Guest BigSplash Posted January 24, 2010 Share #1 Posted January 24, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) I bought a M8 battery via Ebay (China) and after checking voltages etc I used it on my M8 without any issue. It has worked a treat and cost much less than the Leica one. Now after 6 months of usage as a backup it only shows a 25% charge level after a few hours of recharging......! My leica battery that came with the camera 6 months ago is working perfectly. I am intrigued as I have used cheap batteries for my Canon Video camera etc without issue, and frankly these days I have a view that most battereis come from the same supplier anyway (ie badge engineering). Have I just been unlucky or is this a common issue. I shall now go and buy a Leica sourced battery replacement but is this really sensible? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 24, 2010 Posted January 24, 2010 Hi Guest BigSplash, Take a look here M9 / M8 Battery. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
scott kirkpatrick Posted January 24, 2010 Share #2 Posted January 24, 2010 There have been other threads on this. Batteries do differ internally. Cells of varying quality exist, and the support/safety circuitry isn't always implemented or packaged in the sturdiest way. A group took apart all Olympus-compatible batteries a few years back and found considerable variation, with some of the batteries clearly undesirable. The manufacturer's batteries were not the only ones that seemed to be of good quality. I am not aware of such a study for Leica M8/9 batteries, but a price range from as little as $5 to over $100 indicates that they are probably not all equally reliable. scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Miller Posted January 24, 2010 Share #3 Posted January 24, 2010 Especially with smaller, more specialized batteries, there can been vast differences between OEM and 'compatible', 3rd-Party batteries. Having experienced 3rd-party battery failure extensively within the use of medium format digital backs (ie. Leaf, PhaseOne, and Hasselblad), I have found it to be cheaper in the long-run to stick withe OEM batteries. In addition, there can be issues with 3rd-party batteries in how the battery communicates to both the camera and charger regarding charge level, etc. I would assume there is some warranty consideration as well. however I am not 100% clear on Leica's policy with the use of 3rd-party batteries. Regards, J I bought a M8 battery via Ebay (China) and after checking voltages etc I used it on my M8 without any issue. It has worked a treat and cost much less than the Leica one. Now after 6 months of usage as a backup it only shows a 25% charge level after a few hours of recharging......! My leica battery that came with the camera 6 months ago is working perfectly. I am intrigued as I have used cheap batteries for my Canon Video camera etc without issue, and frankly these days I have a view that most battereis come from the same supplier anyway (ie badge engineering). Have I just been unlucky or is this a common issue. I shall now go and buy a Leica sourced battery replacement but is this really sensible? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted January 24, 2010 Share #4 Posted January 24, 2010 Frank, it's worth putting an ammeter in series with the battery and a voltmeter across it (the battery) and noting the reading of both every, say, 10 minutes while each type of battery is charged from fully discharged state. Plot power against time and integrate under the curve to find the total energy input into the battery during the charge cycle. You can then get a better idea of whether the "compatible" battery is exactly that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 25, 2010 Share #5 Posted January 25, 2010 Frank, the answer is simple: You get what you pay for... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_K Posted January 25, 2010 Share #6 Posted January 25, 2010 Though it's not related but there have been incidents in the past that some poorly made 3rd party battery toasted a mobile phone, or even "burnt" the user unfortunately. Sometimes this "economical" battery just don't worth the while, i remembered my boss bought some Dollar store "so-called new" battery that only last an hour on his Canon P&S :-( Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted January 25, 2010 Share #7 Posted January 25, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) Simply fully discharge the battery in the camera, IE leave the camera on overnight with the auto shut off turned off, then recharge it. You will find it now reads fully charged, 3 bars in a M8 and 100% in a M9, in the camera. To my knowledge all 3rd party batteies are missing a circuit that the OEM batteries have that allows the camera to read the battery has been fully recharged. Once it is fully drained and recharged the camera can then see it has a full charge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsrockit Posted January 25, 2010 Share #8 Posted January 25, 2010 All I know is that when I bought my M8 used it came with a third party battery and it sucked. It made my camera work all wacky... short battery life, corrupted SD Cards, play button would take 3 -4 presses to turn the LCD on. Bought a Leica brand battery and my M8 works flawlessly. I don't trust cheap batteries anymore. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted January 25, 2010 Share #9 Posted January 25, 2010 Thanks for the above advice. I shall certainly try fully discharging and then recharging to see if it is due to the monitoring circuitry not being included within a cheap battery. Jaapv I am not sure that the dictum "you get what you pay for" is helpful or correct. Is it not the case that various mfgs make filters that are as good as Leica supplied filters, which they do not make in anycase. !? Is it really true that Leica make their own batteries...somehow I doubt it. I would agree that Leica probably have the resources to impose strict quality checks on their battery supplier and I guess that is what I shall use going forward....unless someone knows of an aftermarket supplier that supplies a good quality product that has a reasonable operational life. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vish Posted January 26, 2010 Share #10 Posted January 26, 2010 No fan of TP batteries myself, having seen how little charge they hold and how long they last. Having said that, I cannot find a dealer with a genuine 14464 battery anywhere. Any ideas? I'm currently in San Francisco, am heading to Mexico on Wednesday, so quite desperate to get some more batteries Should I give in and order some fake-o batteries? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
