Real Batterries or Replacement?

[jfarasy]

I just bought a Cannon Rebel XS Digital SLR and am wanting to know if you can use replacement batterries in it. They say in the manual to only use canon brand batteries. Would like to know if replacement batteries will harm the camera in any way.

[mjs1973]

Welcome to the Forum. My guess is that you are going to get two answers to your question. Some people say never use the aftermarket batteries, and other say they are fine. I say they are fine. I have 7 batteries for my camera and only two of them are from Canon. The other 5 are from a 3rd party. I did have an 8th battery that went bad and became unusable after a couple of months. For the price I paid for it, I wasn't too heartbroken about it. I was able to get 3 batteries for the price of the Canon.

[jfarasy]

Thanks Mike for your comment. I do appreciate it.

[SmartWombat]

I say they are fine, if genuine.

There are problems with cheap fake batteries branded as Canon, of low quality.
But there are also genuine cheap Hahnel batteries that are decent quality.

You get what you pay for, and if it's too good to be true - it usually isn't true.


I'm a bit more cautions with Li-Ion batteries because of the problems with "thermal runaway" otherwise known to us as catching fire.

[another view]

I have tried cheap generics (some not that cheap) and have given up. At least with Nikon, the OEM batteries last longer and hold a charge longer (regardless of the mAh rating stated on the battery itself).

[Didache]

I really think it depends on the generics. Sure, there are cheap generics which are not worth the money or the effort, but there are also very respectable third party manufacturers (who, I suspect, may even produce batteries for the big names). I am thinking, for instance, of Hahnel who I suppose are the battery equivalent of Sigma or Tamron. I have several Hahnel batteries and they are just as good as the Pentax battery I have, but half the price.

Mike

[Ron Kruger]

Thanks, Mike. I have two batteries that came with my K20D kit, but I know some day I will have to buy more. The thing I'm wondering, however, is which camera you are using? A K20D, especially with IS on and SDM lenses uses a lot of power. And when I'm on a shoot, I'm often checking the images on the LCD screen. That uses a lot of power too.