Third party camera battery?

November 24, 2008 10:54 AM

After many years, my Canon PowerShot S20 needs a new Ni-MH battery. Canon sells a replacement battery for $49. Amazon sells a third party replacement made by Hi Capacity for about half the price. There are no user reviews for the cheaper batteries. Is the $49 Canon battery a waste of money?
posted by R. Mutt to Technology (8 answers total)

I dunno if it's a waste of money but I bought a replacement Thinkpad battery a few years ago from HiCapacity and it was fine.
posted by GuyZero at 10:59 AM on November 24, 2008

I've never had a problem with 3rd party batteries (though not the brand you link to). But do an amazon search for Hi-Capacity and see similar batteries and the reviews for them. May help your trust factor.
posted by artdrectr at 11:01 AM on November 24, 2008

My one problem with a replacement Canon battery was that it didn't fit too well in the camera. The manufacturer battery just slid in, while the cheap alternative just barely fit and was a real pain to get out. Unfortunately, this is just a matter of manufacturing quality on the plastic case, so I'm not sure how it would be avoidable.
posted by smackfu at 11:09 AM on November 24, 2008

Best answer: Ni-MH average capacity has been slowly increasing over the years, so even if the 3rd party one is poor quality, it's probably still better than your original battery ever was.

But in my (limited) experience, it's the brand-name batteries that tend not to keep up with the tech (they keep making them exactly the same, which has it's own pluses, but none that I care about), while the third party ones tend to drop in whatever components are most available on the market, so it wouldn't surprise me if today's third party battery was better than today's canon battery.

Furthermore, canon is ripping you off with that battery. Judging from the shape of it, it's just five AAA NiMH cells in series, in a plastic case. Five high quality AAA NiMH cells at full retail price would set you back less than $20, so it is no surprise that the third party manufacturer can offer a battery at half canon's price. It seems that, like ink cartridges in printers, canon is milking the consumables.
posted by -harlequin- at 11:37 AM on November 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

I've had great success with aftermarket/non-OEM batteries. They allow more shots per charge when new. However, they tend to die more spectacularly (one charge=lots of shots, next charge= half that, next charge=nothing.)
posted by notsnot at 11:43 AM on November 24, 2008

Best answer: Wait, this link lists the Hi-Capacity battery as 650mAh, while the canon one is listed as 900mAh.

So they're both ripping you off :-/
I don't even know where you'd find 650mAh NiMH cells these days - I wonder if they're using NiCd instead.

OTOH, that looks like an old link, the mAh offered today might be better. Try to find a mAh rating for the Hi-Capacity battery. (mAh = milli-Amp-hours. ie 900mAh battery could deliver 100mA for 9 hours, while a 650mAh battery could deliver 100mA for 6.5 hours)
posted by -harlequin- at 11:46 AM on November 24, 2008

Check eBay, it looks like you can get them for $8. I've bought lots of camera batteries on eBay and never had a problem.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:59 AM on November 24, 2008

I don't use anything but the manufacturer's own batteries in the cameras I use to make my living, but I have no qualms using vastly cheaper third party alternatives in every other electronic product I own; including camcorders and p&s digital cameras.
posted by imjustsaying at 12:25 PM on November 24, 2008