Noticed today on both B&H and Samys.com that the battery for the GH2 is on backorder. Why the short supply for the battery of a very popular camera? Do you guys trust any of the "replacements?"

Thx!

I absolutley do not trust the generics in this case. If you have not already, J&R music and Adorama for your batteries. They do appear to be in short supply, not sure why that would be.

Mornin' Jeff! Thanks for the tip; alas, neither Adorama nor J&R have them. I went to Amazon.com and found a company in Hong Kong (EbuyTek) has them -- even at a better price. The picture indicates they're Panasonic brand, but with plagiarism so rampant in that part of the world, should I take a chance? I need 2 more batteries for my GH2. Thoughts?

Good luck Terry, looked around a bit for you, found nothing. You could google New York camera store and try the different places, someone will have a battery I'm sure!

They should become available again soon, because I think the new G6 will be using the same battery.

This is the downside of battery commonality. The upcoming G6 will use the same DMW-BLC12 battery as the GH2 did - something Panasonic shooters have clamored for since the company needlessly changed batteries between the GH1 and GH2.

My guess is that folks who have pre-ordered the G6 are snapping up the DMW-BLC12s.

Bill

I went ahead and ordered the batteries from EbuyTek. Amazon stakes their reputation behind them, so I'm giving it a shot. Will report back when they arrive.

They should become available again soon, because I think the new G6 will be using the same battery.

It will and so does the G5. And there's still a lot of GH2s "kicking around" so that battery is somewhat in demand.

I went ahead and ordered the batteries from EbuyTek. Amazon stakes their reputation behind them, so I'm giving it a shot. Will report back when they arrive.

A couple of warnings on all aftermarket batteries:

Do not use them for any firmware upgrades, if they die in midprocess in the GH2 it totally "bricks" the camera, very likely to be the same in the G5 and G6.

And watch very closely for signs of swelling, I had to spend two hours "prying" one out that swelled in the camera. Amazon "staking their reputation" on them will be limited to a refund on the battery.

Got lucky! B&H now has the BLC-12 battery in stock and I ordered two! Just got my confirmation a moment ago! Cancelled that other order through Amazon as it hadn't shipped yet. I do feel more comfortable getting the correct battery from a reputable retailer--and a DVINFO sponsor!

Thanks everyone, for your input!