LP-E6 and charger compatibility

<p>Looks like a lot of the less expensive 3rd party LP-E6 batteries are not compatible with the Canon charger.</p>

<p>Just looking for comments from anyone who has either bought the 3rd party LP-E6 batteries with a charger for them, or anyone who has bought 3rd party LP-E6 batteries which ARE compatible with the Canon charger.</p>

<p>Also, does anyone know if the Canon batteries can be recharged on the 3rd party chargers? The advantage there is that many of them can be run of a 12v car battery connection, making recharging in the field easier.</p>

<p>I presume the source of the incompatibility must lie in the "smart" battery technology chip which records recharge info. Anyone know for sure?</p>

<p>Don't know about the E6, but I have ruined two E4 cells (stopped holding charge) after using a hell-knows-what-name charger for 2 weeks, so I'd be careful with aftermarket charges esp. when using advanced, chipped, batteries such as E6 or E4. As for 12V DC charging, Canon does supply a car "cigarette lighter" cord for the CB-C-E6 charger. </p>

<p>I'm sure the safest action would be to use the 3rd party batteries with their own charger and the Canon battery with the Canon charger. I agree that when using the advanced "smart" batteries it's safer to stick with Canon.</p>

<p>However I'm somewhat reluctant to fork out the $200 that Canon want for a pair of batteries or even the $130 that the discount stores sell a pair for.</p>

<p>You can get a "no-name" LP-E6 with charger for under $10 from eBay, or what looks pretty much like he same thing for under $20 from Adorama etc. Compatible "not smart" battery with it's own charger. Looks like a compatible "smart" battery is around $30.</p>

<p>I'm also somewhat reluctant to pay $140 for a Canon 12v charger form B&H etc. As I said, you can get a 3rd party battery WITH the charger for under $10.</p>

<p>Of course there's always a risk going 3rd party. I guess that's what Canon count on. $350 for 2 batteries and a charger from Canon. $20 for two batteries and two chargers from eBay...</p>

<p>Bob,<br>

I don't have an answer for most of your questions, but you could stick with the Canon batteries and go to an inverter for the car so you can charge with the Canon AC charger. Personally I've had great luck with aftermarket for the simple batteries (Canon S40 and 1D MKII). With the electronic communication, weighing the money, effort spent on a days outing, (gas etc.) and the uniqueness of the days, the decision becomes tougher. Personally, if I was going to get the 3rd party, I'd likely steer clear of e-bay, but I notice that even the sites I trust have some consumer reports of no-communication. The old saying was that film was the cheapest part of photography, and now I guess it's battery and memory cards.</p>

Hi Bob, I have the OEM LP-E6 from Canon but was loathe to fork out for a second unit, so I did buy a 3rd party offering (Power 2000 with charger including the 12V for the car, all for USD 14.95). The lack of battery info can leave you a bit jittery if shooting weddings as I do, but thankfully, two things come to my aid:

<br>1. My Canon LP-E6 lasts almost the entire length of a wedding (and they are looong in these parts!) :)

<br>2. Before a shoot I always ensure I have charged both batteries fully, the night before. So I only end up using the 3rd party one for a few shots toward the end of the shoot

<p>In answer to your question, I have never tried charging Canon's battery on the 3rd party charger or vice versa. The Canon batteries say to use only the Canon charger. I'm not *that* adventurous LOL. I really wish those prices would drop significantly for the OEM battery!

<p>I never cease to be amazed that people who will spend many thousands of punds/dollars/euros/cowrie-shells on high-end cameras and lenses will then quibble about the cost of a spare battery. Peace of mind is worth far more to me than the difference in cost.</p>

<p>I'm not at all surprised that people quibble. Canon's prices are unjustifiably high and represent blatant profiteering. Fact is you don't get a whole lot of functionality for all this extra money and I for one coped well with the lesser info on the 5D- just keep 2 or 3 batteries fully charged in your bag every day. Its hard to avoid a conclusion that Canon provide all this data primarily as a means to lock in a higher proportion of the battery business. I hope it doesn't work. </p>

