Considering Camera Batteries

We buy cameras, many cameras sometimes. We spend thousands of $$$ on equipment, yet we sometimes cheap out on things.

Recently, I experienced some issues with my camera batteries. Not one, not two, but all of them. With both my Fuji X100s and my Fuji XT-1, I have the Fuji batteries that came with each. But instead of shelling out $40 - $50 each for additional Fuji batteries, I decided to go on the cheap. I found some third party batteries for the X100s on Amazon at a ridiculous price ($22 for 2 as I recall) and thought I’d give them a go.

For a while they’ve worked fine, but in the past couple of weeks they haven’t been holding a charge. I’d put one on the charger overnight, then pop it into my X100s in the morning. Within minutes the battery would be in the red. So I was left wondering:

Is it the camera?

Is it the battery?

Is it the charger?

I was super fortunate and was able to ask some Fuji experts, in person. They did some testing and found my charger was the culprit.

A charger isn’t terribly expensive so not a big deal to replace, but the issue could have been something more expensive, like replacing a camera. So yay!

Basically, the gents at Fuji said the Fuji batteries have circuits in them and the third party batteries might not, so the third party batteries can affect the Fuji charger.

Some of these batteries come with their own charger, so if you purchase third party batteries, that’s something to think on.

For me, I’ll get the branded batteries going forward.

Have you had good or bad experiences with third party batteries??