Generic batteries

[Charles_Boileau]

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Hi,

 

I just found this website that seems to sell some kind of M8 and M9 generic batteries for very cheap (compared to Leica products)

 

I was wondering if anyone had used these batteries with the M9... At this price it's a real bargain, but I don't want to waste my money...

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks!

Edited March 9, 2015 by admin

[M. Valdemar]

They will work fine, but your camera probably won't report accurate state-of-charge data in the menu.

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[tele_player]

I've got several no-name batteries for my M9. Yes, they work fine WHEN THEY WORK. Other times, I'll put a fully charged battery in the camera, and the camera will refuse to operate. Sometimes, pressing some buttons will get it working, other times nothing helps but to install a genuine battery.

 

I wish there was a good alternative to Leica's overpriced batteries, but there isn't.

 

 

They will work fine, but your camera probably won't report accurate state-of-charge data in the menu.

[Bill W]

There are folks here that have had good luck with non-Leica batteries. Personally I would rather use only official Leica batteries simply because if something went wrong and it was the battery that was at fault I am not sure if Leica would honor any warranty. Also, it seems crazy to save a few dollars on a battery for a camera that cost several thousand dollars.

[Charles_Boileau]

There are folks here that have had good luck with non-Leica batteries. Personally I would rather use only official Leica batteries simply because if something went wrong and it was the battery that was at fault I am not sure if Leica would honor any warranty. Also, it seems crazy to save a few dollars on a battery for a camera that cost several thousand dollars.

 

I understand very well what you are saying... But I bought my M9 with allot of hard work an dedication. So buying a 150$ battery is allot of money for me. This is what I was afraid of, but I've never experienced a battery breaking a camera. I wouldn't mind the battery not working perfectly for 20$ but I would of course mind a battery breaking my 6000$ camera!

 

Thanks

[jaapv]

There are no substantiated reports of a third-party battery wrecking an M camera,so that is rather unlikely, but it cannot be ruled out, of course.

However I consider them a waste of money. Chances are they will not work properly under the latest firmware.

Edited October 29, 2012 by jaapv

[NikonJeff]

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I understand very well what you are saying... But I bought my M9 with allot of hard work an dedication. So buying a 150$ battery is allot of money for me. This is what I was afraid of, but I've never experienced a battery breaking a camera. I wouldn't mind the battery not working perfectly for 20$ but I would of course mind a battery breaking my 6000$ camera!

 

Thanks

 

I had purchase the Flashpoint replacement batteries for the M8/M9 from Adorama and they seemed to work fine in the M8. When I used them in my M9 hey would only register a full charge *if* I discharged them COMPLETELY in the M9 and then fully charged them. This worked but it was a real PITA.

 

I just got another Leica battery as I don't want to chance one of the batteries crapping out when I need it - piece of mind...

[roydonian]

Perhaps the best way of thinking about batteries is to consider them as the digital equivalent of film and processing.

 

On my recent holiday, I took about 900 photos. In the days when I shot film, that would have worked out as 25 36-exposure cassettes. At today’s prices, the cost of buying this amount of my favourite slide film and having it processed and mounted would have been around £375.

 

Compared with this equivalent cost, a reusable Leica battery at £75 does not seem a major investment. So I'm happy to stay with the full-price battery.

 

Best regards,

 

Doug

[Bill W]

Perhaps the best way of thinking about batteries is to consider them as the digital equivalent of film and processing.

 

On my recent holiday, I took about 900 photos. In the days when I shot film, that would have worked out as 25 36-exposure cassettes. At today’s prices, the cost of buying this amount of my favourite slide film and having it processed and mounted would have been around £375.

 

Compared with this equivalent cost, a reusable Leica battery at £75 does not seem a major investment. So I'm happy to stay with the full-price battery.

 

Best regards,

 

Doug

 

I had not thought of it that way but a good analysis. I would add the drive to go to my local dealer and back again to pick up the processd film. I have no urge to go back to film. I have too many drawers of slides I really need to get scanned.

[250swb]

The batteries Leica sell are cheap to make. The price they charge makes them expensive. Leica batteries come out one door, the generic ones come out the other.

 

Steve

[tele_player]

True, but the ones Leica sells work correctly, and the cheap generic ones do not work correctly.

 

I wouldn't mind if Leica priced their battery at 3x the price of the knockoffs, but 8x seems excessive.

 

-robert

 

The batteries Leica sell are cheap to make. The price they charge makes them expensive. Leica batteries come out one door, the generic ones come out the other.

 

Steve

[michali]

I've always used the Lieca batteries with my M8s and then with the M9s.

 

My one experience with generic batteries was a disaster:

I recently purchased a Hasselblad CFV50 Digital Back. For some bizarre, crazy reason, after paying upwards of EUR10, 000- for this piece of kit, it comes with no battery!

My dealer thought he was doing me a favor and threw in a no name generic battery. He didn't have the recommended Sony batteries in stock. I tried the battery once and immediately binned it- I couldn't get more than an hour's use out of it which was also accompanied by all sorts of erratic behavior from the CFV50.

