UltraLast UL-NP80 battery any good?

PS: If you want a well-made battery from a known manufacturer, just buy the highest capacity OEM Fujifilm battery you can find.

It's top quality, made in Japan with Japanese cells and presumably has top quality control. Fuji is a high grade company.

I believe you can now get 1600mah Fujifilm batteries, or maybe even 1800mah.

There's a good chance Epson sources the batteries from Fuji, every detail of the plastic body and metal contacts looks identical.
 
This seems to be degenerating rapidly into a "religious" argument -- everything else depends on what you prefer to believe.

I'm outta here...
 
Not religious at all.

There are the facts, and then there are people who want to believe in mysterious optimized battery cells, the existence of which is not supported by any empirical evidence.

It's the same situation where some people wish to believe that anything with the "Leica" name on it is superior to anything which does not have the "Leica" name. Lens adapters, lenses, shoe laces, etc etc.

This is carried to the extreme, let's say, in the case of identical digital cameras with the "Lumix" and "Leica" badges on them. The Leica owners insist that somehow their cameras have "enhanced" firmware, mysterious lens qualities, different "IQ" than the Lumix counterparts, worth hundreds of dollars more.

They'll support their position tooth and nail, becoming even more adamant when presented facts....this only serves as fodder to reinforce their mystical beliefs.

In the absence of technical knowlege, the inanimate object is imbued with superior "religious" properties which can only be invoked by the brand name, just as failures are blamed on the unknown variable which is sourced from the great yellow peril nether regions.
 
RichC said:
... I'm assuming that US companies, like European ones, are subject to strict laws that govern standards of manufacture, labelling and safety...
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I used to assume that too. Just last week I learned that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) does not regulate vitamins AT ALL. No checks, no tests, no making certain they are not contaminated, nothing. I take about 20 pills a day, and these are just normal doses recommended by the well respected doctor who wrote the bestseller "You, the Owners Manual". I couldn't friggin believe it! The *******s!
The piece also went on to explain that China has cornered the Vitamin C market in the US, and more than 80% of the vitamin C here is from there. This fact does not have to appear on any labels, and does not.
The story stemmed from the recent pet deaths here in the US, due to contaminated ingredients from China in the pet food. It now appears the ingredients may have made it into human foods as well.
Our current government is a disgrace!
Neverthelesss, I intend to pick up a couple of batteries from Fry's or Ritz. The two batteries for my R-D1 came with the camera (used) and must be a few years old now. A 6 or 7 year old battery from my first digital camera, a 2mp Canon Elph, takes 1 to 3 shots before running out of juice.
[EDIT] I just called the North American Battery Company, based in San Diego, CA. The batteries are made in China.

BTW I received my screen protectors from Screenpatonus that you recommend and have not had any issues with them. I managed to apply the first one without any bubbles using my laminated drivers license and it has stayed put.


Thanks Ivan. I just ordered three for $36 and change with shipping using Google checkout.

bellyface said:
great batteries. found the give me 450+ shots on my ultra II SD, with 3 second LCD display. If you buy from ritz or cameraworld, make sure you check out using google checkout, you get $10 off the price, both batteries came out to about $20 US, which is fine of course.
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Today I received an email from Ritz cancelling my online order for three batteries. They are "not currently available for purchase". My card was charged 5 days ago. Don't waste your time.
 
I have two copies of the Ultralast UL-NP80 and both work as well as the original Epson battery. If you are going to purchase this battery, make sure you are buying the version with the 1650mah rating.
 
If anyone is in the Uk and wants some batteries I am going to sell a couple of mine. They are only rated 1500 but then so are the original 'epson' batteries.
 
galavanter said:
Today I received an email from Ritz cancelling my online order for three batteries. They are "not currently available for purchase". My card was charged 5 days ago. Don't waste your time.
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I was under the impression that Ritz was a reputable dealer. Please let us know if your cc was refunded after you got that email.
 
No refund yet. The Ritz email said this:

Please allow up to two billing cycles for your refund credit to appear on your credit card statement.

This morning I got an email from Google checkout that said this:

RitzCamera.com has cancelled your order. Your credit card was not charged.

