Leica battery or generic for M9?

I have had at least 5 failures of generic batteries for the M8/M9. Most have failed within the camera. Others refused to hold a charge anymore. After pulling my camera out of the bag for second time, with it being extremely hot to the touch, I won't trust generics anymore. Why put a $5 battery in a 7K camera? Doesn't make sense to fry the circuits to save a few dollars. Yes, all batteries are prone to failure, but I haven't had one OEM Leica battery failure yet in 8 years.

I had generics for my OMD EM5 fail as well. I got good use out of them, but they won't recharge anymore. OEM batteries still going strong.
 
kbg32 said:
I have had at least 5 failures of generic batteries for the M8/M9. Most have failed within the camera. Others refused to hold a charge anymore. After pulling my camera out of the bag for second time, with it being extremely hot to the touch, I won't trust generics anymore.
Click to expand...
Were all five the same brand, from the same seller?
 
OEM batteries will eventually fail too. All of the original Canon batteries for my 1DsII, 1D and 1ds all failed in time. I replaced them with generic with the calumet name on them and got equally as good life from them. I have a mix of generic and oem for my Nikons and none have failed after two + years.

Flashpoint is a brand I used in the M9. One lasted about a year and another still going when I sold the camera. Flashpoint are $16.88 from ebay. You can buy 7 aftermarket for the price of one Leica battery. 7 years of use on average for the price of one battery or you could say 7 times the power.
 
siracusa said:
With such things it always seems to be a case of ymmv - some people have good experiences with generic batteries, others not so good. I fall firmly into the latter camp and based on my bad experiences I only use genuine batteries now as I feel it's false economy for me to buy generics. They might be cheaper at point of purchase, but if I have problems with them or they need replacing significantly more often than leica batteries (which have been my experinces) then the cumulative costs to me offset the attractive initial saving.
But, ymmv...
Click to expand...
Exactly.

Cheers,

R.
 
x-ray said:
OEM batteries will eventually fail too. All of the original Canon batteries for my 1DsII, 1D and 1ds all failed in time. I replaced them with generic with the calumet name on them and got equally as good life from them. I have a mix of generic and oem for my Nikons and none have failed after two + years.

Flashpoint is a brand I used in the M9. One lasted about a year and another still going when I sold the camera. Flashpoint are $16.88 from ebay. You can buy 7 aftermarket for the price of one Leica battery. 7 years of use on average for the price of one battery or you could say 7 times the power.
Click to expand...
Two of my original Leica batteries have died of old age since I got the M8 in 2006. They last maybe 5-6 years.

Cheers,

R.
 
I had good opinion on alternative batteries until one of my epson rd1s exploded in the charger.

I use only OEM batts in my m9. But on my dp2m i risked and used an alternative which proved ok til now.
 
Lss said:
My generic batteries for M8 have worked fine for a few years now. What some may consider a problem with the batteries is that the battery level indicator on this camera is not compatible with the generic batteries. This is an attempt by Leica to close the ecosystem and force their users to buy genuine, overpriced batteries. This is something that Leica bashers probably should bash Leica about. 😀

Some generics are bad, some may be somewhat dangerous. If you face a hazard with an original battery, at least the manufacturer/warranty should cover it...

The fact is that you typically pay a lot of extra money for genuine batteries, not just in case of Leica. Depending on the product this markup alone may easily amount to about 10-20% on top of the total price for a single extra battery that you pretty much need to get. For a new Leica, it is fortunately less than that.
Click to expand...

I agree it's crazy what Leica gets for a battery and I would rather pay for a good generic. People like you who found decent ones encouraged me to try. Now I have four useless batteries from four different sources: the effort only increased my cost and worse cost invaluable time and aggravation.

A good generic for Leica M is like winning the lottery. But for around 80USD a used genuine Leica is a safe bet.
 
raid said:
The word "know" was somehow left out!
Click to expand...
Dear Raid,

I thought that was possibly the case, but without... er... knowing, it was a very frustrating sentence! We've all done something similar: it's just a mistake, not a stupid mistake. If I hadn't been mildly amused by it I'd not have phrased my question as I did.

And I'd like to add my congratulations and general praise for your contacting Herr Schopf. Along with my admiration for your German!

Cheers,

R.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Dear Raid,

I thought that was possibly the case, but without... er... knowing, it was a very frustrating sentence! We've all done something similar: it's just a mistake, not a stupid mistake. If I hadn't been mildly amused by it I'd not have phrased my question as I did.

And I'd like to add my congratulations and general praise for your contacting Herr Schopf. Along with my admiration for your German!

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...

Thank you Roger. As you know, French people like to be spoken to in French, and Germans like to be addressed in German. It sets a certain tone in the conversation. I speak like a German because I learned the language in Germany as a child..
 
I was just shopping for an extra battery. I re-read the generic vs OEM discussions and decided to go OEM. I see where people want $165 or even $211 for a used one; someone in China want $240 for a new one; but B&H only asks $149. But B&H doesn't exactly say theirs is a real Leica battery (just feeling suspicious). Any idea if B&H is the right choice?
 
BH doesn’t sell mickle mouse parts as OEM.

My Leica labeled battery is MiC, btw. Just as not Leica labeled ones.
Zero difference in real use.
 
Ko.Fe. said:
BH doesn’t sell mickle mouse parts as OEM.

My Leica labeled battery is MiC, btw. Just as not Leica labeled ones.
Zero difference in real use.
Click to expand...

Kostya, I don't know what you mean by MiC. Is it a real Leica battery?

I went ahead and bought the one from B&H just now. My two present batteries, presumably real Leica batteries, are marked,

Rechargeable
Li-ion BATTERY
3.7V / 1860mah / 6.9Wh
FOR DIGITAL
LEICA M-CAMERAS
LEICA CAMERA
14464 / BP-SCL1

They have lasted well and both still work. The picture on the B&H site of the one i ordered looks exactly the same, with the same wording and numbers.

So I'm glad I looked at B&H. The ad said they had a limited number and were marked down from $195. That's still cheaper than $240 from China! Not everything on ebay is a good deal.

So I feel secure with three batteries for my M9, the same number as I have for each of my other digital cameras.
 
Whoa! M9 batteries are selling for $200+?!?!

That's M240 battery prices. (Both being high)

I use a mix of Leica and generic in my M9. Generic work fine but don't last as long and occasionally get confused with the level monitor....it clears up after a charge cycle or 2. Only use generics with higher mAH rating. 1600 and below are worthless. If you can find Wasabi brand generic, best of generics. Wasabi only made M8 batteries for a short while. Never made for M240.

Leica batteries are best performing but the markup is in fact substantial. Not really about volume. Their batteries are made in the same Chinese and Russian factories as most other camera batteries -- same internal components, but plastic housing specific to Leica model. Even with this, the batteries could be produced and sold for fraction of the luxury pricing we see at retail..
 
rfaspen said:
Whoa! M9 batteries are selling for $200+?!?!

That's M240 battery prices. (Both being high)
Click to expand...

No, I don't think so, not from B&H, where the usual price is apparently $195. The $240 price I mentioned may be just an isolated example of a Chinese seller asking a premium price, for a battery that may or may not be OEM.
 
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