 

I bought the Sony batteries which are recommended by Hassleblad and I'm getting +4 hours use out of them with no issues.

 

There's a very valid reason you pay more, it's not just branding.

Edited October 30, 2012 by michali

[roydonian]

I had not thought of it that way but a good analysis

I learned the hard way the implication of processing costs following a visit to a European town where I discovered that an ornate mediaeval-themed religious procession was due to take place on the following day. The event was not on the tourist calendar, so I was able to get a good vantage point, and take a lot of pics.

 

Facing a processing bill of several hundred pounds on my return home, I opted to wait until next month… and the next month …. and eventually stored the exposed film in the back of the refrigerator to await when I’d have the time and money to get the job done. The long-forgotten films were still there when I cleaned out the refrigerator after it finally died some eight years later.

 

 

I wouldn't mind if Leica priced their battery at 3x the price of the knockoffs, but 8x seems excessive.

Nikon and Canon batteries for top-of-the-range cameras are not exactly cheap either.

 

Best regards,

 

Doug

[Charles_Boileau]

Thanks for all the infos! I finally went in between and got a brand new Leica battery on ebay for 100$

 

Thanks

[250swb]

I

 

There's a very valid reason you pay more, it's not just branding.

 

Yes, in the Leica battery for instance there is a bit more circuitry that makes the battery level indicator work properly. But its not a super computer they put in there. Camera manufacturers go to battery makers and specify a battery that is made to combine with their camera. So they can ensure that only the specified batteries work at every level on the camera it is designed for, and they can further limit this with the Firmware. So if they choose to go down that path and without actually paying very much more for a few wires the manufacturers can milk the market when it comes to supplying often under powered batteries. This forum is a cauldron of insecurity involving money and being desperate to do the right thing, but if Leica charge the same markup on camera's and lenses as they do on batteries, and why wouldn't they, how do you feel now?

 

Steve

[michali]

Yes, in the Leica battery for instance there is a bit more circuitry that makes the battery level indicator work properly. But its not a super computer they put in there. Camera manufacturers go to battery makers and specify a battery that is made to combine with their camera. So they can ensure that only the specified batteries work at every level on the camera it is designed for, and they can further limit this with the Firmware. So if they choose to go down that path and without actually paying very much more for a few wires the manufacturers can milk the market when it comes to supplying often under powered batteries. This forum is a cauldron of insecurity involving money and being desperate to do the right thing, but if Leica charge the same markup on camera's and lenses as they do on batteries, and why wouldn't they, how do you feel now?

 

Steve

 

Speaking from a purely personal perspective; no insecurity and no desperation at all. Just very comfortable in the decisions I make regarding what I spend relative to what works best and with the least hassles for me.

[erl]

I frequently see quoted on the forum comments like, "if you can afford a $xxxxxx camera you should be able to afford the batteries (or whatever)."

 

Well that is pure bunkum, usually coming from those who have never known the hardship of saving and skrimping to achieve a major purchase.

 

I have (more than) my share of leicas and am very fortunate that at the time of purchase I could afford them and they also paid for themselves. I am no stranger to Leicas pricing but I do join the cry of 'foul' when it comes to the apparent price gouging they apply to battery pricing. Recently, I was forced to buy two after market batteries, simply because I did not have the disposable dollars to buy the official batteries. That is pure pragmatism. The batteries work fine and do come with a 12 month warranty. The issue, a common one, is that they need to be fully discharged each time before recharging to be effective.

 

I have every confidence that the batteries are fine and safe to use, but are missing that extra bit of circuitry that Leica specify to "talk" to the camera clearly. I am prepared/need to suffer that for $20, versus $150 for genuine batteries. I will always maintain at least one genuine battery per camera, but that is all. When the cost is high but good value, I will go along with it, but a rip off does not appeal when it is so obvious.

[erl]

Perhaps the best way of thinking about batteries is to consider them as the digital equivalent of film and processing.

 

On my recent holiday, I took about 900 photos. In the days when I shot film, that would have worked out as 25 36-exposure cassettes. At today’s prices, the cost of buying this amount of my favourite slide film and having it processed and mounted would have been around £375.

 

Compared with this equivalent cost, a reusable Leica battery at £75 does not seem a major investment. So I'm happy to stay with the full-price battery.

 

Best regards,

 

Doug

 

An interesting POV Doug, but I suggest it is inaccurate wrt to comparison. With your film era example, the cameras lasted 'forever', you did not need a computer and specialized software to maintain your habit. In fact your processing costs were the only out of pocket expenditure, and mostly very moderate, especially doing it yourself.

 

OTOH, digital photography demands you regularly upgrade your computer and software, none of which is cheap. Your camera will obsolete itself faster and demand an expensive replacement. Overpriced batteries do not compensate for any of this. They simply massage the habits of Leicas pricing policy.

[pico]

The issue, a common one, is that they need to be fully discharged each time before recharging to be effective.

 

What would be useful is a charger that would drain the battery before charging it - at the option of the user.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[bybrett]

What would be useful is a charger that would drain the battery before charging it - at the option of the user.

 

Best idea I've heard put it in the Solms M Suggestion Box!