Canon G2 battery pack

My Canon G2 BP-511 battery pack (7.4 volt, 1400 mAh) has died after
about five years of light use. Not a bad lifetime. I bought a
replacement today at London Drugs in Vancouver, BC for almost $60.
Curious, I did a Google search and ended up on eBay where there are
many offers of the same battery for less than US $10 including
shipping. Discount web stores also have similar deals. Should I be
wary of ordering these batteries (and returning the one I bought)? Am
I missing something, like the possibility of cheap knock-offs?

Bob

I've done it. Once. Never again. There made cheap. Case that held cells did
not fit camera very well. Sub-par life. Who knows. you may get lucky. Just
don't count on it.

wrote in message
...
My Canon G2 BP-511 battery pack (7.4 volt, 1400 mAh) has died after
about five years of light use. Not a bad lifetime. I bought a
replacement today at London Drugs in Vancouver, BC for almost $60.
Curious, I did a Google search and ended up on eBay where there are
many offers of the same battery for less than US $10 including
shipping. Discount web stores also have similar deals. Should I be
wary of ordering these batteries (and returning the one I bought)? Am
I missing something, like the possibility of cheap knock-offs?

Bob

wrote in message
...
My Canon G2 BP-511 battery pack (7.4 volt, 1400 mAh) has died after
about five years of light use. Not a bad lifetime. I bought a
replacement today at London Drugs in Vancouver, BC for almost $60.
Curious, I did a Google search and ended up on eBay where there are
many offers of the same battery for less than US $10 including
shipping. Discount web stores also have similar deals. Should I be
wary of ordering these batteries (and returning the one I bought)? Am
I missing something, like the possibility of cheap knock-offs?

Bob

I've been using BP-511 replacements from SterlingTek.com for several years
now with no problems.

Mark

wrote:
My Canon G2 BP-511 battery pack (7.4 volt, 1400 mAh) has died after
about five years of light use. Not a bad lifetime. I bought a
replacement today at London Drugs in Vancouver, BC for almost $60.
Curious, I did a Google search and ended up on eBay where there are
many offers of the same battery for less than US $10 including
shipping. Discount web stores also have similar deals. Should I be
wary of ordering these batteries (and returning the one I bought)? Am
I missing something, like the possibility of cheap knock-offs?

I have three Canon products that use the BP-511 (G2, 20D and a
camcorder). I buy BP-511 batteries from SterlingTek,
"http://sterlingtek.com/ln03-canon-bp-511-dlc511.html". They used to
give a slight price break when you bought two, but not any more (if you
buy 20 then you get them for $11 each!).

I have had no problems with their batteries that I can recall. I don't
really keep track of individual batteries. Some have gone bad over the
years, as Li-Ion batteries tend to do after four years or so.

I would avoid the eBay batteries from unknown sources.

" writes:
My Canon G2 BP-511 battery pack (7.4 volt, 1400 mAh) has died after
about five years of light use. Not a bad lifetime. I bought a
replacement today at London Drugs in Vancouver, BC for almost $60.
Curious, I did a Google search and ended up on eBay where there are
many offers of the same battery for less than US $10 including
shipping. Discount web stores also have similar deals. Should I be
wary of ordering these batteries (and returning the one I bought)? Am
I missing something, like the possibility of cheap knock-offs?

Yes, you might get something that's a cheap knock-off with poor
performance, even missing parts (e.g. a temperature sensor). Or you
might get something that's equal to or better than the official Canon
part.

It's pretty clear that Canon buys their batteries from someone else, and
makes a healthy markup reselling them as official Canon parts.
There's room for someone else to sell an equal-quality battery (possibly
even sourced from the same factory) for a lower price. But there's also
an incentive for someone to produce a much lower-quality battery, sell
it for somewhat less than the high-quality one, and make more profit.

When buying from ebay, I'd suggest buying from someone with a long
record of selling batteries and nearly 100% positive feedback. That's
someone who is likely to care about the quality of what they sell and
whether customers are happy.

Another alternative: buy locally. When I wanted a higher-capacity
battery for a Canon camcorder, I got it from a place in Richmond BC. It
was 1/3 to 1/2 the price of the official Canon one, and I got to look at
the battery in person before buying it. It looked decently made, and
has performed fine for 3 years so far.

Dave

I've been using BP-511 replacements from SterlingTek.com for several years
now with no problems.

Mark
-------------------------------------------

Ditto. Sterling Tek batteries have outlasted the original Canon Battery
purchased at the same time. Canon battery lasted about three years,
Sterling Tek's are still going strong after better than five years now.

DFS