michali Posted January 26, 2010 Share #11 Posted January 26, 2010 Frank, the answer is simple: You get what you pay for... I'm fully with Jaap on this. With all due respect to the OP why would you fork out a pile of money on an M8 and associated lenses and then skimp on batteries? The internet is full of horror stories of cameras and mobile phones that have been fried by third party batteries. The analogy of third party filters is not relevant to this discussion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted January 26, 2010 Share #12 Posted January 26, 2010 If you buy Leica batteries, you know that Leica have approved the source and the specification. If you buy third party batteries, you have no idea of the source nor what's in the box. It would be like buying an expensive yacht, mooring it in the South of France, and then buying a new set of sails from eBay, just to save a bob or two. There are certain things that are a false economy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted January 26, 2010 Share #13 Posted January 26, 2010 Its true that the internet is full of horror stories about third party batteries. But they do tend to be the same story repeated, and in reality even those stories are a tiny, fractional, miniscule, proportion of the total number of batteries sold and used successfully. And only recently on this forum we have had reports of OEM batteries not keeping charge for very long, so it can hardly be a case of 'you get what you pay for', with that or any other problem that comes with the M9...... FWIW I have a third party battery and it keeps charge just as well as my OEM batteries, but the frustration is that it needs fully discharging before re-charging it in order for the camera meter to work. Scott mentioned further up the thread the Olympus battery test, and the conclusion was interesting, the OEM battery was not the 'best', for performance or price. The winner was 'made' by Uniross, although its highly likely most batteries are made in an anonymous Chinese mega factory and branded according to inidividual spec and the so called OEM. I think we can be sure Leica don't have a battery factory hidden away anywhere can't we? So yes, some third party batteries can be dodgy, but I'd rather keep an open mind and not throw the baby out with the bathwater just yet. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 26, 2010 Share #14 Posted January 26, 2010 Hey guys. We are not talking about your favorite football team The position is quite simple: Buy a Leica battery and get one that is guaranteed to be up to the maker's specification, including a service organisation to fall back on, or buy a cheaper no-name one and regard it as a lucky dip. If you're lucky, fine, if not the low price means you have no recourse if the thing turns out to be cr*p. You can't have your cake and lie on it -or whatever. So yes, you get what you pay for. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted January 26, 2010 Share #15 Posted January 26, 2010 Hey guys. We are not talking about your favorite football team quote] I can't argue with that, but you know how it is, somebody asks about third party batteries and before you know it we get the 'mine is better than yours' discussion, just like talking about football. It happens all the time and isn't confined to batteries, somebody asks about buying a 28mm Summicron and you get somebody tell them just how superior his 28mm Summilux is in comparison. But to take your analogy further, I'd say the supporters of the budget non-league team can get as much satisfaction from a scrambled Cup goal against Manchester United as the Manchester United fans get from the perfect Rooney volley into the top corner. A goal is a goal in other words, just as a working battery is a working battery whether it has a Leica designer logo on it, or none at all. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted January 26, 2010 Share #16 Posted January 26, 2010 Jaapv uou raise an interesting point. Is it really the case that I can buy a Leica OEM battery and take it back to the dealer for a replacement in one, three, six, twelve, twenty four months as it does not retain its charge? If that is the case you are probably correct. Is there an official guarantee from Leica with respect to their batteries? I somehow doubt it ...unless it failed within maybe one week. I just examined my orignal OEM Leica battery and there is no serial number on it (just a part number), and no date of manufacture so I wonder how Leica could manage returns under guarantee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 26, 2010 Share #17 Posted January 26, 2010 Don't worry - of course there is a guaranty - just keep the receipt. I'm sure Leica can differentiate between normal wear and tear and a manufacturing flaw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BigSplash Posted January 26, 2010 Share #18 Posted January 26, 2010 Don't worry - of course there is a guaranty - just keep the receipt. I'm sure Leica can differentiate between normal wear and tear and a manufacturing flaw. Jaapv you did not mention how long Leica guarantee their battery products..! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted January 26, 2010 Share #19 Posted January 26, 2010 Whereas I would and do happily buy third party filters, as there is no chance of their damaging your camera, I will only buy OEM batteries. This is a case of once bitten twice shy. I bought a rechargeable 2CR5 battery for my son's 1.2 MP Canon digital and it melted inside the camera. Amazingly, the camera still worked - they don't make them like that any more ;-}} I just bought a 58mm 720 nM IR filter from HK, which cost $16 incl. P&P instead of a B+W one at $120. It works just fine and I was pleasantly surprised by its optical quality. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 26, 2010 Share #20 Posted January 26, 2010 Jaapv you did not mention how long Leica guarantee their battery products..!I'm sure you can call Stefan Daniel and ask... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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