Canon XL1 & XL1S Batteries / Battery Options

[Lee Chapman]

Hello all, sorry if this has been covered many times - I tried searching the forums but most, if not all, of the answers seemed to be U.S.A-centric.
I'm looking for for batteries that are higher capacity than the one that came supplied with my xl1s. The only problem is I can't afford Canon's prices right now. Any suggestions as to where I can buy in the UK and what to look for would be great.

The cheapest I could find that at least appeared to be decent was here :

http://www.gmkbatteries.co.uk/acatal...45battery.html

£42.99 for a BP945 Two Year Guarantee.
Voltage : 7.2V.
Capacity : 5550 mAh.
Type : Lithium-Ion.
Approx. Max Run Time : 8 hours.
Colour : Black.
Dimensions : H 61mm x W 38mm x L 71mm.
Weight : 302g.

Any good ? I really don't know what to look for!


Oh, and a supplier of cheap Sony Premium tapes would be nice too...

So many demands... :)

Lee

[Danie Pretorius]

Hi Lee

I have purchased a Power2000 battery in August 2004 from www.bugeyedigtal.com (US not UK unfortunately) for XL1
(see http://www.bugeyedigital.com/product_main/ide-acd.html)

Battery (ACD-625) is completely outperforming any of Canon's batteries and is lasting waaaaayyy longer! The price is very good (US$60 - a fraction of Canon's price) and shipping costs very low!

Regards
Danie

[Ed Smith]

Hi Lee,

Try Jessops, they do there own brand version of the canon batteries. I have a few and they work quite well.

Hope this helps,

[Ian Thomas]

Lee,

Check out ebay i have just bought 2 batterys from a seller called Vgamer 3000 from the USA, replacement batterys for Canon BP 945, £1 +£6 postage each! I think it was in Camcorders or Proffesional video.

They work fine and what a price!!!!!!!

Hope this Helps

[Lee Chapman]

Hello and thanks all for your suggestions, I ended up buying the battery I posted above ( it's by Energizer ) and it's just charging at the moment so I can't comment on how good ( or bad ) it is. Having said that, I will now check out the eBay item you've just mentioned as it sounds too good to be true! I will take your recommendation and put it to good use.

I'll let you know how I get on with my £42.99 outlay...

Lee

[David Bermejo]

I am trying to charge the battery on a friend's XL1

He gave me the charger and I snapped the battery on there, but no lights
come on. Can somone help me?

And yes, it is plugged in the outlet. lol


Thanks,
David

[Dan Keaton]

Dear David,

There is a cable that is used to power the Xl1(s) from the power supply/battery charger. This plugs into the side of the battery charger.

If you wish to charge a battery, this cable must be unplugged and the battery placed into the proper position on top of the charger.

If this is done, then the red light should blink while charging.

Three rapid blinks indicates that the battery is more than 75% charged. Full on indicates that the charge is complete.

[David Bermejo]

Hey thanks so much!!

I got it charging now!

David

[Michael Sweeney]

i was just curious. i wanted to buy some batteries for my xl1s and noticed that on ebay they have a bunch of batteries for $12.00 that are generic brand. is there a way for a cheap battery to short out my camera or ruin it? would i be better off buying a brnad name battery? anyone have expierence with generic batteries?

thanks,
mike

[Don Palomaki]

Can't speak to out-and-out generics, you would have to dig into them and see what they really are inside. Some may be OK, others may be trash or seconds with a short usable life. There are reputable after-market brand name batteries that sell for less than half the Canon brand name that work fine. I've used Lenmar with good results.

[Dan Keaton]

I have been happy with Power101 batteries for my Canon Xl1s.

Their website is www.power101.com.

Their current cost for BP-945 style is $12.31 plus $9 shipping for the first battery, $6 for subsequent batteries in the same order.

I purchased 12 almost a year ago and they all work fine.

Power101 states that it is best to keep the batteries charged. Allowing one to stay in a discharged state for months, according to Power101, shortens the life of the battery.

These are rated at 6000mah (milliamp-hours), but I do not have an easy way to test if this is true, it may be optimistic. They seem to perform equal to or better than the original Canon BP-945 which was rated at 4500mah.

I do not believe that you will hurt your camera, or your charger, with these batteries.

[Andrew Hsu]

I own several (6) generic 8-hour batteries and they have worked perfectly.
I don't know what else to say except they are worth every penny I spent (and saved!).

I can shoot all day with my XL1S and my GL2 on the six batteries and not have to stop to recharge anything.

Cheers!

[Christopher Leclair]

I currently have a BP-941 battery and 2 BP-930 batteries for my XL1s. I need a charger but dont know what to look for.

I was thinking of:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...e=STRK:MEWA:IT

or:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...e=STRK:MEWA:IT

Am I on the right track and do these look like good sellers? Don't know if I should go for the dual charger (if it's any good?) or get the extra battery. Right now, I'm not sure if the batteries I have have a lot of juice left or not since I got the camera used. What to do?

[William Dortignac]

All that I know is that aftermarket batteries tend to be really cheesy, and might only last a couple months.

There might be one or two out there that might last a while, but I haven't seen them yet.

[Christopher Leclair]

That's what I was worried about. What about the chargers are they pretty much standard? Can anyone else recommend a battery and charger? Something online would probably work best since I'm in Ontario.