3rd party batteries for Canon EOS 50d

<p>Hi all,<br>

I'm looking for some advice. There are currently some knock-off batteries for the 50d on Amazon for $1.75 and $.99 each. Has anyone ever tried any of these, and what have been your results? There was an earlier thread in 2008 and someone suggested SterlingTek for batteries. The 50d battery is $11.99 through them. I'm hoping to purchase a couple back-up batteries but I don't want to waste my money on a battery that won't hold its charge or doesn't last long. Thanks for any input.</p>

<p>+1 for Sterlingtek.com</p>

<p>I have used their batteries in my 300D, 30D and 50D for several years now with no problems.</p>

<p><Chas><br /><br /></p>

<p>If the battery is 1/5 the price and only lasts half as long, you are still ahead. I use 3rd party batteries all the time and have had no issues.</p>

<p>I have used them for traveling with the 5D MKII when I needed many batteries while away from power for long periods of time. The MKII and 7D battery are quite dear in price from Canon. They worked well, they may have lasted a bit less between charges but gave me the extra options I needed for a tenth of the price. I even had a car charger with one that also was much less in price.</p>

<p>Not sure of the 50D, but with the 5D II third-party battery you cannot charge them with a Canon charger and vice-versa or even with a different third-party brand.</p>

Yes I buy all knock batteries of of eBay. 3 for 20buck including shipping and I canget atleast 500shots on one battery

as long as imusing an external flash the canon batts weigh more anday not recharge as many times but so farm on

the same sets of knock offs for 32 months and they still do an excellent jobs don waste your money on name brand on

battery

My Sterlingtrek 511 were longer lasting and better holding a charge than my Canon ones. However the chipped

Sterlingtrek I bought for my 5D2 behaves like an old worn battery. So you roll the dice...

<p>-1 Sterlingtek<br>

I've been searching for a decent third party battery without success. After combing the forums and reading all the glowing reviews of Sterlingtek, I bought a battery for my Sony A100. The battery arrived in an extremely cheap looking box with no brand name. The battery itself looks cheap and has no brand name on it. It looks a lot like one of those .99 cent batteries on ebay. I charged the battery and it did not last very long. (this was a couple years ago, so I can't give the number of shots, etc.) I charged it again and it would not reach full charge on my Sony charger. After charging for 12 hours, I tried it again and again it died quickly. I'm baffled by all the positive reports of Sterlingtek. To be fair, my experience is based on a sample of one, and I never contacted Sterlingtek for a replacement. I bought another original Sony battery and never looked back.<br>

The best third party batteries I've used were Maxell BP-511 replacements on ebay. I bought several and they lasted about three years and they still work, but are getting tired. <br>

My conclusion is that unfortunately the only reliable battery for me is the factory originals. I have several Canon Powershot G2 era batteries that still work great in my 30D.</p>

<p>David Lindblom's experience reflects mine. After very little use the batteries failed to charge. The batteries were completly discharged when the charging attempts were made.</p>

 

<p>Thanks for all the advice. I guess in the end it's buyer beware on 3rd party, but at least worth trying a couple of the cheap ones.</p>