[Peter E]

Has anyone had any experiences, or issues, with Amazon replacement batteries, which can be picked up for a fraction of the prices charged by manufacturers like Sony for their replacement batteries. Like maybe £11 against £70 from Sony.

It's not really clear if the Amazon batteries are genuine replacements, or copies (which seem most likely) or even refurbished, though the latter seems unlikely.
My worry is that are they going to be reliable and stable, like in the voltage output for example. I may be worrying over nothing but it seems to me that it would only take too higher a current to seriously damage the cams delicate chips!
Has anyone had any problems of this nature with Amazon's batteries. Or any good comments regarding stable reliable use?
I did purchase one a while back for a Panasonic TZ2, which has since developed problems, but there is no way of knowing if this is linked to that new battery or not, but does present a slight worry when it comes to my Sony A58!

Pete.

[Peter E]

Seems I have my own question here folks, by going into customer reviews for the Amazon battery I was interested in. Seems there are huge problems experienced by lots of people. That the batteries refused to charge a second time, but more importantly, it seems that Sony cams can detect a fake! and prevent it's use. As one customer put it, he was annoyed with Sony for this but if it prevents his camera being damaged, so be it.
Lets hope Sony continue to produce genuine batteries for each cam well into the future, Otherwise where would we be if they should become unavailable!

[EdMak]

I use cheap look alike's with a290, with no problems. Ed.

[PhotoPlay]

Nowadays brand models try to minimize the use of other brands of their item accessories. I are one of the users who use cheaper but reliable accessories. But today other third brand parties are also been compromised by fake items. Sad

[Peter E]

I use cheap look alike's with a290, with no problems. Ed.

Hi Ed, Thanks for that. Are you getting your cheap look alikes from Amazon outlets, or elsewhere?
I bought a Jessops battery for an Olympus ages ago and it was excellent, still going in fact, but, sadly, Jessops don't seem to cater for SONY batteries. It would be useful to know of any other reliable sources for lookalikes.

As a completely separate matter Ed, as another Sony user you may also have this problem, and maybe found a way around it.
I have just got the A58 (My first Sony cam) and it's brilliant, I love it. But I don't love the fact that I can't find a way of deleting photos en-mass. I have to go painstakingly through the process with each separate photo, rather than being able to delete the lot from the card in one hit! A real pain if you are like me and sometimes snap lots of shots, to pick out the best. Do you know a way around it?

Pete.

[Peter E]

Nowadays brand models try to minimize the use of other brands of their item accessories. I are one of the users who use cheaper but reliable accessories. But today other third brand parties are also been compromised by fake items. Sad

Yes seems to be the case, made all the more difficult by not knowing which to go for, and which to avoid at all costs. It would appear from others comments, and shutter friends I have spoken too, that the matter of SONY Cams rejecting the lookalikes may not be an issue after all. Just people having problems with rubbish batteries, as you say.

Pete.

[EdMak]

My 17" Sony Laptop rejected look alike batts, the "cure" was to stop an .exe file loading on startup. Took a bit of figuring out. Personally I think it is wrong that this is allowed, it should be dealers choice. Ed.

[Peter E]

My 17" Sony Laptop rejected look alike batts, the "cure" was to stop an .exe file loading on startup. Took a bit of figuring out. Personally I think it is wrong that this is allowed, it should be dealers choice. Ed.

Amazing how that could happen Ed. Fortunately you spotted the cure. Pity that can't be done for a camera battery!

[Wall-E]

Has anyone had any experiences, or issues, with Amazon replacement batteries, which can be picked up for a fraction of the prices charged by manufacturers like Sony for their replacement batteries. Like maybe £11 against £70 from Sony.

It's not really clear if the Amazon batteries are genuine replacements, or copies (which seem most likely) or even refurbished, though the latter seems unlikely.
My worry is that are they going to be reliable and stable, like in the voltage output for example. I may be worrying over nothing but it seems to me that it would only take too higher a current to seriously damage the cams delicate chips!
Has anyone had any problems of this nature with Amazon's batteries. Or any good comments regarding stable reliable use?
I did purchase one a while back for a Panasonic TZ2, which has since developed problems, but there is no way of knowing if this is linked to that new battery or not, but does present a slight worry when it comes to my Sony A58!

Pete.

Unless they are branded and sold as OEM batteries, then they are (as you put it) 'copies'. They are usually referred to as 'third-party' or 'knock-offs'.
There is NO WAY a battery could damage a camera in the way you speak of. It CANNOT put out more voltage than designed. That's all limited by the camera itself.
As to it's lifespan, both in terms of pictures/charge, and how many charge cycles you get, that is a different matter.
Some of the 'third-party' batteries I've gotten for my Nikons, have actually been BETTER than the OEM (original equipment manufacturer), since battery technology is constantly changing/improving.
And some have been worse. But that's the chance you take buying a chinese knock-off. For less money.

