Generic Batteries

[AB]

Being the muppet I am, I managed to leave my battery charger (for my EOS 500d) in a hotel room somewhere and therefore need to replace it.

Loads of generic batteries on eBay, some of them coming with chargers, for a decent price.

Spending £10 on a battery with a charger and car charger seems wrong...

Granted, I'm not expecting the same quality/performance as OEM but I'd not expect them to blow up or damage my camera?

What do I need to be aware of?

[Glosphil]

Three years ago I bought 3 generic batteries for my Canon 400D for a total of £11.99 and myself and two friends, who also have 400Ds, have used them as spares every since. None of us have seen any problems whatsoever. I think I bought the batteries from www.7dayshop.com .

[AB]

Any issues with charging the OEM battery with the charger the other batteries come with?

[markmullen]

I ran generic np-e3s on my 1 series from 7dayshop for years without issue.

I've got a few Hama ones for my 5D3, other than a warning when I put them in they work fine.

For a charger have a look at the Delkin dual charger, it's a bit pricier than no brand Chinese stuff but uses changeable plates so you could have two camera batteries charging, or one camera and a set of AAs or whatever. It comes with a 12v connector too though I've never tried that as I've got 240v in my truck.

[LongQ]

Likewise my experience with batteries has been good.

I'm slightly less convinced about chargers though, especially the very cheapest. I suspect they may not last long and that could be inconvenient. On the other hand the manufacturer's original units tend to be ridiculously expensive by comparison. Somewhere in between should be about the right place to invest.

[JulianHJ]

I have a couple of additional chargers for my 5D2, and a bunch of 3rd party batteries for some LED lights. The charger quality is definitely 'cheap', but they do the job.