I have two gigantor Lenmar batteries that I've used in Canon's charger for years and never had a problem. I think this might be the usual lawyer double talk.

Cannon certainly would not recommend any battery, other than the factory battery made for your camera. No matter how much more expensive the Cannon battery is. That is like taking the butter from their bread.

I certainly agree with all of this (and have been using two after-market batteries without problem). I just hadn't seen the note before - http://www.usa.canon.com/html/accessorynotice.html

It's possible that it has been present on the site for a while and I just missed it.

Canon has to make the statement to "CYA". And yes at one time a battery has probally caused this problem while being recharged some where in the rechargeable battery industry. The OEM or after market mfg. or who ever you buy a battery from will or should make some statement like that on their products.

I worked for a OEM (not in the DV field) and all Mfgs. make statements like this about the products they sell Vs. after market parts (i.e. battery). The same that a lawnmower mfg. will tell you that the OEM replacement blade cuts above and beyond the after market lawnmower blades that are for avil. for your lawnmower.

Bottom line just read all warnings because as Don stated battries can cause fires. If you think not put a 9 volt battery in your pants pocket with some change. That little battery when shorted out gets HOT! I know.

Steve

There has been a lot of press on "exploding" LiIon batteries in the press. Mostly concerning off brand cell phone batteries (Nokia got some bad press about this).

It is indeed due to faulty construction in the batteries. Alternately, a bad charger could do it. Federal Express now considers LiIon batteries "hazardous material" and won't air ship them. This is annoying if you live on an island. Recently, I tried to buy an EPIRB (Emergency Personal Locator Beacon) for my boat, but FedEx wouldn't ship it. Rather amusing that a "safety device" is too dangerous to ship.

Of course, this has made me look at my little Palm pilot sitting happily in my breast pocket with a whole new light.....

Don't worry, be happy. Don't put your tounge on the terminals.

GL2 battery
 

I need the biggest battery I can get for the GL2. I am going to do a wedding. What would you suggest for a battery,model,where to buy at a good price?

BP-945 -compatibles, such as those available from Lenmar and Power 2000 are the largest capacities you can get within the Canon-compatible realm. You can get them from our sponsors; the pricing will not vary widely anywhere for these quality batteries. I recommend getting two or more.

you gotta be kidding me(battery issue)
 

i'm about to buy a gl-2 and i was flabergasted to discover that canon's longest batteries lasted only 3hours a half i mean i used to own a sony pd100 and i had like a 9hour battery. is sony far above from its competitors in that field?

is this canon's longest battery?:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...&O=&sku=312106

I have a non canon brand battery for my XM2 that lasts about 7 hours.

I´m sure the biggest of the original Canon should last about the same.

Lenmar and Power 2000 are two of the leading 3rd party battery manufacturers. These BP-945 class 7.2v batteries for the GL2 (and XL1S) will generally deliver 3-6 hrs of continuous operation DEPENDING on the nature of your usage of the camera. Battery longevity on the GL2 is not an issue for the vast majority of people, professionals and consumers.

If you need larger capacity you'll need to spend some money for a 12v battery system, such as Anton Bauer's system.

what long life battery would you recommand(at least 6 hours) for a reasonable price? thanx

Yohann, you were probably using the Sony NP-F960 on your PD-100. That is an exceptional battery which gives me close to 8 hours on my VX-2000. One of my disappointments with the PDX-10 (which you have asked about elsewhere) is that it uses a different series of batteries and the largest one (NP-QM91) only lasts about 4 hours. Anyone who has used one of those 960 batteries will be spoiled when switching to another type of camcorder! ;-)

12 volt Ken?
 

Ken, how do you put "a 12v battery system, such as Anton Bauer's system." onto our 7.2 volt Canon Camera XM2 units .. interested . .

Grazie

There are several paths.

One is to use an NRG battery belt and get the NRG 12-7.2v transformer/adapter.

Other manufacturers such as Anton Bauer and Bescor sell various adapters and 12v battery configs such as "pouched" battery packs. You could also just go with the Anton Bauer's Stasis brace and mount AB batteries to that brace.

Many roads lead to Rome.

Ken please email off thread about this . . I'm very interesed in the Stasis ! ! ! ! More to the point how would I connect a system to the XM2 . . ? I've tried the Stasis and truly I think I'm in love . .! Again!


How's your review of the other "support"?

Grazie

Here's the AB page on the Stasis brace. This has a Gold Mount plate already installed. I -believe- they make a Stasis for the GL2 but I could be wrong.

But I do know that Anton Bauer makes a complete power kit for the XL1, which uses the same 7.2v as the GL2. To use this kit you would probably select a 3rd-party brace, such as the DVRigPro or a Dolgin that enables you to mount the adapter plate for yourself.

See my recent article on the Firestore FS-3 for a better view of how the AB adapter works, at least on an XL1S. It would work the same on a GL2, with the exception that you need a different way to mount the adapter plate.

" I -believe- they make a Stasis for the GL2 " Went to see a UK suplier yeaterday . . don't seem they do . . hey ho . .

at biz-max they sell the Canon BP-945 Battery Pack for 130 bucks. is it reasonable?

is this a good deal? how long does this battery last(i don't get why they never indicate that info):

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=198705&is=REG

I just bought a GL2 two weeks ago. I also have used the Sony NP-960 battery on a Hi-8 camcorder and was a little miffed when I saw the specs o nthe Canon batteries.

The capacity of the Canon BP-941 is 4500 mAhr and the Lenmar LIC941 is 5500 mAhr. Based upon the specs the Lenmar battery has a 22% more capacity than the Canon battery. There may be some conservatism in the capacity. It depends who did the testing and how good the QC is at the factory.

