Knockoff battteries
 

Anyone tried these knockoff T2i batteries you can find on ebay?

Are they any good?

Li Battery for Canon LP-E8 LPE8 LP E8 Digital Rebel T2i - eBay (item 380223105213 end time May-09-10 09:40:00 PDT)

Hmm, I wouldn't put a $4 battery in my camera.

I'm using these:

LP-E8 Canon Compatible Li-Ion Battery | L.A. Color Shop

Bought from our sponsor, Taky Cheung at L.A. Color Shop. They
work perfectly, and they're chargeable via the stock Canon charger
that came with the camera.

Well I did put a 4$ battery in my camera:

Battery for Canon LP-E8 LPE8 EOS Digital Rebel T2i 550D on eBay.ca (item 280481261627 end time 18-Apr-10 17:12:06 EDT)

and so far so good ... only draw back is that it there is no monitoring (appears always full).

Chris, does the camera read the battery properly for remaining life or charge? thanks.

Hi Michael,

I just assumed they'd be fine and loaded up on generic batteries, but to make sure I did a test today. Its extremely unscientific, but I put a freshly charged generic 1200 mah battery I bought from ebay in along with a 16gb card. I ran the camera until the card was full*. I took the full card out and put in an empty card. In the middle of the second clip on the second card the overheating warning went on so I shut it down for about 5 minutes. It recorded another nearly full clip (over 12 minutes) before dropping quickly from four segments on the battery icon to a flashing red battery icon. So in the end, with one generic battery in a T2i with the Canon 24-105 L (stabilization on) I got recordings of 18, 18, 18, 13, 10, and 12 minutes. A total of 89 minutes.

*Oddly I got three 18 minute clips and a 13 minute clip on the card. I'm assuming that is because the codec has a variable bit rate and I was shooting a scene that didn't change. Analysis of the clip attached...

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1271450233

Bought the legit battery - should only need 3, assuming you're shooting non-stop for 8 hours.

And I wouldn't use any knock-offs until the 90 day warranty is up.

john

Haven't had a chance to find out yet; just got back from NAB. Working on
pressing matters with the site right now but expect to have a report on this
over the weekend.

I bought 3 batteries at $3.49 each on ebay.

Might be early to comment since I haven't shot extensively, but I did get all batteries a charge when I got them with the Canon charger and used one battery so far and almost filled up a card with it.

Battery indicator also works, it is now showing half of the charge left after my shoot.

Only thing is original Canon batteries are 7.2V / 1120mAh and the batteries I got are 7.4V / 1500mAh, which wasn't exactly what was listed on their site but so far so good. The generic batteries are also slightly lighter in weight.

I would buy original Canon batteries but they are bloody expensive here in Canada.

Hi Robert and Joe
Could you please inform the internet link from the respective battery you have tested?
Thanks
Ron

Hi Robert,

They are too expensive everywhere. I love Canon, but I won't pay $60 for a battery.

Hi Ron,

2 Battery for Canon LP-E8 EOS Digital Rebel T2i/550D - eBay (item 260577637603 end time Apr-28-10 19:03:20 PDT)

Ron,

Here is a link to the merchant, original listing as ended, product is same or similar.

I also wrote to the merchant and it seems he has different types of LP-E8 batteries since he offered to sell me Canon's equivalent.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Battery-For-Canon...item3efe0b8689

Joel, they are $85 in Canada, and there isn't much difference between us and cdn currencies!

Ouch.......

Thank you Joe and Robert
Ron

I just pulled the trigger on 2 no-names off ebay for $6 each.
I went with these ones because they are 7.2V like the canon battery, all the other no-names are 7.4V.
B94 Battery For Canon EOS 550D Rebel T2i LP-E8 NEW on eBay.ca (item 120558056024 end time 17-May-10 08:55:59 EDT)

Good for you! I use mine daily.
I got mine in under a week.
Pretty amazing.

Four questions for those who have tried generic batteries:

1) Which one did you get (link)?

2) How long does it last?

3) Does it charge in the Canon charger without issue?

4) Does it display accurate remaining battery life on the camera?

Is there any chance of these batteries damaging the camera? or is the only concern that they empty out quick?

I've been using knockoffs for years on many, many cameras including the t2i. They work great and are almost as reliable as OEM, usually at around 1/8th the cost. That adds up over the years.

On the t2i, I seem to get a half-way indicator only, not quite as detailed in remaining life as the OEM. They do charge in the factory charger.

for cheap you can find the battery grip that allows you to use rechargeable AAA cell.
additionally it seems it removes the heat from the battery going directly in the body and limit the overheat symptoms

Battery comparison: original vs. knock-off
 

I did some comparison between a knock-off battery and the original:
http://ninofilm.net/blog/2010/04/08/...ginal-vs-fake/

Be very careful what you buy! I'm a bit disappointed. But I guess the 2000mAh thing is good.

To this date there is no such thing as a generic battery grip for the Rebel T2i / EOS 550D that I'm aware of.

Hopefully that will change soon though.

why a generic battery grip ? the canon one will make the deal.
you can get one for about 150$ and you can buy t2i body +grip for $989.

Third party grips are available for most other Canon DSLRs and reviews have many of them at or very close to OEM quality for less than half the cost.

When it comes to generic batteries, I found out there are two types. One are made with recycled battery cell that can be bought dirt cheap on ebay. They usually won't hold charge after a few months. There're some generic batteries that sold slightly higher in price but still way more affordable than the Canon ones. Those are made with good quality battery cells.

I was actually contacted by a company in asian to resell their cheap batteries. I decided not to go with them and choose the high quality batteries from the same supplier that I'm using.