Customer Reviews

CANON Optura 10 Lithium-Ion Battery 1200 mAh (BP511)

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PLEASE DON'T BUY THIS BATTERY THINKING IT IS MANUFACTURED BY CANON as stated in the title and copy. It is made by some no-name company in China. This is clearly false advertising. Doesn't Amazon even review their 3rd party vendors ads for accuracy (and honesty)?

On the subject of after market lithium ion batteries: Please ask yourself how many recalls have you heard about lithium ion laptop batteries over the last several years? I personally can remember 5 different recall notices for batteries that have shorted and caused fires, or had the potential to do so. And these are ORIGINAL MANUFACTURERS like Apple and Dell. Imagine how poor the quality control is on a $7 or $12 camera battery made by some no-name company in China!

Lithium ion battery technology is not as stable as good old fashion NiCd or NiMH. Every lithium ion battery regardless of the manufacturer has the potential to have a "runaway reaction" during charging which can cause the pack to overheat and possibly start a fire. Almost all battery packs (even the cheap ones) have an onboard chip to automatically shutdown the battery in the event of overheating. The problem with the cheap $7 packs is how reliable is that shutdown circuit, and is it even present?

If you're going to spend upwards of $1000 for a camera (for the Canon 30D or 40D) at least have the common sense to buy a reputable brand of battery for it. It doesn't have to be the original Canon battery but at least buy one from a reputable aftermarket manufacturer. Even if you really play it safe and spend $45 for the original Canon battery it is only a measly 3% of the total purchase price of a $1500 camera! It will cost you hundreds of dollars to have your camera repaired if your cheap $7 battery fries your cameras sensitive electronics. And even if your camera is still under warranty Canon won't cover it if you use ANY aftermarket battery.

It's like anything else in life: you get what you pay for!