I bought a non-branded battery with a 4000 mAhr capacity and have used it twice to film softball games. My estimate of the battery life is about 4 hours. I shoot 1 hour of footage in 2 hours at a game. I have not run into a problem yet.

I will probably buy a Lenmar battery in the near future. It is less expensive than the Canon BP-941 and has greater capacity.

when buying a lenmar battery, do you have to buy an extra charger or the canon xm-2's is compatible?

peace

The Canon charger's fine.

I'm running the Lenmar LIC941/5500 mAh on my XL1S without
any problems. Works fine with the Canon charger as well.

2+2 = no problem
 

2 hour tape = 2 hour battery.
I just change to a new charged battery when I change to a new tape. no problem.

2 hour tape? I won't trust anything else then 60 minute tape
running in SP mode.

sorry...
 

I was meaning to say 1 hour mini DV tape, I must have been thinking baout VHS, a blast from the past indeed, sorry...

Here is an option, I chose this one as it was quite cost effective. For about the cost of 2 series 945 canon batteries or 119 dollars (no tax), I purchased a battery belt from a net company that just happens to be a local brick and mortar shop here in Orlando.

http://www.batterybank.com/beltpack/page11.2.html is a 14ah belt pack that ships with a Canon GLx / XL1x adapter. With this pack you can run your camera for about 17 hours. If you get creative and can run a solder station, you can permenantly attach the battery fixture to the electrical system of the pack which free's up the cigarette lighter plug for a light.

With this configuration I can run my GL2 and my Frezzi for about 4 to 4.5 hours (more depending on the use of my light).

Miguel

BP-945 Battery
 

If anyone is looking for the highest capacity battery for your GL2, i have just purchased a BP-945 off ebay for 25.00 it works great. Is a better deal then paying $125 for a canon.
Its just more expensive because they have their name on it. The battery is great, but a couple and save $$$ espically if your on the go alot and need alot of handy power!

I have an eBay battery too - the large size. It works very well. I wouldn't pay triple digits for a Canon-branded pack, either. 4 to 5 hours of shooting is more than enough for me.

Batteries for GL2
 

I need to buy some batteries, I'm not sure if I should by original Canon batteries. I'm leaning towards them because of the warning Canon has about not being responsible for the damage other brands may cause. Does everyone here use original Canon brand batteries, or do a lot of you use other brands? What other brands have you had good experiences with?

Any help would be appreciated,
Ian Hong

Ian,
Have no fear of high-quality 3rd-party batteries for your GL2. Power 2000 and Lenmar each make excellent BP-945 replacements that actually have better capacity specs than Canon's batteries (and cost less, too). I've been using Power 2000's for years.

I would, however, be cautious of extremely low priced no-name batteries.

Well, thanks for making me feel a lot better about purchasing the Power 2000 battery.

I just ordered a GL2 with the extra battery and other stuff from B&H earlier this week.

Wasn't sure about my choice of the 3rd-party battery, but the price is like 1/2 and rated higher than the Canon.

<<<-- Originally posted by Ken Tanaka : Ian,
Have no fear of high-quality 3rd-party batteries for your GL2. Power 2000 and Lenmar each make excellent BP-945 replacements that actually have better capacity specs than Canon's batteries (and cost less, too). I've been using Power 2000's for years.

I would, however, be cautious of extremely low priced no-name batteries. -->>>

Totally agree with Ken, I typically purchase most of my batteries on Batteries.com and have never been shipped something that wasn't up to or exceeding spec.

I picked up a handful of Empire BLI-161 batteries a couple years ago, at around $30 each. They worked beautiful for the first year or so, but after that, started to lose power over time. That is, I fully charge them the night before, and sometimes they drop to 50-75% by the next day.

Still... 5 batteries at 75% is better than no batteries at all.

<<<-- Originally posted by Keith Forman : I picked up a handful of Empire BLI-161 batteries a couple years ago, at around $30 each. They worked beautiful for the first year or so, but after that, started to lose power over time. That is, I fully charge them the night before, and sometimes they drop to 50-75% by the next day.

Still... 5 batteries at 75% is better than no batteries at all. -->>>

Yea but that's typical of any rechargable battery, the memory effect is still something that the manufacturers are playing with.

My company (Motorola) deals with batteries for public safety radios. Our best and most expensive battery for the biggest, baddest police radios are good for 12 hours for about the first 8 months then after 1 year we ask the guys to bring them back in for a new one since the prolonged use of charging just kills the cells. 1 year of solid life is excellent.

When you put it that way, I don't feel too bad ;)

I was more or less comparing the Empires, to the original BP-915 that came with my GL1. I've had it slightly longer than the knock offs, and it still performs like a champ. I can always depend on it for at least an hours worth of shooting.

I am considering moving up to one of those multi-hour batteries, but haven't really looked into them yet. I had some choices, but I decided to get a decent wide angle for Father's Day, but my Birthday is only 5 months away :)

We've got a couple of Lenmars and they've been very reliable. Bought the first one three years ago and it still seems to last forever.

Thanks everyone,

I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy the Power-2000 BP-945 replacement battery, here's the link:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=227259&is=REG

Will this battery charge with the charger that came with my GL2?

Thanks again,
Ian

Yes.

I'm using BP945 non-Canon MADE batteries .. . had 2 for nearly 18 months now .. no problems. I bought 2 for the price of one "CANON" BP945 . . . however, the maker does have a "proper" Canon label on its bottom!

The batteries work, they charge as per the the User's Handbook, get back up to levels quick enough ..

Grazoie