Are 1800mAh clones of Sony NP-FM55H battery for A100 any good?

[paul_de_ley]

Does anyone have positive experience with some of the newer knockoff batteries

for the A100, and if so who did you buy them from? The original Sony NP-FM55H

battery is rated at 1600 mAh while some of the newer clones are rated 1800 mAh -

does that mean the better among these clones might actually hold charge for more

pictures/flashes/time than the original?

[mattbarber]

I don't know from experience, but, if anything, I've heard that the clones do NOT hold their charge as long as the Sony branded version.

 

Also, my own experience with rechargeable batteries in general would suggest to me that the mAh rating does not speak to longevity of the charge, but merely to peak or sustained output.

 

As I say, I don't have any personal experience with the clone-batteries, but I wrote all of the above because my inclination is to caution you against buying a clone.

 

Do you really need a battery that lasts longer? I get hundreds of shots (with and without flash) out of mine. Maybe you have a bad battery?

[steve_c.5]

Paul, you had asked me a question in another thread about this. I got my knockoff batteries for the A100 thru an Ebay reseller, Gadget Infinity, or something like that. Just do an Ebay search for A100 batteries and see what comes up. Mine run just fine, as well as my OEM battery. They were really cheap and arrived vis USPS mail delivery from overseas.

[paul_de_ley]

Thanks Matt and Steve, I'm asking because I haven't bought a backup battery yet and I'm mainly shooting wildlife pictures. Even though the genuine sony battery lasts so long I just know it will run out exactly when that ivory-billed woodpecker (for example - just dreaming here) shows off right in front of the lens.

 

So I wouldn't want to find my backup battery to have lost charge when I do need to swap power out in the brush.

 

I have an hp point-and-shoot that takes rechargeable AAs, and with that one I've found that 2500 mAh AAs hold their charge more than twice as long (when not in use) as 2200 mAh AAs from the same brand. Could just be due to other improvements in the design, of course.

[mattbarber]

Ah, I see. For a backup battery, a clone would probably be fine, because you're concerned less with how long it goes in use, than how long it lasts in storage.

 

In theory, the higher mAh batteries _should_ hold their charge longer. They should power the camera longer, too, assuming their output rate is the same as the Sony battery (but that is what I doubt). Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the clone batteries _require_ the higher mAh capacity in order to match the longevity of the Sony.

 

I should say, in any case, we're talking about Li-ion batteries here, so they should last quite a while in storage. Far longer than a NiMH battery, at any rate.

[steve_c.5]

Yes, the thing to remember about rechargables is that Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries lose their charge just sitting around, like Ni-Cads. They lose quite a bit of charge, as a matter of fact, so you have to keep them up.

 

Lithium Ions maintain their charge much better.

[paul_de_ley]

I've followed both your suggestions combined and bid on a supposedly genuine sony battery in sony packaging on ebay, am quite pleased that it ended at $25 incl s&h, let's see how genuine it looks when it arrives. Thanks again for your help!