50D Battery Life???

[Sean Setters]

<span style="font-size: medium;"]I just finished my 5-day LA trip and got back home. I took my 50D with grip and TWO fully charged Canon like new genuine batteries with me. The camera has taken about 600 pictures, no live view used. There're some picture review time on the camera with LCD brightness set to 7, no continuous shooting and almost no flash use, little IS usage which can be ignored. But the batteries are now dead.


<span style="font-size: medium;"]How come a single BP511A battery on the 50D is said to have 640 shots of capacity? I don't see any majoy difference between the way I use the camera and the way anyone else does. Is any one here getting the battery life that Canon has claimed? It seems that I get the claimed battery life with 2 batteries.


<span style="font-size: medium;"]Any thoughts welcome.


<span style="font-size: medium;"]Ben
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Don't use the LCD screen or flash at all and see what the result is. I bet it'd be close to their estimate. Just pick up a couple of cheap 3rd party batteries. I've been using 3rd party batteries for some time now and they work just fine. That way you've always got a spare, and it doesn't cost you a fortune.

[Oren]

Just pick up a couple of cheap 3rd party batteries. I've been using 3rd party batteries for some time now and they work just fine. That way you've always got a spare, and it doesn't cost you a fortune.
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I disagree. Stay away from 3rd party batteries for anything - let alone 3rd batts for your $1200 50D.

[Sean Setters]

Just pick up a couple of cheap 3rd party batteries. I've been using 3rd party batteries for some time now and they work just fine. That way you've always got a spare, and it doesn't cost you a fortune.
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I disagree. Stay away from 3rd party batteries for anything - let alone 3rd batts for your $1200 50D.
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In my personal experience, as long as the batteries are made for the camera you have, and you aren't getting the batteries from ebay, and you're buying from a fairly reputable source, there's no problem with 3rd party batteries. I run two Opteka batteries in my 50D all the time. I ran Opteka batteries in my XTi without incident (as well as other manufacturers' batteries). The only reason to buy the overpriced Canon batteries is that if there was a problem, then Canon couldn't point the finger at the 3rd party batteries. It's a risk I'm willing to take.

[btaylor]

I'vebeen using both 3rd party (Flashpoint I think)and genuine Canon batteries for ages now and I've haven't had any issues either way. As Sean said, as long as their designed for your particular camera there's no reason why you would have issues.


At the end of the day Canon would recommend the sole use of their genuine batteries for a couple of major reasons.


1. So they can charge customers an extortionate price for a battery (accessories surely make up alarge part of their cashflow) and;


2. To cover their own backsides in the case of a warranty/ service claim.


Obviously this is just my opinion but my experience with 3rd party batteries has been just fine.

[peety3]

With my long-gone Minolta 7D, I tried some aftermarket batteries. Battery graph would go from full to dead in the blink of an eye. Having the camera turn into dead weight is a royal PITA, so I buy genuine batteries. I've also heard of people having camera problems when using an off-brand vertical grip - there's another example of off-brand being a bad choice.

[Benjamin]

My personal experience is to have AA batteries instead of any other 3rd party BP511As. Since the BG-E2N comes with an AA magazine, I always load 6 fully charged AAs inside and carry it around. I also have back up AAs, for both my cameras and the flash units. Alkaline AAs are also easy &amp; cheap to buy when there isn't any handy power for charging the BP511, though they don't last too long for digital cameras it's better than nothing when I'm out of power.


Since I have to carry AAs for my flash unit anyway, I'll just use AA for alternative camera power supply. I assume it makes sense.

[Keith B]

Were you using lenses with image stabilizers? I notice my battery runs down a lot quicker when I am.

[Mark Elberson]

Just pick up a couple of cheap 3rd party batteries. I've been using 3rd party batteries for some time now and they work just fine. That way you've always got a spare, and it doesn't cost you a fortune.
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I picked up an Adorama Lithium-Ion Replacement for the Canon BP-511A and it seems to perform about as well as my Canon OEM and for $19.95 instead of $49.95!