Epson battery in stock in USA?

S

sreidvt

Guest
Just bought the last battery in stock at the Epson store (or so said the web site). Who else in the USA has them? B&H, Samys and Calumet no longer even list the R-D1 for sale, it seems, and none of them list the battery now.

Cheers,

Sean
 
I'm not sure but if you find any, please let us know. Are any of the generic replacements comparable???

DD
 
The Fuji NP80 - equivalents are similar batteries but not necessarily the same as the Epson. They are sometimes 3.7 volts (and sometimes 3.6) but often not 1500 mHa (often 1350). That can be problematic for two reasons:

1. Battery life is obviously shorter.
2. Epson claims that using other batteries may cause long-term problems with the Epson shutter and/or other aspects of the camera. It's hard to know if this is just the party line or valid but caution might lead one to assume the latter. I bought two third-party batteries that are (nominally) 1500 mHa *and* 3.7 volts but I'm simply not sure if they work identically to the Epson batteries or not. Since the cameras are so expensive and since I rely on them for professional assignments, I prefer the cautious approach of using only Epson batteries. The extra cost is worthwhile to me for the peace of mind it provides.

If one is going to use alternate batteries, I'd recommend sticking only with those rated at 3.7 volts and 1500 mHa. Then of course, cross fingers and hope the ratings are accurate. These digital cameras are computers and that 1/10 volt may be important to their proper functioning. Again, fussing with all this is one reason I prefer to just use the official batteries.

I haven't done exact measurements yet (too busy) but I am seeing reduced battery life with the new firmware. I'm trying various things to see if I can find the operative variable, including (just yesterday) resetting my LCD brightness to the next lower setting. I can live with increased battery consumption but it does mean that I need more batteries. I may shoot 700 frames a day with the Epson bodies when covering a wedding and it's very important that I not run out of juice.

Cheers,

Sean
 
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Sean, any chance of contacting Epson to see if there are any more originals in stock. If there are, then I'm good for at least four.

DD
 
Sean:

I would expect shorter battery life from the Fujis simply because they are rated for 1300mAh versus the Epson's 1500mAh. But one uses what one can get one's hands on. :)

I'm thinking that Epson raised the voltage threshold for their battery low indication to prevent some of the oddities other people were seeing when the batteries got low. Unless one chimps a lot I can't see that the other changes made in the firmware would have a major impact on battery life.

Bruce
 
Hi Bruce,

Yes, but it's also possible that using certain batteries could damage the camera. The jury is out on that. It's possible that one or more of the firmware changes could consume some power even if one never folds out the LCD. Having the shutter in a constant state of readiness may draw some power, correcting the hot pixels may draw some power. Its hard to know but it does seem that battery consumption has gone up with the new code.

Cheers,

Sean
 
ddimaria said:
Sean, any chance of contacting Epson to see if there are any more originals in stock. If there are, then I'm good for at least four.

DD
Click to expand...

I'm afraid that the management at Epson USA hasn't communicated with me very well since I published the long-term R-D1 review. I have no way of knowing if that is a coincidence or not. In any case, I'm probably not able to get any special information from them right now. I have decent communication with Epson Europe but that won't help us know more about batteries in the USA.

Cheers,

Sean
 
I could understand there being a concern if the battery voltage were too high, but I can't think of any problem (other than reduced life) that could be caused by a battery with a lower current rating. That would not be true if the batteries could be recharged in the camera, but since that isn't possible...

Bruce
 
I have a brand new boxed Epson battery if anyone in the NYC area is interested...no longer have the R-D1 so I don't need the battery. Let me know...

eyeman
 
Batteryman says 3.7V is really 3.6V, always

Batteryman says 3.7V is really 3.6V, always

My local battery guy (Interstate All Battery Center) says (with passion) that *any* battery like the NP-80 look-alike that Epson rates at 3.7V is really 3 x 1.2V cells slapped together. He adds, there no such thing as a 3.7V battery in this class of batteries.

The store sells a battery that has 3.7V stamped directly on the plastic casing but then Interstate puts a sticker on top that says 3.6V. I didn't buy them (they were only 1100mAh) because I am chicken but would love to find out if that makes sense to anyone.
 
I took the leap into the bargain basement following brucek's link and survived just fine:
http://store.bargainbasementbatteries.com/bc1015.html
The battery I got, while not beautiful to look at, has the same specs as the Epson. It's hard for me to make a scientifiic comparison, because I haven't used the Epson battery in one shot since I did the firmware update, but I shot a band tonight pretty much filling a 1 gig card (72 raw+jpeg and another 6 hi jpeg only). I looked at the display fairly frequently, as is my habit. The battery was nearling empty at the end, but i didn't get the warning yet, and I looked at all the shots on the display when I got home. I was always at the lower end of number of shots per battery, compared to other posters. The card was the regular ATP, not the faster ProMax. I didn't use the magnifying feature at the show, but played around with it after. I believe the magnifier is a battery eater. I don't know if the speed of the card is a factor.
 
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