Spare camera battery - OEM or generic?

Hopefully title says it all.

Im very new to all this and have a Nikon D80 for which I am looking to buy a spare battery - should I pay top dollar for a Nikon battery, or would a generic same-size from some guy in taiwan do just as well? The generics seems to have the same rating as the Nikon battery (1500mAh), so does anyone know if they are just as good as the real thing? Or are there known problems with these things? (I.e. dont last as long, leakage, blowing up etc etc)

I know this isnt strictly an underwater-only question, but the added hindrance of being underwater whilst changing a battery means Id rather pay a few quid if Im going to get a better battery life from the thing.

Any opinions?

I use Canon G9's and have four OEM's and four generics (two each from different suppliers / manufacturers). So far I've not noticed any difference... What I would dearly like is a li-ion battery checker.

I use Canon G9's and have four OEM's and four generics (two each from different suppliers / manufacturers). So far I've not noticed any difference... What I would dearly like is a li-ion battery checker.

Same here ... in general, I have been very happy with generic camera batteries .... Most recently, I have used a generic battery as a spare to the OEM for my G9 with great success.

I'll sing to the same tune. No problems at all on my D60, 20D and SD630.

Well looks like its a thumbs-up for the guy from Taiwan.

Thanks people - you're always happy to help - it's appreciated.

I used 2 "high-power" 3rd part batteries in my G9.. But I noticed big differences compared to the original Canon batteries.

With the originals I can shoot about 120-140 minutes (flash on minimum),

3rd party won last 2 dives... they die after 80-100 minutes.

But bang for the buck, 3rd party are 10 euro for 2... Original 35 euro, go figure

When I bought a 2nd battery for my 50D, the sales person had to pick my up from the floor... 80 euros

In fairness I almost always swap out batteries after every dive, which may last 90-120 minutes. I havn't had any batteries die on me (touchwood) yet.

However, I was getting a nad paraniod recently. I was shooting topside and u/w at the recent extreme ironing world record and early morning topside temps were as low as -2 celcius. I found that freshly recharged batteries, which had been allowed to cool to ambient, died after 20 odd topside photos. So I resorted to stuffing a box of batteries around my 'nether regions' (lol) in order to generate sufficient pre dive warm to cope with the +5 celcius water temps.

I can't honestly say that the OEM's or the generics displayed any obvious differences in these extreme conditions (inside my pants...)

Still, what we need is an effective OEM li-ion battery condition checker. We have them for AA and AAA's (http://www.ztsinc.com/) so why not for camera, video, phone, etc. batteries?

I recently purchased two Canon 5D batteries. I quickly decided to go with the Canon batteries after I found them on Amazon.com for not too much more than the generic batteries... Maybe worth a look?

my cheaper generic battery in my nikon d300 often gives a false low battery reading, even when fully charged

ZTS manufacture an impressive range of battery checkers, i.e. NiMh and NiCd AA and AAA's. I've found them invaluable for checking strobe batteries and got the heads up on their kit from this forum.

Recently I spoke with ZTS in the US and asked if they had any ideas about a battery checker for li-ion camera and video battery packs. Yes they said, no problem and they could modify an existing unit to be 'battery specific'. For example, my G9 batteries are 7.4 volts (2 x 3.6 volt cells). ZTS can make a checker for me, for my Canon batteries for around 150 bucks and this bespoke checker will be battery specific. I'm inclined to buy one. 150 bucks to save a dive on a 5000 buck holiday... Its a bargain!!!

Anyone interested in making up an order?

Here's my experience as a Nikon user.

I bought a 3rd party battery as a backup and it sucks big time! I need to charge it at around 5 cycles until it performs half waay decent. I gave up on it and spent the premium money on a Nikon battery.

I would definately spend the money for a "real" battery, next time around.

/Erik

I have several SterlingTek batteries for my Canon 20D and 40D cameras. Price is a little over 10% of a Canon battery. Very happy with the batteries. I don't mind paying a fair price for OEM. But I hate getting screwed. So after market for me!

I've had a 20D with a blown power input circuit - almost certainly due to using a non-Canon battery. Given the price differential in batteries, the cost of cameras and the fact that warranties are voided if using an OEM battery causes problems, I stick to manufacturer's batteries personally. Some use electronics to assess charge state/procedure so using OEMs may not provide correctly charged batteries either.