<p>Looking at the economics of it, it isn't reasonable to conclude that because the camera is expensive you shouldn't mind paying a fortune for batteries. I don't get peace of mind from being ripped off. The camera isn't a rip off. The batteries and chargers are. I'm allowed to buy expensive things without volunteering to be a target for every greedy corporate around. Also consider the possibility that some buyers will acquire expensive cameras by forgoing a lot of other stuff- not rich, just prioritised this. They might actually need to save money on commodity peripherals because they've spent a lot of money on the camera. Equally bear in mind that there will in a few years be a used market where the 5D mkii is sold very cheaply. How do you think buyers in that market might react to the fact that a spare battery and charger will cost them a good proportion of the cost of a 5yo used body?</p>

<p>Indeed. For two batteries and a 12v charger from the Canon Direct Store you'd pay $470. Yes, <strong>$470</strong>, well over 1/4 of the price of a new EOS 7D and almost 1/5th the price of a 5D MkII.</p>

<p>Battery technology is pretty mature. There's no reason that justifies a <strong>$100</strong> price tag on a battery (which is what you'd pay from the Canon store) or (even worse) <strong>$270</strong> (yes, that's right, $270) for a 12v charger. Those prices are close to theft, especially the charger which is a piece of plastic with a few control chips in it. You can get the charger discount for about 1/2 that price, but it's still a ripoff.</p>

<p>At maybe $35 for a battery and $50 for a charger I might go with Canon, but even the deepest discount stores don't come anywhere close to that.</p>

<p>I can get a battery AND a charger for $9 from eBay (US vendor, presumably Chinese goods). Even allowing for the fact that neither may be engineered to the highest standards, is it reasonable for Canon to charge an extra $461 for better engineering? I'm sure someone could come close to matching Canon's engineering for 20% of their price (though I doubt they can do it for 2%).</p>

<p>I've run a couple of eBay batteries in my 40D for years now. They work perfectly. Unless I look, I can't tell if I'm shooting with my OEM Canon battery or my $8 eBay special. They charge in about the same time and have about the same capacity. Why would I pay Canon <strong>$70</strong> for a BP-511A?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>7dayshop.com are selling fully decoded LP-E6 equivalents for GBP 9.99. These are supposed to be fully interchangeable with the camera and charger.</p>

<p>I'll get one when they're back in stock.</p>

<p>I agree that Canon's prices are absurdly high, but that's probably where they make their profit - along with the other overpriced accessories.</p>

<p>Henry</p>

<p><em>For two batteries and a 12v charger from the Canon Direct Store you'd pay $470. Yes, <strong>$470</strong>, well over 1/4 of the price of a new EOS 7D and almost 1/5th the price of a 5D MkII.</em></p>

<p>I've never bought a charger and never knew they were so $$$. It comes with the camera bodies as does the battery (sometimes an extra thrown in free). How many chargers do you need?</p>

<p>I would not put it past a company like Canon or Nikon to design a charger that requires you to use only their battery, and not a competing knock-off. Sounds like they are willing to take the hit as far as their reputation, to preserve a hefty profit margin on peripheral gear. Sometimes that kind of corporate strategy can backfire....</p>

<p>I would buy the 3rd party batteries+charger as a set. If the unit is going to explode, it'll do so in its own charger and you'll only be out 10 or 20 bucks (presuming your house doesn't catch on fire).</p>

<p>It'd be handy if the 3rd party batteries+charger came in dayglow pink or something like that. That way you won't mix up batteries and chargers.</p>

<p>And yes, the amount of money that Canon charges for their batteries is insulting. Don't let them get away with it.</p>

<p>Now. I have heard a rumor that some camera companies (read: Panasonic) have embedded in firmware updates: bits of software that will detect 3rd party batteries and block them from being used. If a 3rd party battery is detected then the camera shuts down or acts erratically or something like that. I've heard the same about 3rd party ink-jet cartridges. Not sure if this is true.</p>

<p>For every measure there is a countermeasure. Epson had ink cartridges with a chip in them. Took a month or so for someone to figure out a workaround and maybe another month before the 3rd party makers figured out how to add a chip.</p>

<p>Canon bodies to detect the lack of a "smart" battery (I guess in case one of your smart batteries fails and becomes dumb) but they give the user the option of continuing without the "smarts".</p>

<p>I see Opteka are selling a smart LP-E6 clone for around $20 which will charge on the Canon charger and which has all the smarts that the Canon battery does. While Optika aren't know for their high quality gear, at least they aren't some anonymous seller in Shanghai so they may be a better bet than the generic Chinese eBay batteries (though in actual fact they may be the same!).</p>

<p>My advice is to stay away from Optika</p>