Anyone tried the 3rd party batteries?

Robin Harrison

Robin Harrison

aka Harrison Cronbi
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Apr 12, 2005
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I see on that on 'the auction site' there is a Japanese seller offering two M8 batteries for less than half the price of a single Leica original. Has anyone tried these? I plan to get a second 'proper' battery, but was wondering if one of these would suffice as a backup.
 
I've used many 3rd party BP-511 batteries in my Canons without any problem. In fact, several of them are significantly better performers than the OEM's that came with the cameras. But none of my Canons cost $5,000..

Now, if you inquire of your dealer you will probably be informed that anything other than a Leica battery will void the warranty. Personally, I think that would be difficult to claim unless a third party battery melted and fused inside the camera. It's the camera circuitry that determines the draw on the battery, not the other way around. I wouldn't be concerned if the battery was from a reputable after market supplier.

I notice that B&H only sells the Leica batteries for both the M8 and Digilux. Nor does my favorite vendor, batterybarn.com, offer after market replacements for Leicas. It may be because the market is so small, compared to other digital cameras, that no replacement manufacturer has seen fit to produce them.

I will feel confident using an after market battery when it is sold by a reputable vendor like BatteryBarn or B&H and comes from a named source such as Monster Power. Unnamed from an auction page? Probably not.
 
DaveB said:
I've used many 3rd party BP-511 batteries in my Canons without any problem. In fact, several of them are significantly better performers than the OEM's that came with the cameras. But none of my Canons cost $5,000..

Now, if you inquire of your dealer you will probably be informed that anything other than a Leica battery will void the warranty. Personally, I think that would be difficult to claim unless a third party battery melted and fused inside the camera. It's the camera circuitry that determines the draw on the battery, not the other way around. I wouldn't be concerned if the battery was from a reputable after market supplier.

I notice that B&H only sells the Leica batteries for both the M8 and Digilux. Nor does my favorite vendor, batterybarn.com, offer after market replacements for Leicas. It may be because the market is so small, compared to other digital cameras, that no replacement manufacturer has seen fit to produce them.

I will feel confident using an after market battery when it is sold by a reputable vendor like BatteryBarn or B&H and comes from a named source such as Monster Power. Unnamed from an auction page? Probably not.
Click to expand...

Thanks, DaveB! A thoroughly informative first post on RFF. Welcome, and thanks. You've probably persuaded me to pick up one of these (your comments about melting and fusing conern me only slightly).
 
My Hong Kong replacement for the M8 battery just arrived and is charging as I write.

Report will be forthcoming.. If it shorts, burns, and totaly destroys my M8, you'll get all the gory details here. Um... don't lose any sleep waiting for that tho. If it works as I expect it will, I've just saved $80.00.
 
Sorry guys. The battery performed as expected.

Took a charge w/o overheating. About 100 shots so far and it's showing no usage. Chimping heavily seems not to have upset it.

TTS
 
Cheap Battery

Cheap Battery

Thanks to Hong-Kong, my after-market battery arrived today. I am using the Lieca brand charger to charge it and will be installing it in my Mate today. Let the market place help Leica off its' high horse, it's just a battery. Savings ... $83.13 No Fear
 
I read in a magazine (Amateur Photographer, I think) that some aftermarket camera batteries can explode.
I have been using aftermarket batteries on my Olympus cameras with no problems.
Manufacturers batteries appear to be well overpriced
 
Are you kidding me???

Personally speaking, If I had the funds to finance a $4000 digital rangefinder, I have a feeling that I would not be in the market to purchase an aftermarket battery that could void the warranty of my brand new camera, just to save a lousy $80... that's a whopping 2% of the cost of the camera in order to risk loosing the whole value of it over some product in which you do not know it's standards, quality, nor it's reliability... not to mention quality control!!!!!

With that said, I would fully understand the need for a battery that would allow you to take more photos, chimp more, etc... etc... Given that it were a reliable source with a background of being stable and well worth the investment...

you guys are taking quite the gamble, that I just don't see being fit. I guess I'm just a little faint of heart in regards of such an investment!!!

Good luck guys, hope that you pull out ahead!
 
I ordered me two of these batteries for testing aswell. I'll post some comments about them as soon as they arrive. I cannot however find anything about using them voiding the warranty of the camera. As long as they don't explode in the M8 i should be fine ;)
 
So, after a couple of weeks with the batteries i can say this:

They have yet to explode.
They don't get as warm as the original when charged.
They provide better battery life than the original battery.

As far as the batteries go for the M8 i bet they are buying them via Panasonic and the lot is made in china.
 
NL2377 said:
Are you kidding me???

Personally speaking, If I had the funds to finance a $4000 digital rangefinder, I have a feeling that I would not be in the market to purchase an aftermarket battery that could void the warranty of my brand new camera, just to save a lousy $80...
Click to expand...


HA. When I bought my M8 I was intending on purchasing two 1GB SD cards to go with it. I was looking at the trancend $15 cards. I totally got suckered into buying the Sandisk extreme III when the salesmen pulled out the "Sir, you just spent $5,000 on a camera and you want to get cheap memory cards?" I felt like a putz but he had a point. :rolleyes: I just went with it because I've had bad experiences with cheap memory cards before. I figured what the heck. It was only $40 more.

Anyway, I don't think cheap memory cards have as big an impact as cheap batteries. I had an off bran battery for a canon 20D and it worked fine. I've also had an off bran battery for my Hewlett Packered PDA and it went sour. Didn't kill my PDA but stopped working/taking a charge after a month.
 
I just recently bought a Leica M8 and have just ordered two new batteries from Ebay and including P&P £25.
I bought the M8 as it is the camera I want but lens and batteries will be bought for their quality and value for money.
Voigtlander lens are terrific value and are very good quality. The batteries are terrific value and hopefully the quality will be as good as the expensive Leica ones at around £60 each.
 
I have one of those $20 Hong Kong batteries in my M8 right now. I just ordered a five pack which will cost me less than $12 a piece delivered.

I don't have much of a choice. I'll have the camera with me on a 28 day canoe trip in the wilderness this summer and will have no opportunity at all to recharge batteries. I have to carry batteries, memory and everything I need for shooting in a modest sized Pelican case.

In five years I've never had a problem with non-OEM batteries for the several Canon digitals I've had. I probably have 8-10 after market BP-511 batteries.

Frankly, in the M8 I think off-brand is to be preferred. Since trying the cheap batteries I haven't needed the IR filters, my old backfocusing Summicron has been spot on, the shutter sound is much quieter, dust doesn't stick to the sensor and my wife says my bald spot is shrinking.
 
Third-party batteries may very well work just fine -- post standard disclaimer here: "your mileage may vary" -- but after considering everything, it's just not worth the potential risk, IMHO.

If a non-Leica battery were to cause ANY problem, what would I think then? Said another way: I have all I can handle now in learning new characteristics, processes and workflows. I won't add any complications.

-g
 
Grober said:
If a non-Leica battery were to cause ANY problem, what would I think then? Said another way: I have all I can handle now in learning new characteristics, processes and workflows. I won't add any complications.

-g
Click to expand...
Do you really think Leica make the Leica branded battery? I would be very suprised. My IR filters are made in Japan and Leica do not have a factory there. The argument for leica batteries can only be that perhaps their quality control of their buy-ins might arguably be better than someone elses. However, I am on my second battery from Leica as the first did not charge up fully. Im also on my second charger come to that. The connection between the socket and adapter is going to wear out fairly easilly as the plastic retaining lugs on the socket are made of cheap brittle plastic. Im looking forward to someone making a charger that will take the knocks.
 
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