Super Bargain Canon Replacement Battery?

I was just talking to a photo buddy who had purchased four of these Ultralast UL-BP511 Canon BP-511 Equivalent Digital Camera Batteries for only $2.49 each. He said the performance was excellent, and that opinion seems to be backed-up by 54 customer reviews on Amazon.

The battery looks just like the Canon brand (that sells for about $50 US), and has good specs. Could be a great deal. The only catch seems to be that it's only available in the US.

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3 Comments

Joe Rodricks | September 21, 2008 10:06 AM | Reply

Once in my life have I had a battery fire. It was on a knock-off replacement battery for my cellphone.

Every since then I've been very hesitant to use un-named batteries. Use at your own risk.

Sean Phillips | September 21, 2008 11:21 AM | Reply

I have been buying non-canon branded batteries for years and have never had a problem. My current faves are the Phottix brand, available on ebay for about $10 each including shipping costs. They are 1600 mAH and last almost 50% longer than the OEM's. I highly recommend them!

Derrick | September 21, 2008 11:29 PM | Reply

A regular TDS reader weighed in with the follow warning about 3rd party batteries: "We were told that only Canon batteries should be used in the XTi as 3rd party batteries may explode. Whether this was self serving on Canon's part or particular to the XTi or correct, I thought I'd give you a heads up. You may want to double check with Canon to see about using 3rd party batteries in their DSLRs."

Something to definitely keep in mind. The only thing about this particular battery is there are lots and lots of positive firsthand reviews of it on Amazon.

In the end, it's your camera, and your decision.