My bank says otherwise.

I'm not worried about the refund but I'm glad it was a small amount. I don't think they neccessarily deserve the label disreputable because of this, but I won't be dealing with them online again. I do expect an outfit the size of theirs to have an accurate online inventory.

I'm responding because you asked but I try not to sweat this stuff anymore. Don't sweat what you can't control right? I just posted so others wouldn't go through same.

I'm still waiting for a bag I ordered from China on March 17th. Shipping problems.


saxshooter said:
I was under the impression that Ritz was a reputable dealer. Please let us know if your cc was refunded after you got that email.
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Did some more digging about Ritzcamera.com and appears that they don't have a very good reputation at all. See LINK

Seems that the actual Ritz camera stores are franchises. Perhaps the online entity is a franchise too, possibly run by unscrupulous characters?

Perhaps my impression of Ritz camera being reputable was seeing an advertisement on television where you get to see and hear Mr. David Ritz himself walking and talking. Gave the impression of warm and fuzzy good customer service.
 
Buy.com has them

Buy.com has them

Doesn't look good.
But no reason the North American Battery Company should suffer because of this. I found the same 1650 mah (thanks sonwolf and welcome) at Buy.com and just ordered two. I was even allowed a $10.00 discount again from Google checkout as a first time user. $24.12 for two including shipping.
http://www.buy.com/prod/ultralast-u...igital-camera-battery/q/loc/111/90138431.html
 
Like I said don't sweat the small stuff. Buy.com sent me an email saying they only have one of two batteries I ordered. As I type this, they still have "Very few left In Stock! Order soon -- product may sell out" on their site. Unlike Ritz however, they haven't said they have stopped carrying the product. So I will wait. Again, mainly posting just to let others know.
 
Thanks, galavanter. Alas, Buy.com does not ship to Canada. (Ritz says they do, but after following the link provided by saxshooter, I wouldn't want to put too much weight on that.)
 
Be glad you don't live in the UK - couldn't find a single US company willing to ship abroad!

My friend's in the US on holiday, so I decided to buy some batteries and get them delivered to her house so she could bring them back.

Next problem: the US businesses I tried rejected my payments as my accounts weren't in the US. :mad:

In the end, my friend paid for me.

I wish US companies were a bit more receptive to international sales - there's a lot of money to be made, esp. with strong euro and pound compared with the dollar...
 
galavanter said:
Today I received an email from Ritz cancelling my online order for three batteries. They are "not currently available for purchase". My card was charged 5 days ago. Don't waste your time.
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Typical Ritz. They own more retail camera stores in the U.S. than anyone else and can't seem to get their act together:

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Ritz_Camera_7

:eek:

The brick and mortar locations used to be pretty good but even those now seem to be nothing more than a department in a big box store.

BTW, PLEASE do NOT confuse Ritz Cameras with Ritz Collectible Cameras: http://ritzcam.com/.

The latter is a very fine small Web based business based in Phoenix, Arizona. I've dealt with them for years and enjoyed exemplary service.

ScottGee1
 
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FWIW, I've had very good luck with Duracell batteries of all sorts over a number of decades.

Just the opposite with Ray-O-Vac. They always seem to be promoting some odd concept that doesn't catch on and they orphan it.

For 'generic' batteries my purchases from http://SterlingTek.com have worked out well.

Your amperage/voltage may vary . . . :D

ScottGee1
 
RichC said:
Be glad you don't live in the UK - couldn't find a single US company willing to ship abroad!...
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Well, I ordered one of the batteries from Ritz, and FedEx has managed to deliver the package to someone else's address. I could understand if it were to a neighbor down the street, but FedEx took it to another town!

Michael
 
mwooten said:
Well, I ordered one of the batteries from Ritz, and FedEx has managed to deliver the package to someone else's address. I could understand if it were to a neighbor down the street, but FedEx took it to another town!

Michael
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Was it FedEx Ground? My track record with them hasn't been so good either! :( Seems to operate with a completely different ethic than their air service... Or maybe some sort of trick by Ritz? Hope not.
 
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