a good cheap unofficial HMC150 battery?

T

tikigod19

Well-known member
Hi all,

have purchased 5x 6600 batteries like this and although they're fine for what I paid for them, they only last 2 hours. Not the 220 minutes that they say when first inserting the battery. I suspect people will say this is to be expected of unofficial batteries but this was not the case when I had sony cameras in the past. I had batteries that could last 300-400 minutes no problem.

I just wondered what kind of unofficial batteries you buy? Ie - is it better to buy more of the 4500 mah ones and avoid the 6600 mah? I'd like to buy a few more and not sure whether if I buy the lower rated ones they would actually last just as long?
 
The fact that they claim 6600mah capacity in their description is a red flag to start with. Why? in the physical space that this battery is, there is no way to put in the amount of lithium for 6600mah. Panasonic would do it if it was possible.
Expect about 4500-5200mah real capacity from any battery of this form factor.
To answer your main question, we distribute the Lenmar brand, they are a little more expensive than the Ebay ones, but come with 2 years warranty, and have good reputation.
 
i'm in the UK though :(

What kind of performance in minutes can I expect from your batteries?
 
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I have two of those and yeah, the amount of time displayed decreases 33% faster than real time. Still a good deal though.
 
I have two Panasonic 5800 and 4 of the knock off 6600. This camera uses so little juice that battery power has never been an issue and wasn't with my stock little "always on the camera when traveling' batter and my two Panasonic 5800's. I bought the others to power my monitor and as back up in case I was really in a jam. All have found their way to the camera and work well.
 
About the same as the Panasonic OEMs, or just a little less. All, please do not use the minutes displayed as a true gauge of performance; it is just a function of the smart chip estimation algorithm. To evaluate a battery it needs to be fully charged, and then discharged under controlled conditions (the camera is in the fixed mode).
 
Adolgin what do you mean the camera should be "in the fixed position'?

I'm testing all of my batteries today just pointing at a road outside. Do I need to record as well or would leaving it on with the LCD open do the same thing?

I'm using a stopwatch not the on screen display
 
ggrantly said:
I just purchased on of the Adorama knockoffs. Will report back in a few weeks.

Grant
Click to expand...

I've been using these for about a month. The batteries definitely drain faster than the time indicated, but from a practical standpoint they last just as long as my Panasonic battery. I'd say they all get about 3 to 3.5 hours of usage, maybe less if I've got mics drawing phantom power.
 
tikigod19 said:
Adolgin what do you mean the camera should be "in the fixed position'?

I'm testing all of my batteries today just pointing at a road outside. Do I need to record as well or would leaving it on with the LCD open do the same thing?

I'm using a stopwatch not the on screen display
Click to expand...

Sorry I did not make it clear. As the camera needs more or less power depending on the mode of operation, with the LCD or without, etc. if you want to compare the batteries, decide on one mode and keep it this way while changing the batteries. You are probably doing this anyway.
Regards
 
The fact of the matter is that under the same circumstances, the Panasonic battery time displayed drains down by 1 minute every 60 seconds.

With the other battery, it decreases by 1 minute every 40 seconds...therefore, 33% less capacity than displayed.
 
Yeah did that today. Massive fluctuation with those Chinese batteries. One under 2hrs the next over 3... I think it's luck of the draw
 
Hey Alex,

Have you ever considered doing a charger with stations for both the CGR and the VW series Panna batteries? Would that be too weird?

Great to see you participating here!

Grant
 
Hello Grant, we actually do offer this configuration, along with several others. When a studio has several different cameras/batteries makes/models, while ordering they use the mix option ($20) requesting any combination they need. Also, if you already own one of our chargers, you can send it in for the plates changeover; it runs for $65 for the set of four. The only thing that can not be done is mixing the Sony XDCAM EX plates with 7.2V DV plates at the Sony is 14V system, different from all 7.2V DV systems.
 
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I cant believe how long these batteries (3rd party and original) take to charge! Is it right that they took about 5 or 6 hours to fully charge from empty?!
 
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