M8 and the quest for batteries.

[Strangeluv]

Hello all!

As my original Leica M8 battery decided to call it the night yesterday, I am in need of some advise regarding purchasing a couple of new ones.
I don't fancy paying $250 for two original batteries......are there by chance any cheaper options?
How reliable and good are the non-Leica ones?

Any recommendations?

Thanks 🙂

Chris

 

[Bobfrance]

Hi I have two after market batteries and one Leica battery for my M8.

In my experience the after market batteries will not recharge unless fully discharged first and I have had problems charging them in some countries on a 110 supply.

That said, I'm not sure a genuine Leica batterey is worth all that money. Not unless the M9 batteries have been improved significantly.

I don't know how you fare in Norway, but I find ALL my batteries are killed by temperatures of less than 5 deg C. This is something I'd very much like to overcome.

Bob.

 

[cidereye]

I bought one of these a few months back and have had no issues at all with it, fantastic value at under £10.00 too! Unlike Bob though I've not yet tried it on a 110v power supply so cannot comment on that aspect obviously.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/z54-Battery-L...tem&pt=Batteries_Chargers&hash=item3f00ec0ea7

 

[Cron]

you will hear positive feedback on aftermarket accus as well as negative opinions;
for myself - I own two original Leica accus and they both are ok until now, no problems in cold weather and in Austria it can be very cold in winter

 

[leicashot]

Getting 2 for $250 is a bargain compared to asking prices as high as $175 each!!!

 

[LeicaTom]

Here stateside your lucky to find them in the $120 range........I have the factory issued one, traded a restorable 46' IIIC for one and now got REALLY LUCKY and found a used factory one for $37!!!! last week on evilbay. (I have 3 now backed up for shooting assignments).

Sometimes it pays to be patient and keep looking for a used factory one under $75 each ~ paying the new Leica price is outrageous, they should be in the $50 to $75 range and even that's too expensive for a camera battery......

Tom

 

[barnwulf]

Here in the US, B&H Photo Video in New York has them in stock for $129.00. You would probably have to pay duty on them coming from the US. They are very reliable source for ordering on-line. They are at: bhphotovideo.com. I don't know if thei helps you or not.- Jim

 

[swoop]

I should have ordered one when I wanted it and it cost $109. Now they're $125. It's absurd. I have tried the imitation batteries. And they aren't very reliable. It doesn't tell you how much power is remaining. Which can be very limiting.

 

[Freakscene]

I have three Leica ones and ten third party ones from eBay seller loo100us (s/he's in Hong Kong). Some people have reported not receiving batteries but my two batches arrives promptly and work fine.

My original Leica one now only shows two bars on the camera when I fully charge it and put it in, but I seem to get about the same number of shots. It's been through a charge/discharge cycle maybe 30-40 times. I I have no idea how many cycles it might be from needing to be discarded; maybe they fail catastrophically, or maybe they just
eventually run out of steam. I'm interested to know if anyone has had that happen, apart from ones that arrived dead in the box (one of my Leica ones came that way and was replaced, and I have read that some of the third party ones have shown the same problem).

Marty

 

[leicashot]

http://www.popflash.com/index.php?p=product&id=1310

or $175 on the bay so people are obviously happy paying such prices

 

[Strangeluv]

Thanks all!
Well, I decided to go for a couple of third party ones recommended here by Cidereye.
As you guys mention, the prices on Leica batteries are a joke.......so, until they lower the prices I will go for the third party ones as long as they dont screw up the camera 🙂

 

[jaapv]

My experiences with third party batteries are less than favorable - bad communication with the camera - very short lifespan - dead within months.

 

[leicashot]

My experiences with third party batteries are less than favorable - bad communication with the camera - very short lifespan - dead within months.

This seems to be the general consensus. I would buy at least 2-3 orignal batteries and then maybe have some after-market ones as backups, but never would I 'rely' on cheapies to run such an expensive tool.

 

[Strangeluv]

This seems to be the general consensus. I would buy at least 2-3 orignal batteries and then maybe have some after-market ones as backups, but never would I 'rely' on cheapies to run such an expensive tool.

I see what you mean.........and when I think about it, I totally agree.
Think I'll buy atleast one Leica battery aswell.

 

[leicashot]

I see what you mean.........and when I think about it, I totally agree.
Think I'll buy atleast one Leica battery aswell.

Good call. I have 3 originals but only use 2 in one go. When I shoot with the M, I am much more selective over what I shoot so 3 is more than enough as long as you can get to a charger each day.