Non-Leica M9 Battery Test

[chris_tribble]

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Have any of the bold experimenters tried this battery?

 

Replacement battery suitable for Leica M8, M8.2, M9, 14464 - AccuShop.at

 

Looks as if it might do the job...

 

Interested to hear - I only pay full wack for my M9s bodies because there's no alternative. With my Canon's I've used different batteries for less price for a long time - and had no problems.

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[lct]

Same for me but this ad doesn't state that the battery is recognized by the camera meter. It would be wise to presume that it is like ours i'm afraid but i would be delighted to be proved wrong.

[Washington]

The one thing on this that seems constant is if you recharge the battery when the

camera starts displaying the ‘’ low battery’’ message…. the recharged battery, FROM

THAT POINT, will not display full charge.

But, if you continue to use the battery (and ignore the warning) until the camera stops

working….. and recharge from there: it WILL show correctly on the camera scale.

[lct]

Yes exactly

[pico]

My opinion is that if I suspect that a Leica branded battery fails, then Leica will make good on the issue. Thtat is alll I need in the way of assurance, which obvites all the messy middle-men, and response time is immediae.

[Washington]

Pico,

That is not the issue here. The whole thing is about spending $30 as opposed to

$130. That’s all. And, for $30 I just don’t care. This is a plastic thing that stores

electricity.

[pico]

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Pico,

That is not the issue here. The whole thing is about spending $30 as opposed to

$130. That’s all. And, for $30 I just don’t care. This is a plastic thing that stores

electricity.

 

With respect, Washington, until I see a dump of the chip for the Leica battery beside a clone. I must remain skeptical, conservative. Until I see the comparisons, I just, must be, with respect, be a skeptic.

Edited April 30, 2011 by pico

[Washington]

Pico,

That’s fine buddy!!

As I said in the beginning this is only an experiment. Hell, I am just reporting

observations: I do not believe in telling anyone what they should do.

[M. Valdemar]

I now have three non-Leica batteries. One from Adorama for $29 and two different $15 eBay batteries from China.

 

I notice the same behavior. Battery life of the clones are all excellent.

 

 

The one thing on this that seems constant is if you recharge the battery when the

camera starts displaying the ‘’ low battery’’ message…. the recharged battery, FROM

THAT POINT, will not display full charge.

But, if you continue to use the battery (and ignore the warning) until the camera stops

working….. and recharge from there: it WILL show correctly on the camera scale.

[Washington]

As mentioned above I see no difference in the plastic molds of any of these batteries.

Leica or otherwise. My suspicion is they come from the same place…. I mean think how

much it would cost another company to tool-up to manufacture an inexpensive battery

for such a small market. I don’t think this would make financial sense.

Having said that, it is hardly unreasonable for Leica to have some way to insure one

uses their propriety battery because the profit is huge for them.

So, whatever I am doing is a ‘’work-around’’ I suppose. As far as the amount of juice

goes… the third party jobs seem as good or better.

[andybarton]

That's not the case on my D700. The Calumet brand battery lasts less than half the number of shots that the Nikon one does. It cops out at around 400 shots. It holds it's charge far worse in the bag, too.

[Washington]

Andy,

Yes, the same thing has happened to me with a couple off-band Canon batteries

I had to buy when I was out on the road. They were flat-out junk. It was no time at all

before they wouldn’t hold 1/2 the capacity. Cheers.

[Washington]

Oh, I also meant to say that this whole Leica off-brand try-out won’t be complete

until I see HOW LONG these batteries will put-out…. only time and use will answer

that.

[250swb]

… the third party jobs seem as good or better.

 

After following your experiments with great interest I resolved to mirror your tests up to a point and solder some wires to a bulb and run down my two third party batteries. Well OK, I know I have a bulb somewhere, but in the meantime I tested the batteries which I left fully charged nearly a year ago now. And they both show a full charge! Now I don't know how long Li-ion batteries keep their charge compared to others, but this seems to be considerably longer than my newer Leica brand batteries last 'in storage'.

 

Steve

[Washington]

Steve,

Now that’s interesting. From my reading up on Li-ion batteries I was told in several

places they have much less (I forget the right term) self-discharge than all other

rechargeables.

But, as they said, there there was some…. however small. What you say is very interesting,

indeed!

[satureyes]

That's not the case on my D700. The Calumet brand battery lasts less than half the number of shots that the Nikon one does. It cops out at around 400 shots. It holds it's charge far worse in the bag, too.

 

Old thread perhaps but same experience here. My Canon 1D mk IV battery just keeps on going over about 1500 shots. Calumet branded battery I get less than 500. Also discharges in my bag quickly. Fortunately the Canon battery is so good I rarely use the spare.

[pico]

The battery that was packaged with my M9 ceases to function when the Info button shows it at 50% charge. Disappointing. I cannot even drain it completely because it stops at that point. I will purchase another and we shall see how it works.

[jaapv]

You can drain it. Just push "set' when the battery low message is displayed and you can carry on shooting. In fact, if you do that until you have run it down it will probably be calibrated.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[tredlie]

This has been a long thread but the issue is probably still of some importance. Thus, I would like to add another data point.

I got from Amazon a noname battery. When I first popped it into the M9 it was not recognized, after taking it out and then sticking it in again, it was.

 

It did its job appropriately, but when I wanted to charge it, nothing happened. I need to add that in the process I dropped it on a tile floor, maybe it did not like it.

 

So I was left with just the original battery in Vietnam. When back I returned it and have now ordered another one.

 

Maybe, this works better.

 

we shall see.

 

Tred

[lucerne]

This has been a very useful thread. I always have back-up batteries but in the past have always used clones for any Canon body I've owned. The Leica - as we know - didn't appear to correctly respond to the clones. This thread has exposed a range of charging and message events which I have also experienced in the last month, but it has also been useful in establishing a charge/discharge process that seems to overcome the problems. Instead of sending back faulty batteries to China, I now have 6 working batteries for my M9.

 

I think its important to establish a source of batteries for digital Leica's because at some time in the future, it will be uneconomic for Leica to source and distribute OEM batteries. If that were to happen, the model would become unsupported and useless. The risk of obsolescence in the digital world is clearly growing. That's why I believe there's no ethical argument for avoiding the clone battery product, since OEM's (Leica) can and will stop the supply chain whenever they choose.

 

Thanks everyone, for contributing. Its a great example of the power of collaboration and crowd-sourcing.

Edited May 9, 2013 by lucerne
clarity