If you're so concerned, spend the extra money and get the OEM. You spent at least $500 US for the camera, it's not that much more ($20-30) to buy the OEM over a knock-off. (Amazon knock-off, $13-20, Adorama/B&H OEM, $43)

Now, as to your *possible* battery caused camera problems. I *NEVER* only have one battery, or one memory card. I always have at least one complete set of spares for the camera body I'm using. And usually 2. That way I have troubleshooting supplies in case something goes wrong.

[Peter E]

Has anyone had any experiences, or issues, with Amazon replacement batteries, which can be picked up for a fraction of the prices charged by manufacturers like Sony for their replacement batteries. Like maybe £11 against £70 from Sony.

It's not really clear if the Amazon batteries are genuine replacements, or copies (which seem most likely) or even refurbished, though the latter seems unlikely.
My worry is that are they going to be reliable and stable, like in the voltage output for example. I may be worrying over nothing but it seems to me that it would only take too higher a current to seriously damage the cams delicate chips!
Has anyone had any problems of this nature with Amazon's batteries. Or any good comments regarding stable reliable use?
I did purchase one a while back for a Panasonic TZ2, which has since developed problems, but there is no way of knowing if this is linked to that new battery or not, but does present a slight worry when it comes to my Sony A58!

Pete.

Unless they are branded and sold as OEM batteries, then they are (as you put it) 'copies'. They are usually referred to as 'third-party' or 'knock-offs'.
There is NO WAY a battery could damage a camera in the way you speak of. It CANNOT put out more voltage than designed. That's all limited by the camera itself.
As to it's lifespan, both in terms of pictures/charge, and how many charge cycles you get, that is a different matter.
Some of the 'third-party' batteries I've gotten for my Nikons, have actually been BETTER than the OEM (original equipment manufacturer), since battery technology is constantly changing/improving.
And some have been worse. But that's the chance you take buying a chinese knock-off. For less money.

If you're so concerned, spend the extra money and get the OEM. You spent at least $500 US for the camera, it's not that much more ($20-30) to buy the OEM over a knock-off. (Amazon knock-off, $13-20, Adorama/B&H OEM, $43)

Now, as to your *possible* battery caused camera problems. I *NEVER* only have one battery, or one memory card. I always have at least one complete set of spares for the camera body I'm using. And usually 2. That way I have troubleshooting supplies in case something goes wrong.

Thanks Wall, for that useful information. You are not the only person now, to tell me that the camera regulates it's own voltage, so could not be damaged. I am happy with that one, which was my only real concern.
As far as longevity is concerned, well unless it's a real rubbish copy, I would think it should last as long as any other. Battery manufacturers should know what they are about.
Like you I need to have a spare Battery and card to hand at all times, which is why I am on the hunt for a spare battery for my new A58. As you say it wasn't exactly cheap! Genuine Sony batteries for it, here in England are an arm and a leg job. What is being offered on Amazon are far, far cheaper, especially the one that is marketed from America.
I don't know what you mean by an Adorama/B&H OEM. That is not a term I have ever heard before. Sounds interesting though.

Pete.

[EdMak]

Adorama/B&H, I take to mean American retailers, OEM, Original Equipment Manufacturer. Ed.

[Peter E]

Adorama/B&H, I take to mean American retailers, OEM, Original Equipment Manufacturer. Ed.

Hi Ed,
I understand OEM to mean that too, but it's a bit puzzling how any other manufacturer but Sony can call themselves Original Equipment manufacturers! bit of a contradiction in terms. Unless of course they actually manufacture them for Sony, and have a sideline in knocking them out cheaper which, on the face of it, would seem highly unlikely! I would have thought Sony would have had something to say about that, like breach of contract, not exactly in sony's best interests.
I will have to do a bit of web searching about this Adorama/B&H thing.
Pete.

[hoobaloo]

I use cheap look alike's with a290, with no problems. Ed.

Hi Ed, Thanks for that. Are you getting your cheap look alikes from Amazon outlets, or elsewhere?
I bought a Jessops battery for an Olympus ages ago and it was excellent, still going in fact, but, sadly, Jessops don't seem to cater for SONY batteries. It would be useful to know of any other reliable sources for lookalikes.

As a completely separate matter Ed, as another Sony user you may also have this problem, and maybe found a way around it.
I have just got the A58 (My first Sony cam) and it's brilliant, I love it. But I don't love the fact that I can't find a way of deleting photos en-mass. I have to go painstakingly through the process with each separate photo, rather than being able to delete the lot from the card in one hit! A real pain if you are like me and sometimes snap lots of shots, to pick out the best. Do you know a way around it?

Pete.

