So I'm a new owner of the HV10. So far, amazing little cam compared to the SR40 that my parents purchased in Dec '06.

So my first main purchase however, is going to be a battery. I went mountain biking yesterday, and by the time we got out there and got some shots, the battery died :(

I've done some searching in these forums for 'aftermarket' batteries. As mentioned in another thread, I'm a wedding photographer. NO I'm not looking at getting into wedding videography, I've spent too much in my photo gear. Anways, sterlingtek has a great name for their aftermarket batteries for some of the Canon dSLR's. How are they for the HV10? I see they have one that is equivalent to the BP-315. Has anyone used with it any issues?

I also figured while at it, to get their BP-208 battery charger, as it would be nice to charge the battery while in a car.

Unlike the HV-20 and XH-A1, stay away from aftermarket batteries in the HV-10.
Canon bateries have the proper connectors on the HV-10 batteries.

The aftermarket batteries use a copper connection that pushes the internal HV-10 connectors inward.

My son learned this the hard way as he was plaauged with loose connections and unable to charge the battery within the camera.

What I got:
ebay: lajal-battery
2x BP-315 compatible 1700mAh x 2 listing
shipped from Hong Kong, for $25!

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Already tested them through many outings - July 4th, museum trip, weekend outings, etc. both work fine, no problems with contacts, charging or insertion. They simply work fine and pose no problems at all.

Shipped in nice protective packaging, no damage at all, quick 1 week to arrive from HK.

would I ever buy anything else again? Nope. In fact, what does my original HV10 battery say..... Made in China!

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I wouldn't worry much about batteries for camcorders - most are slow charge (ie. safe vs. the rapid charged batteries), are very basic (ie. nothing more than voltage and/or temp. control in most of these), and are hardly anything I'd pay more than $20 a pop for.

I've ordered dozens of batteries for older camcorders I've owned over the years off eBay, and none of them had any big problems.

the regular Canon batt is probably a standard flat pack; the extended battery on sale are probably the usual 2 cell cylindrical li-ions. nothing amazing I guarentee if you ever take them apart to see what's inside!!

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As for the other post with bad battery terminal -- you can't break a camcorder unless you really jam that battery in if it's got a bad terminal (it happens). Be gentle, slide the battery in, lightly press to lock and that's all you'll need. Only way to really break the terminals is to press hard and jam it in -- after all, metal requires force to damage.

You can easily test all new batteries by simply following the above - gently slide it in, gently press to lock, and if it goes in fine, you're fine.