M8 aftermarket batteries - links please

I have one of the Pearstone batteries for the M8/M9.

Pearstone BM-8 (B&H)

It's well made, equal to the Leica battery. I just have the one, and have been using it for a month (recharged it maybe four times). No problems. I'll probably buy another.
 
I have two I ordered from a seller on eBay from China. They don't register correctly with the m9, as they are made for the M8 but if fully discharged, they will show the correct charge. I have been using the two for 6 months or so with no problems. I also have two Leica batteries. They last a little longer but not by much. I prefer the Leica batteries as I can charge them anytime and I know the true amount of reserve left.
 
So if you only charge them when they are completely empty then you can expect them to function relatively well?

I am trying to decide between the 1700mAh & the 1800mAh

The original battery seems to be rated at 1800mAh so I am leaning towards that one.
 
I bought an aftermarket that was really cheap and it wouldn't take a charge so I threw it out. I'll stick to the Leica battery. Jim
 
I used eBay and shopped around. In the end I found someone selling aftermarket ones for about twice the price of the cheapest ones They warranted that these would be good quality so I bought them and found they work OK. They do have one quirk. Like all aftermarket batteries for the M8 you need to completely disharge them to get them to get the correct charge left displayed in the M8 window next time around. Annoying but given the cost was perhaps $30 -$40 or thereabouts compared to the originals which were close to $200 - if you could find them - I am happy enough to make this compromise.

BTW as to how many milliamps...... I think the rule is you can use a battery designed to handle a higher amperage than your camera but not lower otherwise there is a risk of damage (Caused by over heating of the battery). If the camera is designed to draw a certain amount of current then it needs the battery to be able to handle at least that amperage . A higher amperage battery also gives more life after each charge. Others will know for sure (my high school physics is pretty rusty but wiki tells me that "In practical terms, the ampere is a measure of the amount of electric charge passing a point in an electric circuit per unit time".)
 
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Rob-F said:
Seems like someone made a mistake here, as I doubt Leica would compete with themselves with a 1/3 price battery.
Has anyone tried this one?
http://www.amazon.com/Leica-BLI-312...RTJY/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1310338359&sr=8-6
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Those are "Empire non OEM" batteries sold by Miller Distributors (http://tinyurl.com/5tgjqg2). Didn't try them as $45.95 is too expensive for a third party battery IMHO. Mine are €20.00 Oege's (http://tinyurl.com/6cacf3n) but cheaper ones can be found with one year warranty as well. Here for instance: http://tinyurl.com/6yotk4t.
 
I bought 2 from a UK Ebay seller, they were £13.50 each, I did what someone suggested and the first time discharged them completely, since then the indicator on the top shows a full charge, I get the feeling I don't get as many shots from them as I do from the Leica battery but I can live with that for the difference in price
Ron
 
scottwallick said:
I have one of the Pearstone batteries for the M8/M9.

Pearstone BM-8 (B&H)

It's well made, equal to the Leica battery. I just have the one, and have been using it for a month (recharged it maybe four times). No problems. I'll probably buy another.
Click to expand...

The Pearstone was very problematic for me on the M9. The battery level is not shown correctly in the camera. Even when nearly full, it can appear to be nearly empty. When it shows near empty, you have to endure numerous "low battery" warnings from the camera until the level indicator resets itself. This actually interrupts shooting. Very bad. :( I guess a full discharge every time is a workaround, but not very practical.
 
Full discharge every time is mandatory in my experience. Looks like the price to pay for using third party batteries.
 
Yep, I just run them down all the way. It works for me and I shoot every day. I would prefer all Leica batteries so I could just keep them fully charged but Leica just charges too much and what I do doesn't pay great.
 
mAh and Battery Capacity

mAh and Battery Capacity

peterm1 said:
...BTW as to how many milliamps...... I think the rule is you can use a battery designed to handle a higher amperage than your camera but not lower otherwise there is a risk of damage (Caused by over heating of the battery). If the camera is designed to draw a certain amount of current then it needs the battery to be able to handle at least that amperage . A higher amperage battery also gives more life after each charge. Others will know for sure (my high school physics is pretty rusty but wiki tells me that "In practical terms, the ampere is a measure of the amount of electric charge passing a point in an electric circuit per unit time".)
Click to expand...

Battery capacity is rated in mAh, milliampere hours. As long its voltage rating is identical and I mean identical, then it's okay to use that battery even though is mAh is rated differently. If the rating is less than the Leica battery, then fewer photos can be obtained using the aftermarket battery. And if the mAh is rated higher, conversely, you get more photos from that battery.
 
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LCT said:
You'll just have to discharge them each time completely
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This is incorrect. Lithium ion cells do not suffer from the memory effect that old - really old now - Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) cells suffered from. Even decent quality Nickle Metal Hydride (NiMH) do not suffer from memory effect.

It turns out the absolute worst thing for standard Lithium Ion cells (typically a LiCo - Lithium Cobalt formulation) is to leave them at full charge for extended periods of time. It's best - if not entirely practical - to store your lithium ion packs at a stage of partial discharge; even better, don't fully charge them. Unfortunately few have the equipment to do this in a practical and repeatable manner, but one can at least try to avoid always recharging - top off style - after every minor use of your camera.
 
Adanac said:
This is incorrect...
Click to expand...
You don't seem to have the same experience as mine. I have 6 of them from different origins. They *all* behave the way i said above i.e. it is *mandatory* to discharge then completely each time, failing which the meter of the camera does not work properly.
 
Adanac said:
This is incorrect. Lithium ion cells do not suffer from the memory effect that old - really old now - Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) cells suffered from. Even decent quality Nickle Metal Hydride (NiMH) do not suffer from memory effect.

It turns out the absolute worst thing for standard Lithium Ion cells (typically a LiCo - Lithium Cobalt formulation) is to leave them at full charge for extended periods of time. It's best - if not entirely practical - to store your lithium ion packs at a stage of partial discharge; even better, don't fully charge them. Unfortunately few have the equipment to do this in a practical and repeatable manner, but one can at least try to avoid always recharging - top off style - after every minor use of your camera.
Click to expand...

It's not a memory effect. There is still charge in the cells. Lion batteries usually have a small circuit in them that reads information to the device they are in. In the aftermarket batteries the meter of the camera reads this information incorrectly unless the batteries are fully discharged every time. The result is that even though the battery is fully charged you will get repeated battery low warnings from the camera. Allowing the battery to discharge fully every time results in less of these erroneous warnings.

Gordon
 
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