Reliable 3rd party battery for T2?

[John Vincent]

I've seen some incredibly low prices from some companies - like $3. Willing to pay more, but I'd rather not pay Canon prices...

Any one have an up to date review they could share? It'd be a big help (prepping a feature and I need lots of 'em)....

[Joel Peregrine]

Hi John,

Originally Posted by John Vincent

I've seen some incredibly low prices from some companies - like $3. Willing to pay more, but I'd rather not pay Canon prices...

Any one have an up to date review they could share? It'd be a big help (prepping a feature and I need lots of 'em)....

Can just say I used 16 ebay-generics for approx. 30 events with three T2i w/ grips and always had long run times.

[Olav Mehlum]

I bought this battery from dealextreme.

$7.45 - Canon LP-E8 Compatible 7.4V 1200mAh Battery Pack for Canon 550D - Li-Ion Batteries

Works well! You can read some reviews on that page.

And freeshipping!

[Kin Lau]

I have several of the $5- ones and they work fine - just as well as my oem.

The LP-E8 does not require a chip, so it is that much cheaper and the markup really is that much.

I could get them cheaper from China, but shipping would be longer.

[Steve Oakley]

I used several that were more like $10 ea and they all worked fine.

[John Vincent]

Thanks guys - just ordered 3 from the site Olav suggested - 3 batteries for $22. Can't beat that with a stick.

[John Vincent]

Just wanted to let you guys know, I got my batteries a couple of days ago and they work great. Camera "saw them" and they were fully charged to boot.

Don't know if they'll last as long as the Canon's, but I have a long shoot Sat to figure that out at...

One note, it took nearly 3 weeks to get them (they ship from Hong Kong).

[Keith Betters]

Yea John, I ordered mine about a day after you ordered yours (April 23) and it took till last Friday(May 7) to get them. They take a while to get here from Hong Kong. The only problem with mine is two out of the four I ordered dont sit in the charger exactly right. So what I had to do was stuff about 2 business cards on the side of the battery for it to make contact correctly. Almost like they are a millimeter off for some reason. But I used one for a wedding last week and it was only for about 20 minutes but it seemed to work normal. I have 4 canon batteries and will only use these four on long shoots or in case of emergencies.

[John Vincent]

Yeah, that's pretty much my plan too - use them as backups if my other Canon batteries die too fast.

[John Wiley]

I've had success with generic batteries from several different dealers so far. With the batteries on these cameras only lasting 90minutes, you need heaps for full day events and it's just not economical to pay the full price for a dozen of the genuine ones!

I've had a generic charger that stopped working after one charge though. It was identical to the Canon original in appearance, and they claimed it was genuine, but for the price I paid I doubt it actually was.

[Keith Betters]

I have an update for all the t2i owners. 2 out of the 4 batteries that I ordered from dealextreme seem to be somewhat problematic. I first noticed when I went to charge them and 2 of them didnt fit in the charger just right. I had to use the edge of 2 business cards and stuff them between the charger and battery for them to make good contact on my charger. I have 2 chargers, so i tried a different charger with the same result.

Also, when I start using them the other day on an engagement video shoot, the same batteries that didnt fit correctly, were acting the same way in the camera. When i put them in, they worked fine if the camera was level. However, when I would turn the camera sideways, it would shut off. I thought it was weird at first, but then I started doing it on purpose just to test it and kept getting the same result. Put in the oem battery and it worked like normal...I know its the same two batteries because i numbered them upon opening them.

I mean the other 2 work just fine, I just thought I would share with my t2i bretherin out there. I still think that 2 batteries for the $29 I paid for 4 is still a steal!!! Just know its a little roll of the dice. But most other people havent reported any problems.

[John Vincent]

Might be wrong about this, but I also think they drain faster. Hard to, b/c I just started using ML, and that def effects power consumption.

[Taky Cheung]

There're some really really cheap LP-E8 you can find in eBay. The problem for this cheap batteries are they won't hold charge after a few months. I have been solicited by many companies in China to resell their batteries. Cost is unbelievably low. However, they are made with recycle battery cells. I'd rather sell something in high quality.