I bought a cheap chinese bat for the cam, it shows non of the remaining time and well I could live with this, but every time I turn the cam on I get a warning. It's a pain as it slows down startup quite a bit.

I've seen that the Wasabi batteries are decoded (encoded) does that mean you get the full battery info and don't get the annoying message when you fire the camera up?

Are there any others that would give me the battery information, or do I need to buy the overly priced Canon Batteries?


Thanks for your help, Merry Christmas!

The Canon batteries are not over-priced, they cost what they cost, and they are made for the camera to the highest specs. It's the other cheap batteries that are inexpensive.

Can't speak to Wasabi, they are cheap also, not the same as Canon.

I've used generics as back up batteries, for different cameras, the FX1000, the FX1, Canon HV30, the Panasonic GH2, and the genuine batteries always last longer, hold up over the years better.

In my experience, the only problem batteries are generics, so I stopped buying them. They are a waste of money. I am a pro shooter, so I can't waste my time or money on them.

If you're amateur, it doesn't matter so much.

You have already wasted good money on a generic, sure you want to possibly waste more? Why risk your camera warranty?

Someone around here has used generics, I forget who and what brand, they'll be along directly, I'm sure.

You pays you money and takes your choices.

Third party batteries may or may not be up to Canon spec. If there is a problem with a Canon battery that hurts the camcorder, you have Canon to make things right. With a third party battery you have to fight with the battery supplier (who ever it may be and if they are still around when you need them) and perhaps Canon. If the camcorder warns you, it knows and may store that information so Canon will know if the camcorder is sent in for repair.

It boils down to your personal assessment of the risk and willingness to accept it.

I have used Lenmar brand with XHA1, XL1 and GL1 for years without problems. Will be trying some Wasabi, may they be as good as the green stuff is on California rolls.

I've had some Lenmar products that were not very good.

Years ago a battery operated DV tape winder that wasn't built to DV specs and packed the tape on the spool so badly that it wouldn't run in the camera
in a perfectly straight tape path.

Then a Lenmar battery that wouldn't turn the charger off after a full charge, like the Canon batteries do.

They might have improved their act since, but I came to the conclusion that neither Len nor his mother knew what they were doing.

Cheers.

Cheers!

I'm not really after the pros and cons of non-OEM batteries, I was just wondering if the Wasabi batteries offered remaining time indicators on the phone, and more importantly, if the Canon error message at start-up showed on all non-OEM bats.

I've got some knock-offs and they don't show the warning and life is good. No issues to report. ymmv. Cheers

I use the Wasabi battery's in some cameras and they have worked out fine. I won't use any other 3rd party battery's.

That said, for my XA & G 10 and higher end cameras that I rely on to make money, I only but Canon because I don't have to guess about them.

So I guess to answer your specific question, the Wasabi's are what I consider the top of the line of knockoffs.

OK, thanks!

To answer your question: On my XA10, using the Wasabi batteries, the amount of battery life DOES show up fine and NO, I don't get any annoying battery warnings. If you read the Amazon comments you will read the same remarks from other owners (can't believe you didn't do this already). For me, I was looking for the Wasabi wall charger and car adapter even more than the batteries because it is a convenient piece of hardware. I've used Energizer camcorder batteries on other Canon's and they have worked fine also. I don't know if the Wasabi batteries last as long as the Canon's but if that is your concern, just go ahead and buy the Canon's. You're not talking about a ton of money here.

Final note: if you plan to use the viewfinder much, you might evaluate the BP819 batteries which just stick out of the back of the camera about 1/4" or so. The BP827 battery sticks out a lot further there have been reports by some that the larger battery makes using the viewfinder a little difficult. I can't comment because I didn't go down the road of the BP827. I didn't want a battery that stuck way out.

Good luck

Don't worry about the Wasabi's, they're great! I have four of them that I use constantly in my XA10's and HF G10's and they're rock solid and in every way as good as Canon batteries. Just stay away from generics (not named Wasabi) and you'll be golden.

Thanks, I plumbed for a Canon battery in the end as I ran out of time, the 827 looked freakin scary, that's one monster of a battery. I got the 819 in the end, I don't use the viewfinder, but I still think even with the 819 on, it really hampers access to the Custom button and wheel.

I may swap the cheap chinese one (I didn't buy this out of choise, it was flogged to me from my supplier as a spare battery, I didn't think to ask the make, but there we go, it was cheap) for the wasabi in the future.



I managed most of a wedding up to speeches with some use of an XLR power with one 819 and still had nearly an hour left, pretty good!

I don't understand why people avoid the larger battery. The darned thing is still tiny compared to a larger camera's battery. It weighs nearly nothing, and is the only size I use. Even then I wish it lasted longer, but two of them can get me through most days. For the upcoming season I'll have three per camera, I don't like running them all the way down every weekend.

Battery usage is always dependant on the type of shooting and factors like LCD or Viewfinder usage, ...is the cam turned off between shots, amount of playback, etc,

I haven't had issues with the 819 battery. One can last me the whole day for most of the work I do. When it doesn't, I generally put on the small battery that came with the camera and that usually finished up the day. Still have the second 819 in the pack when needed.

In essencse If I had the largest battery, it would last the whole day, I'm sure. Since I do a lot of travel stuff, I didn't want to sacrafice compactness. But for guys that can set up and use a tripod a lot, it's not an issue.

Wasabi best choice I have found.

I got 2 Wasabi 827 batteries couple months ago for the G10. It's working like Canon battery and last forever !

I have a HF-G10 that runs fine with this extended life battery:

Canon BP-827 Fully Decoded Compatible Battery | L.A. Color Online (http://www.lacoloronline.com/product/?BP827N-Canon-BP-827-Fully-Decoded-Compatible-Battery)

I have also used Taki's batteries on HV20 and HV40 cameras with no trouble.

I agree with those saying stick with the Canon batteries. While a number of people have done fine with alternatives, that is not always the case. Why take a chance?

Thanks for the link Chip.


So you get full battery info, remaining time as well as the battery indicator?

I disagree with those who say to avoid the "knock off" batteries. For those who are on a tight budget they are a dream. You can get 10 knock off batteries for the cost of one Canon in some instances! Who cares if you cant read the info. 10 batteries. Just change it out. If you even think you may be running low just change it. You have 10 batteries!

When you want to step up your game my humble opinion is still not to buy the Canon batteries. I would buy a knock off Canon battery adapter that plugs into the wall ($15). And for when you need portability pick up some used Anton Bauer Dionic 90's(you'll probably only need one).and an adapter/gold plate,etc.

In the end it's whatever works best for you. That just happens to be what works best for me.

It functions like a Canon branded battery. I try to carry replacement components for anything that could fail, so I have a 2nd charged battery on hand in the field. I also have power supplies and extension cords with me and can get the equipment powered that way. On the mud bog shoot this past summer (over 5 hours) I plugged into an APC SmartUPS 750 for the last hour, while the 2nd camera op was charging his other battery with a cigarette lighter adapter to keep going.

It just annoys me to pay 3 or 4 times as much for the branded extended charge battery from Canon.

The Wasabi batteries you can buy from Amazon work just fine with all the memory and battery feedback. Plus you get the nice wall charger that also works in the car (nice bonus).

I purchased TWO of the Wasabi batteries via Amazon for my XA10..works perfectly so far. I can't say how they will hold up over time, but others on the forum have been using them for a long time.

good luck,
Jeff