Why, if deleting all, do you not format the memory card?, regards, John

[dimercaprol]

I got a cheap substitute battery for my Sony Alpha 300 which is working as well as the original.

[Dean]

I won’t use Amazon in the UK because of the tax avoidance issues but I have always bought non original batteries for my cameras. I have had 2 Canon DSLRs and also have a small Nikon AW110 (waterproof.shockproof). The battery for the Nikon is a Duracell and the Canon are unbranded. Work just as good as the OEM and a fraction of the cost.

[Wall-E]

I use cheap look alike's with a290, with no problems. Ed.

Hi Ed, Thanks for that. Are you getting your cheap look alikes from Amazon outlets, or elsewhere?
I bought a Jessops battery for an Olympus ages ago and it was excellent, still going in fact, but, sadly, Jessops don't seem to cater for SONY batteries. It would be useful to know of any other reliable sources for lookalikes.

As a completely separate matter Ed, as another Sony user you may also have this problem, and maybe found a way around it.
I have just got the A58 (My first Sony cam) and it's brilliant, I love it. But I don't love the fact that I can't find a way of deleting photos en-mass. I have to go painstakingly through the process with each separate photo, rather than being able to delete the lot from the card in one hit! A real pain if you are like me and sometimes snap lots of shots, to pick out the best. Do you know a way around it?

Pete.

Why, if deleting all, do you not format the memory card?, regards, John

+1

The manufacturers recommend formatting the card in the camera EVERY time you download.
Not only does it clear out all the old images (kind of), it refreshes the FAT (File Allocation Table). The FAT has been known to become scrambled if all you do is continuously delete photos without formatting. If that happens, the card will do strange things, like lose or concatenate (merge together) images. Formatting the cards is covered on page 166 of your instruction manual.

http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/4459705111.pdf

If you REALLY don't want to do that, then the manual tells you how to delete all the images on page 154.

[Wall-E]

Adorama/B&H, I take to mean American retailers, OEM, Original Equipment Manufacturer. Ed.

Sorry about the jargon.

EdMak is correct.
ONLY the manufacturer can sell an OEM battery through whatever channels it desires. However, there are counterfeit camera parts, including memory cards, out there masquerading as the OEM/name brand.

[Phil Beastall]

I bought half a dozen unbranded batteries from 7dayshop for my Canon 400D. After 5 years or so use, they are still giving good service and last a good long time when charged. No problems at all. The only difference between these and the genuine Canon battery (apart from the name on the label) that I have noticed is that they have a slightly higher capacity. The thing you may want to watch out for is the camera warranty which doubtless has scary words about not being valid if a third party battery explodes taking out 3 city blocks as well as your camera .... well, something like that!

[EdMak]

Pete, I bought a twin pack, on eBay, sure the came from Hong Kong, for Sony a290, for £18, carriage paid, took about 3 weeks to arrive. That was 2 years ago, still OK, the Sony original, does no better or worse. Have also bought, eBay, about 7/8 various Laptop batteries via Hong Kong, certainly no complaints. The Sony original was about £80, if available, replacements, £19, and £26, just as good. Ed.

[Peter E]

I won’t use Amazon in the UK because of the tax avoidance issues but I have always bought non original batteries for my cameras. I have had 2 Canon DSLRs and also have a small Nikon AW110 (waterproof.shockproof). The battery for the Nikon is a Duracell and the Canon are unbranded. Work just as good as the OEM and a fraction of the cost.

Hi dean,
I didn't know there where any tax avoidance issues with Amazon! Problem is I don't know any other suppliers for the lookalikes but you obviously do. Can I ask what other outlets you may know, like where did you get your Duracell, unbranded ones from?
Pete.

[Peter E]

I use cheap look alike's with a290, with no problems. Ed.

Hi Ed, Thanks for that. Are you getting your cheap look alikes from Amazon outlets, or elsewhere?
I bought a Jessops battery for an Olympus ages ago and it was excellent, still going in fact, but, sadly, Jessops don't seem to cater for SONY batteries. It would be useful to know of any other reliable sources for lookalikes.

As a completely separate matter Ed, as another Sony user you may also have this problem, and maybe found a way around it.
I have just got the A58 (My first Sony cam) and it's brilliant, I love it. But I don't love the fact that I can't find a way of deleting photos en-mass. I have to go painstakingly through the process with each separate photo, rather than being able to delete the lot from the card in one hit! A real pain if you are like me and sometimes snap lots of shots, to pick out the best. Do you know a way around it?

Pete.

