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 minutesCons:* 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!!! Canon BP511A 1390mAh Lithium Ion Battery Pack for Select Digital Cameras and Camcorders
This battery will give you about 500-1000 shots before going dead. Even if you use the flash often, it won't die easily!! You can always count on this battery, no matter how you use it. Highly Recommended for any level photographer!!
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Perhaps you bought an expensive Canon camera and you want an extra battery. Or possibly you bought a grip for your Canon Digital SLR and you need the required second battery. What do you do? Well there are two options, buy a Canon BP-511A. Or buy a competitor's battery like the Adorama BP-511 Lithium-Ion Battery Pack that Amazon lists as an alternative option.
The Canon battery performs well with Canon products. I have never had a Canon battery short out or over heat on me. Nor have I ever had any other problems with one. I own three and rotate them out when needed. Most of the time, I can go all day on one fully charged battery in my 20D. Other times I may need to switch out one for the other. Depending on what I am shooting, I can easily shoot 1000+ images in a day. My average is usually more around 500-600. I'm not always at a location where I can charge my batteries daily, so three makes sense for me and works well.
There are certain parts of the battery a photographer may never even think about. Under that plastic shell, there should be quality components to take a charge and prevent safety issues. Some of the most expensive parts are the safety components meant to prevent shorts, over heating, and other adverse reactions. The easiest way to reduce the price is to use inferior components or even leave a few of them out.
Not all off brand batteries use the shortcuts mentioned above. It is not something that is listed on the package though. I might consider one of the off brands like the Adorama version only if I were to know for sure that it's a quality reliable product.
For me I'd rather pay the extra $20 or so if for nothing else peace of mind. The Canon Battery is pretty cheap in comparison to what I have spent on my 20D. I can't imagine buying an expensive camera and then balking at the price of suggested Canon battery. If I had bought one of the less expensive camera options like the G1, maybe the $20 difference would be more of an acceptable risk. In my mind its still seems penny wise, pound foolish.
PROS:
A quality Canon product
A trusted brand
The battery all the others try to imitate
CONS:
I don't doubt some of the price is based on the Canon name. Is it really worth the risk though?
I looked hard to find a genuine Canon replacement battery, since most 3rd party batteries are bad news. This one was so expensive I thought it had to be authentic. It arrived 4 days late. I question the authenticity of this "Canon" battery - Cheap cardboard packaging had faded colors, instructions on paper of low quality, the label on the battery was a faded off-color, not like any of my OEM Canon parts, there was no punched hold in the cheap plastic tray to use orientation to indicate charged/not. I can't prove this is a knock-off counterfeit - but even the "hologram" looks fake. I have more faith when Amazon does the fulfillment directly, and I thus hesitate to use 3rd parties for this category of product. Sorry if I'm wrong, it just a bad feeling based on my above observations. - Digital Camera Battery - Battery Pack - Canon Battery - Battery'
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