Customer Reviews

Canon BP511 1100mAh Lithium Ion Battery Pack for Select Digital Cameras and Camcorders

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This battery came with my Canon G2 digital camera about 18 months ago and it was very reliable and gave me a couple of hundred shots on a single charge. I bought two additional ones to "be safe" as I was taking a two week cruise of Europe and didn't want to be caught short on power (this was about a year ago). It was not a problem as I rarely needed more than one battery on a day's shoot.

But I have found that the three batteries are weakening with continued use and charging. I just came back from a vacation in Hawaii and was finding that I was going deep into a second battery on most days, even though I wasn't taking any more pictures than on my previous trip. I charged up all of my batteries to shoot fireworks for the July 4th celebration and went through one battery very quickly (about 15 minutes) and almost drained a second in another 20 minutes. I think the constant recharging of the batteries have taken a huge toll on them now and they are on their last legs.

Given that these batteries aren't cheap, I was hoping they'd last another year or two, but I think that isn't going to be the case. I think some other reviews are bearing this out as well. But when these batteries are at full strength, they are pretty good and reliable. But it looks like that only for a finite amount of time. So if you are getting a Canon product that uses these batteries, you better have at least two on hand and be prepared to have to replace them at some point in he future.

After using the BP-511 that came with my Canon G1 for about 18 months the battery no longer holds its charge. I've used the battery extensively - from a trip to Europe (800+ pictures) to an Alaskan cruise (1000+ pictures) - so I would say I got my money's worth from it.

btw cold weather will severely affect the performance of the battery. I tried shooting pictures at below freezing temperature and the BP-511 lasted only about 10 pictures. Just an FYI

Good battery. But the price here isn't competitive. Also, Maxell makes a substitute battery of similar quality that retails for $15 to $20 less.

The BP-511 came with my Canon G1 some years ago. The BP-512 came with my Canon camcorder. Both appear to be the same battery. Same life, compatible with each other. It lasts about an hour in the camcorder, all day on the digital still camera. It's really convenient to be able to use the same batteries in both cameras.

There are non-Canon versions of this battery that are both cheaper and have a greater capacity. I have used both the name-brand Canon batteries, brand-name replacements, and OEM (no-name) compatible batteries. All are rated at about 1,000 charge cycles, which works out to about 1-1/2 to 2 years of service life.

The brand-name Canon battery is still going; I have had to replace the others. I can't decide if it is because the Canon battery was better quality, or because I tended to use the OEM batteries more because of their greater capacity.

I bought this battery to have as a backup for the identical one that came with my Canon Powershot G5. The battery is fabulous. I've always been very displeased with the shooting capacity of digital cameras in general - they would run out of battery in a very short time. This battery was one of the deciding factors for me buying a Canon Powershot G5. According to a test on dpreview, it's the best performing battery (when used in the G3) out there for any digital camera (at the time of testing).

I've taken a few thousand pictures with it so far, and I'm very pleased. When using the LCD display for a mix of movies and pictures (on my G5), I get around 600 pictures out of one fully charged battery. I've never completely "emptied" the battery with the LCD screen off (preview only), but based on my experience so far, I would think that you'll get somewhere between 600-1000 pictures out of one fully charged battery - maybe more - when the LCD is not on all the time. If you take a lot of pictures (I can easily take 500 on a weekend trip), I would still recommend buying an extra battery though. I'm panicked about ever running out of battery (or memory) while I'm shooting.

Should you buy a cheaper non-Canon brand equivalent battery? I've not tried an equivalent for the BP-511, but I've got a DigiPower equivalent for my Canon Powershot S200 (Elph II), and it's crap. I would never buy and equivalent for my G5 camera, because in my experience, it's quite apparent that you get what you pay for.

Pros:
* Extremely good capacity - 500-1000 pictures on one charge with normal use.
* Charges relatively quick in my G5 - about 90 minutes

Cons:
* Very heavy. It'll weigh down your camera, but for the capacity it provides, I personally think it's worth it.

Conclusion: It's a very good battery - capacity is fabulous. I've had no problems with it - it doesn't overheat, it doesn't stop working, and so far after about 6 months of operation, I've noticed no drop in capacity. I give it an unconditional 5 stars!!!

I have had my G2 two and 1/2 years and have only recently had to replace the BP511 due to short cycles. During most on its life the battery made me complacent with its ability. I did notice when reading the instruction sheet that came with the new one that it says leaving the battery fully charged for extended periods can damage it. I may have done this to mine and shortened its life. I now will leave the new one discharged until a trip or other occasion is planned and keep the old one charged as my standby battery for the unplanned shot. The camera can be used to drain the battery after use for storage by going in the menu settings and turning off the auto power down mode.

I used my Canon G1 for a full day of shooting at a Southern California carshow. I took over a 100 shots with flash and LCD on. Without using flash and LCD, I could of easily taken more than 200 shots. I just ordered a second battery so I could take tons of pictures without worrying about the first battery dying. I highly recommend this battery!

I have bought third party batteries for a variety of electronic devices over the years, and have learned that there is a price paid in performance cuts that more than makes up for any discount in actual cost. These Canon batteries are more expensive than the hundreds of third party alternatives, but it's because they are the best batteries you can buy for your camera. Highly recommended. I bought one a year ago and it still works like it's brand new.

This is an excellent product and works in the canon G1, G2, and the D30 - I have a G2 and D30 and exchange batteries at will - caution, do not charge these batteries (Li-ion) unless they are run down completely - not to be confused with nicad's but these will go south if you top them off i.e. they are 1/2 charged and you have a habit of fully charging them. Either run them down or get a battery cycler.

sometimes the charger says the battery has recharged too soon and it is a false reading. never completely sure of the charge