Why, if deleting all, do you not format the memory card?, regards, John

+1

The manufacturers recommend formatting the card in the camera EVERY time you download.
Not only does it clear out all the old images (kind of), it refreshes the FAT (File Allocation Table). The FAT has been known to become scrambled if all you do is continuously delete photos without formatting. If that happens, the card will do strange things, like lose or concatenate (merge together) images. Formatting the cards is covered on page 166 of your instruction manual.

http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/4459705111.pdf

If you REALLY don't want to do that, then the manual tells you how to delete all the images on page 154.

I would be only too happy to reformat the card,as you suggest and which I done with other cameras. but (Bear in mind this cam is very new to me as yet) a quick look into it's menus didn't obviously point to a card set up section! and as far as deleting all, definitely nothing on that under deletion, or the relevant section in my manual!
I am puzzled by the page references you give. you must have a different manual to me. I downloaded the pdf manual for this cam directly from Sony UK, to improve the paper one that came with the Cam. Not a huge difference but expanded a bit. However it only has 92 pages. You are obviously looking at a different manual completely! If it's for the A58 it's far superior to the pdf one I uploaded, and I need to obtain one. Don't know if you could send me a pdf copy by e-mail perhaps. or copy and paste pages 154 & 166, or even tell me how to obtain one for myself because the Sony web site only seems provide the one I downloaded.
Pete.

[Peter E]

I got a cheap substitute battery for my Sony Alpha 300 which is working as well as the original.

Thanks for that. More and more people telling me that regarding different Sony cams negates the original info I got from an Amazon review writer that Sony cams reject fakes. Doesn't seem to be the case at all.
Guess that was a bit of duff information....LOL

Pete.

[Peter E]

Pete, I bought a twin pack, on eBay, sure the came from Hong Kong, for Sony a290, for £18, carriage paid, took about 3 weeks to arrive. That was 2 years ago, still OK, the Sony original, does no better or worse. Have also bought, eBay, about 7/8 various Laptop batteries via Hong Kong, certainly no complaints. The Sony original was about £80, if available, replacements, £19, and £26, just as good. Ed.

Thanks Ed, I will have to examine, all the possibilities I can find online, they are obviously out there, and that sounds very promising. Must admit I didn't even think about e-bay as yet. The only time I have used them was years ago, when a friend once offered to use his account to obtain me spare battery and charger for a Nokia phone. It arrived very quickly, and at an unbelievably cheap price. The charger worked fine, but the battery didn't!! Rather coloured my view of e-bay a bit. To be fair though, that was only one isolated incident and supplier, and e-bay does seem to be 'in thing' now and very well spoken of. I will look into that one.
Pete.

[Dean]

I won’t use Amazon in the UK because of the tax avoidance issues but I have always bought non original batteries for my cameras. I have had 2 Canon DSLRs and also have a small Nikon AW110 (waterproof.shockproof). The battery for the Nikon is a Duracell and the Canon are unbranded. Work just as good as the OEM and a fraction of the cost.

Hi dean,
I didn't know there where any tax avoidance issues with Amazon! Problem is I don't know any other suppliers for the lookalikes but you obviously do. Can I ask what other outlets you may know, like where did you get your Duracell, unbranded ones from?
Pete.

Amazon is, I understand, one of those companies that says it UK sales are through another country and so doesn’t pay corporation tax on them in UK. Google it.
Duracell batteries are available direct from them at http://www.duracelldirect.co.uk . otherwise I just google “canon camera batteries”. There are lots of UK suppliers, but I expect the batteries are sourced overseas.

[Peter E]

I won’t use Amazon in the UK because of the tax avoidance issues but I have always bought non original batteries for my cameras. I have had 2 Canon DSLRs and also have a small Nikon AW110 (waterproof.shockproof). The battery for the Nikon is a Duracell and the Canon are unbranded. Work just as good as the OEM and a fraction of the cost.

Hi dean,
I didn't know there where any tax avoidance issues with Amazon! Problem is I don't know any other suppliers for the lookalikes but you obviously do. Can I ask what other outlets you may know, like where did you get your Duracell, unbranded ones from?
Pete.

Amazon is, I understand, one of those companies that says it UK sales are through another country and so doesn’t pay corporation tax on them in UK. Google it.
Duracell batteries are available direct from them at http://www.duracelldirect.co.uk . otherwise I just google “canon camera batteries”. There are lots of UK suppliers, but I expect the batteries are sourced overseas.

Great, thanks dean, I will try Duracell first.
I didn't know that about Amazon..interesting!

Pete.

PS. Just had a quick look on the Duracell web site, found what I was looking for very easily. 1 = £25 + p&P = £27.50 (brilliant)
OR: 2 at a discount and no p&p = £42.00 Even better.
Only thing, and there is always something isn't there! My battery says it's a 7.2 V 1600 mAh, whereas the Duracell Says 7.2 1400 mAh.
Strange there should be this small difference for a direct replacement isn't it! but worrying. I am not sufficiently well up on electrics, wonder if it matters.