Chinese Batteries ?

[sthan]

How reliable are those ?
za54 2X Battery For Leica M8 14464 Digital Camera - eBay (item 250239433871 end time Apr-28-08 05:20:17 PDT)

[cocker]

Originally Posted by sthan

How reliable are those ?
za54 2X Battery For Leica M8 14464 Digital Camera - eBay (item 250239433871 end time Apr-28-08 05:20:17 PDT)

Do you even need to ask?

[sthan]

Originally Posted by cocker

Do you even need to ask?

Yes :
http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-...tml#post564331

[Skippy Sanchez]

Originally Posted by cocker

Do you even need to ask?

what the hell does that mean, mr. crocker?

[Michael Tyler]

Mine won't charge. They charged once, provided adequate performance, and ever since then they'll charge for about a minute (the charger buzzes lightly while charging them) and then the orange charge light will go off and they stop charging.

All four ZA-54's exhibit the same behavior. But the Leica brand don't do this.

Anyone else seen this? Very, very frustrating. Would be even worse if they weren't so inexpensive to have bought.

[andybarton]

Originally Posted by Skippy Sanchez

what the hell does that mean, mr. crocker?

It means that a cheap battery will give you a cheap service. Or worse.

There are plenty of people here who blame their M8 woes on cheap batteries.

Spend £2,800 on a camera body and then scrimp on a £30 battery? Doesn't make sense to me.

[bill]

http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/spoil+the+ship+for+a+ha'pworth+of+tar.html

Regards,

Bill

[sthan]

Tina begs to differ :


Tina Manley vbmenu_register("postmenu_564345", true);
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Join Date: January 3rd, 2008
Location: Rock Hill, SC
Posts: 28


Re: These batteries are sh!t
I use those same batteries from Hong Kong all the time and have had no problems at all. I can't tell them from the Leica ones unless I read the small print on the battery. I have 10 Hong Kong ones and two Leica ones for my two M8's. I used to have problems with M8 batteries giving out after a few hours but lately they've been lasting for days. I have no idea why. I drain them completely and recharge overnight usually. The batteries are small enough that you can carry several back-ups so dead batteries shouldn't be a problem.

Tina
Tina Manley- powered by SmugMug

[MitchoIankov]

I have one and it behaves exactly the same as the original one. No problems. At that price even if it lasts only a year it is excellent.

[Hacker]

Originally Posted by MitchoIankov

I have one and it behaves exactly the same as the original one. No problems. At that price even if it lasts only a year it is excellent.

I have an original that behaves exactly the same as the copy one from a Leica M8 set. Happenned only last week. Charged once and that was it. Going to change it tomorrow.

[caparobertsan]

Hi it is all same Sxxxt! Even Leica original one. I bought 2 H&K one and one did no work so They sent me another one free. Actually performance is same as original one. I bought it because my dealer couldn`t get it soon enough. I paid 15 AUD and original one cost 100+ AUD. SO I am quite happy BUt I will always use original one but fake one is for back-up.

[chouhsin]

Originally Posted by andybarton

It means that a cheap battery will give you a cheap service. Or worse.

Andy, I am not quite aggree with you on this.

For my D2, I bought an additional Panasonic battery (for LC1) as a backup battery, much cheaper then Leica ones, and works great. I agree on the price of D2 > LC1 because of the service. But there's no reason Leica should charge us more on battery where there's no service.


Hsin

[vanhulsenbeek]

Originally Posted by andybarton

Spend £2,800 on a camera body and then scrimp on a £30 battery?

I afraid you managed to capture the whole of 'the human condition' in that very short sentence

[Gareth2]

They're terrible. Bought two, charged once then wouldn't recharge.

Sthan, why do you keep asking the same question? Go out and buy a couple and let us know how they perform.

[markgay]

If they are third party batteries and they damage the camera you may invalidate your warranty but that's a matter of choice. I guess you wouldn't tell Leica that you used third-party batteries.

However, I don't see the point in asking for reassurance.

Even if they have some label on them, there may be various manufacturers and levels of quality. You don't know.

Maybe that doesn't matter. Batteries are just commodities. Then why ask for reassurance?

Another idiom: You pay your money and you take your chance.

[sthan]

Why ask ?
Well, I thought it was a place to share tips too.
Now, I know : I won't use these.

[Tina Manley]

Well, I need lots of batteries when I travel and can't always recharge them. I've had ten of these for about a year and use them all the time. I've never had a problem with the Hong Kong ones. I couldn't afford 10 Leica batteries and two M8's!! I also use cheap after-market batteries in my Canon 5D and have never had a problem with those either. YMMV!

Tina
Tina Manley- powered by SmugMug

[RobertW]

I've got 2 of the ones from HK ebay for US$15 per battery . They work the same as the Leica "branded" ones at a fraction of the price! The vendor has very high ratings.

Best
Rob

[BrianP]

Originally Posted by andybarton

It means that a cheap battery will give you a cheap service. Or worse.

There are plenty of people here who blame their M8 woes on cheap batteries.

Spend £2,800 on a camera body and then scrimp on a £30 battery? Doesn't make sense to me.

Could not agree more.At about £3000 for an M8 and on average £2000 for a lens, why bother to try and save on Batteries.Its not that hard to do a deal on extra batteries when you buy the body.Have had no problems with the Leica branded batteries and also no problems with San Disk cards (extreme 3) as a point of interest.
Brian

[vanhulsenbeek]

Originally Posted by RobertW

The vendor has very high ratings.

Then the batteries must be good !