The official Canon batteries have a special chip inside of them that allows the battery to communicate with the camcorder and display how many minutes of filming you have left. Most generic brand batteries lack this chip, so when inserted into a canon camcorder the user is prompted with a menu that asks them if they wish to continue using the battery. This gets very annoying, on top of that, the camera does not indicate how many minutes of filming you have left.
But this generic battery claims to have the chip inside of it. And after popping it in my camcorder, it indeed indicates how many minutes of shooting you have left, also it won't prompt you. This is essentially the official canon battery without the branding. The battery only lasts 5 hours out of the 6 advertised, but most of the time those tests are performed in ideal situations, and i'm pretty sure the official one probably lasts just as long. The official BP 827 battery goes for about 100 bucks, this can be had for around 30!
Pros:
Cheap
No Branding
Sturdy construction
Amazing battery life! (5 hours)
Communicates with canon camcorders
Displays Battery Remaining
Fit's perfectly with my Canon HF200
Cons:
Big (size of 2 BP 809 roughly)
Overall: This is an amazing product! The other generic batteries all have major flaws, this one on the contrary is essentially the same as the official one. If you own a Canon camcorder you must order this battery!! New BP-827 Li-Ion 6-Hour Rechargeable Intelligent Battery for Canon VIXIA HF10 HF11 HF100 HF20 HF200 HF S10 S100 S20 S21 S200 HG20 HG21 M30 M31 M300 Camcorders
After read many glowing reviews about this battery, especially from Z. Liang, I ordered one for my HF200 and it arrives at my door today (6/18). Bad news, my HF200 message is "Cannot communicate with the battery pack". It seems to charge with my HF200 due to the blinking red light but there is no way to confirm that.
I immediately posted an email to the seller and asked for an exchange. Once I received the exchange, I will post the follow up whether the next one working or not but 5 stars is out of the question.
This battery can not possibly work with all of the various models for which the description claims it will work. The various cameras listed require different voltage batteries. Before spending your money, make sure that a bettery matches all the specs for your camera.
I ordered this battery and received a 7.2 volt battery, but my Canon HF100 requires a 7.4. Moreover, a quick trip to the Cannon website will show you that the HF100 is not compatible with the official Cannon BP 827 battery. Either the manufacturer, or the seller of this product is being dishonest in it's description.
Wish I'd read all the reviews. As another reviewer said, this doesn't fit the HF100.
AMAZON: Please be more careful in allowing these false advertising claims from companies marketing through your website. Now I have to deal with the hassle of return shipping and getting my money back...!
Initial testing of this battery finds no problems. It came half-charged (172 min) and I've been testing with that charge. My HFS20 is not complaining about the battery [read update 3]. However, build quality is lower than Canon (no surprise): The electrical contacts on this battery are not as consistently aligned as they are with the official Canon battery. See photos. I had to wiggle the battery a little to get it to seat properly.
All in all, a worthwhile purchase [well, maybe not--see update 3]
Update: While using up the default charge on the battery today, the time remaining spontaneously started displaying as a question mark. Then later I got the "cannot communicate with battery" message when turning the camera back on. Maybe a full charge from empty--something Canon recommends for their own batteries--will establish a reliable time remaining display.
Update 2 (Sept 22 2010): It is clear from the customer photos -- if the customers all posted to the correct product listing -- that several battery suppliers are involved here, and different people are getting different batteries. This explains why some people are saying "works great" and others are having problems. At the moment I am having problems, but I am going to try a few more things before posting my latest experience.
Update 3: To recap my experience from the start, the camera was giving minutes-remaining estimates with this battery, thus "communicating" with the battery, when I first installed it with the factory charge. A few days later, the camera on startup began complaining that it could not communicate with the battery. You just have to dismiss that message and you can continue to use the battery, but you get no minutes remaining readout. Now that the battery is fully discharged, the battery will not charge on the camera. The manual says that if the camera cannot communicate with the battery, the battery will not be charged. I did not buy a separate charger, so now I have a paperweight. The lack of camera charging is contrary to the claims in the Amazon product listing for this battery, so hopefully I can get a quick free replacement. You experience may differ (see update 2).
The quick way to know if your battery is being charged: If the red charging LED is blinking roughly 1X/sec, you're good. If it is blinking more than 2X/sec, you are spinning your wheels.
I'll admit it hurts to pay Canon 3X the price for their battery, but that is starting to look like a good option. At the least, buy a wall charger with this one, then you should be OK.
Update 4: The merchant was out of stock on this battery, I got a refund, no problems. - Canon - Hd Camcorder - Canon Vixia - Camcorder'
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