I’m done with the Phottix made LP-E8 equivalent battery for the Canon Rebel 2Ti/550D. I’ll never buy another Phottix battery ever.
I was only forced to purchase this battery because there was a shortage of LP-E8 batteries at the time I needed a spare battery for my camera. Some friends had warned me beforehand that it’s not as good as the real Canon LP-E8, but that it does get the shooting done.
Theirs may have lasted longer but mine happened to just get busted after only about 3 months of use. And it happened when we were about to take an 8-hour trip to a cool beach resort. I charged it with my Canon battery charger but instead of the light turning green after it was supposed to be fully charged, it just blinked continuously. And when I inserted it into the camera, the power level remained at the warning low level.
You get what you pay for. Yeah, the Phottix LP-E8 (actually, the battery backside says ‘Phottix 7.4V 1400mAh Titan for LP-E8) only cost around a third of the real thing. I think that it did however was a great help in getting the shots which I may not have made had I not had it as a spare battery. During a fashion show for instance where my sister in law was one of the models, my Canon LP-E8 run out of juice just about the time the finale came. The Phottix LP-E8 came just handy and saved me the trouble of explaining the possibly missed pictures. This may have been my battery when I shot those pics I used in my post Macro Close Up Photography: Cheaper Alternative to Macro Photography.
Great help or not, just the same, I’m sticking this time to the genuine Canon LP-E8 batteries. Of course, there are other LP-E8 replacement batteries out there (e.g. Lenmar, Opteka, Wasabi, Power2000, etc.) besides the Phottix version. But I’m no longer interested in trying them out, no matter how cheap their prices are.
I’m not saying though that all Phottix products are bad. In fact, I’m using a Phottix battery grip, which is still working good even now. For the price I paid for it, it’s just awesome. I think the ‘you get what you pay for’ thingy doesn’t apply in this case.
Canon LP-E8 Battery Available at Amazon
The Canon LP-E8 battery is currently available at Amazon at this page. The reviews however indicate that some users are not sure if they are authentic Canon LP-E8 batteries.
Me, I think I’ll buy only at Canon shops which luckily is in one of the malls in my city.
Have you any experience about non-Canon batteries for your Canon equipment? Care to share?