My 950G battery for the Canon XL-H1 finally bit the dust, but I'm not sure I want to spend the money on a Canon replacement as it seems wildly overpriced.

Anyone have any experience using the Lenmar battery replacement for this or the 970HG? Their price is about 1/4 of what Canon is asking.

We have the generic brand BP-970G and BP-950G available. Their price is way cheaper than the Canon brand.

BP-970G Canon Compatible High Capacity Battery | L.A. Color Shop (http://lacolorshop.com/products/item.asp?id=bp970g)
BP-950G Canon Compatible High Capacity Battery | L.A. Color Shop (http://lacolorshop.com/products/item.asp?id=bp950g)

I myself are using those for my XH-A1. Those that I use 3 years ago are still holding charge very well.

Taky

Bob,

I have used both the Lenmar and Empire replacement batteries, and have found both acceptable. I have experienced over two years of service with each before one of them is gone, another on it's last legs, and the third still going strong. I shoot pretty much every weekend.
Have you every taken one of these apart? All it is is 6 AA-sized rechargeable batteries in series, in a plastic case.

Not only do I use "after market" batteries, I have found that they have are more durable than the Canon ones.

Harry.

My 950G battery for the Canon XL-H1 finally bit the dust,

Bob it's not just very cold is it? .. try warming it up then charging.

But if it's a Canon battery and you're sure it is daid how about opening it up and tell us what's inside. Take care tho. Thx.
Cheers.

"Take care" is certainly good advice. I personally would not want to take apart a battery. Perhaps I am uninformed and living in the past, but pulling apart a battery which is clearly designed not to be taken apart and which has no screws or apparent user access to its guts seems dicey. God knows what they put in these things. Some scary hazardous chemical crap? -- I have no idea.

I may be wrong, but don't batteries contain toxins?

I wouldn't if I were you.

Harry.

They can be dismantled quite safely if suitable care is used, tho' in the case of camera batteries usually to little effect, as repackaging (the cells) really isn't a viable option for most.

The most likely scenario is putting a craft knife through some extraneous but infininately neccessary bit of your anatomy and wishing you hadn't gone there in the first place.

BUT, back to the original question:

I can't speak for the battery mentioned as a replacement in the original post, but my "workhorse" battery is a "hohnel" Lio generic 945 (cells made in made in Japan, battery, who knows?) which has been with me now for, gasp, 7 years and still going strong.

For reasons I don't quite understand it's getting harder and harder to persuade out of my XH A1's battery compartment, maybe I'm dying faster than it is?


CS

The description of the robustness of the "hohnel" Lio generic 945" made me want such a beast - so I googled it and despite rummaging through many pages - couldn't find it. Any idea where I can buy it - please?

Bought it at the same time as my XL1 s way back in, ooh, jeez, must be, OMG, 2002, even older that I thought!

Cheap place for electronics in the darkest of the East end of London, good people, good prices and no shonky deals or practices.

The bloody thing just keeps on keeping on, day in, day out. Don't know why, I don't particularly look after my batteries, this one just seems to be CS (and time) proof.

Sorry if you can't find a supplier.

I never went back, have never seen another one again anywhere and can't shed any more light on it's longevity, except that I had to eject it from it's lair in my XH A1 to figure out what it was called for todays post (and what a saga that was - the ejecting, not the post!)


CS

I realized there're two types of after market batteries. One made with recycle cells and one with quality battery cells. Those you can find at dirt cheap price are pretty much the first case. They usually won't hold charger after a few months.