell the tale. And I was joking. Safety glasses wouldn't help.
 
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realspeed said:
On my Nikon D300 I took the route of getting a couple of EN-EL 4a batteries for the grip but this also means getting a BL3 end cap and an MH21 charger
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I considered that too :)
But, for me, I'd rather spend money on a 50mm lens at the moment and also with my ADHD all over the place having more things means losing more things so I went for another one of EN-EL3e's by ex-pro. It fits my grip and has a slightly higher capacity than Nikon's branded one of those, AND a lot cheaper too.
 
Yardbent said:
i didn't know about these ''ex-pro white'' when i replaced my failing Nikon D300 EN-EL3e
i did a search on the Ex-Pro site - it came up with a straight replacement - not the 'white'.........:(
Ex-Pro Nikon EN-EL3E, High Capacity 2200mAh
still - they charged to 100% no prob - life..? we'll see.......:)
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I didn't know either, but have just checked the website and there seems to be a Black one (1500mAh) and the White one (2200mAh). I don't know which one I ordered. It came in Grey. I just checked my order, the invoice says "Elite High Capacity" and does not specify any colour. I checked the battery that's in my camera and it is 2200mAh. Strange! But as long as it works, I'm happy.
 
Gaz J said:
Only bought one 3rd party battery. Duracell. Wouldn't go on the charger unless forced on. Only buy OE now. Never had one fail or significantly lose its charge holding ability. Oldest is about 5 years. Must admit I have the same view of batteries as i do with battery grips. I didn't spend £10000 on cameras to skimp on things like this. Thats me, others have a different view because we all have different requirements.
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My worry was that they'd wreck my camera, and though it did not cost me anywhere near £10K, I like it too much. But I am on a budget, so ex-Pro it is :)
 
I have never seen any proof that battery sold as a non oem, has ever damaged a camera. It is statistically possible that any lithium battery could catch fire, and some have done so, though the small ones used in cameras seem to have a very good record.

I have used far more non oem lithium batteries as I have only used the oem ones that came with my various cameras. I have had to throw away one genuinine canon one because it swole, and another genuine minolta one because it lost charge. I have not had a problem with any of my non oem ones. For fuji, canon or minolta or for use on my pure pocket radio.
 
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