GH2 lost my charger! Experience with third parties?

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dishan

Well-known member
Darn it, I went ahead and left my charger at a client's office, and now I can't find it for the life of me (went back, clearly not where I left it, or in my gear bag).

Have a shoot today, getting by with my Canon equipment for now, but really want this GH2 back. Its not an emergency because I have other cameras, but does anyone have any experience with cheap third party chargers? I'm not looking to buy another Panasonic one because 1) they're expensive for what is essentially a simple circuit 2) I might find it eventually, so this replacement could end up being a short-term fix.

I found one like this on ebay which even comes with a spare battery (I'm aware that third party batteries don't show life remaining, but for the price would be good to have a spare):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DMW-BLC12-BATTERY-CHARGER-PANASONIC-LUMIX-DMC-GH2HK-/190558022747?pt=Batteries_Chargers&hash=item2c5e24ac5b#ht_2252wt_1255

I think I had one similar to this for my DVX100 a while back, and it worked alright until the plug that goes into the wall began to make a weak connection. I guess my biggest concern is, will a cheap third party charger hurt my OEM Lumix battery? Overcharging, not fully charging, etc? Looking for any feedback here...
 
I bought a cheap charger for occasions where I need to charge multiple (OEM) GH2 batteries simultaneously. It appears to be the same as the one you linked to, but I have to say I don't really have much confidence in it. Firstly, it feels cheap. Both (OEM and 3rd party) chargers are made out of plastic, but the difference in quality is still readily apparent. The bigger issue though is that the charging light never seems to turn off, so it's not clear when the battery is done charging.

Both chargers (OEM and 3rd party) are probably both cheaply manufactured, but I'm guessing that part of the price difference is due to the additional QA that Panasonic hopefully does. The cheap chargers rarely last very long in my experience.
 
Jive said:
The bigger issue though is that the charging light never seems to turn off, so it's not clear when the battery is done charging.
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Hmm. Well, if its anything like the one I used to have for my DVX, I think the light is supposed to turn from red to green when finished. Not turn off.

I just took a financial hit with my car (tire damage, long story) and not really interested in another $50 for a charger that might still show up one day. If for $10-$20 I can get a charger that WORKS (understanding that aesthetics and build quality won't be the same), I think I'd rather do that for now. :) As long as it doesn't do damage to the OEM battery, I'm ok with it I guess.
 
I've got all sort of these chargers for my assorted rechargeables. I've had one give out on me over the last 2 years but other than that they've worked out well for me. I don't understand people that get caught up with the build quality of something like a charger: when are you ever going to put a CHARGER in a stressful, could-be-damaged situation?

Also have had really good luck with 3rd party batteries. don't be afraid.
 
I have it. Works well enough and cool to be able to charge in the car.

I lost my original when videoing my kids birth 2 weeks ago.
 
nicksnow said:
I've got all sort of these chargers for my assorted rechargeables. I've had one give out on me over the last 2 years but other than that they've worked out well for me. I don't understand people that get caught up with the build quality of something like a charger: when are you ever going to put a CHARGER in a stressful, could-be-damaged situation?

Also have had really good luck with 3rd party batteries. don't be afraid.
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2 Reasons to not go cheap:
  1. Fire hazard (several stories of house fires due to faulty battery chargers). Yes, this can potentially happen with any charger, but again, more QA has likely been performed by the bigger brands to avoid such legal issues
  2. Overcharging can affect battery lifespan. If you're paying the premium for OEM batteries, then you would do well to make sure you're not killing them faster by overcharging them. There's no information one way or the other whether these cheap chargers might overcharge batteries.
That being said, I spent a total of $4.75 on a 3rd party GH2 battery charger: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190562688074&_rdc=1

Considering the quality of the item, I would not spend a penny more. As long as you monitor the charging and accept the possibility that it may shorten the life of your batteries, then I suppose it's adequate as a spare charger.
 
Jive said:
2 Reasons to not go cheap:
  1. Fire hazard (several stories of house fires due to faulty battery chargers). Yes, this can potentially happen with any charger, but again, more QA has likely been performed by the bigger brands to avoid such legal issues
Click to expand...
I have to echo this point straight up. I bought some cheap 3rd party batteries by a brand called hi-etech. Example here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170675921309&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123#ht_500wt_1396

About 10 minutes after starting the first battery charging, I smelled something burning (horrible plastic burning smell) and noticed smoke coming out of the unit. Quickly pulled the powerstrip out and with gloves on removed the battery from the charger then the charger from the powerstrip... Put everything outside and let it chill for a while!

I contacted them, got a refund, but they weren't very apologetic. Its cheap and I'm one out of thousands of customers.

Moral of the story... cheap is ok (I have 6 other 3rd party brands) but not hi-etech!!
 
After nearly 10 days of missing the charger and finally posting this thread, I found it this afternoon. I put in a best offer of $10 for that combination charger and spare battery posted at the top here before I found it, and just received a counter offer of $10.45.

Honestly, after all that I'm thinking now that it might be worth having the spare battery around. But then, should I just get a battery and skip the extra charger? I can't think of a situation that I would need two chargers at once (one can always be charging while the other is in use).
 
dishan said:
Honestly, after all that I'm thinking now that it might be worth having the spare battery around. But then, should I just get a battery and skip the extra charger? I can't think of a situation that I would need two chargers at once (one can always be charging while the other is in use).
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2 batteries and 1 charger is definitely more useful than 1 battery and 2 chargers. If you really must have a cheap charger, though it's only ~$5 more for the charger + 3rd party battery, I would save even that bit by getting just the charger and buy an OEM battery. A cheap charger is one thing, but I think 3rd party batteries are next to worthless (definitely less than $5) since they don't report their power level and could shut off in the middle of a shot, losing the take completely.

PS: Glad you found your charger :) Where did it turn out to be hiding?
 
Jive said:
2 batteries and 1 charger is definitely more useful than 1 battery and 2 chargers. If you really must have a cheap charger, though it's only ~$5 more for the charger + 3rd party battery, I would save even that bit by getting just the charger and buy an OEM battery. A cheap charger is one thing, but I think 3rd party batteries are next to worthless (definitely less than $5) since they don't report their power level and could shut off in the middle of a shot, losing the take completely.
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Understood, but they can be pretty useful when the original needs to charge. Even without properly reporting battery life (none of my third party batteries on Canon do that either, and having a cheap spare has proven useful more than once). Granted, having an OEM battery would have been better as I can actually rely on it and have two primary batteries, but I'm not sure it is worth the extra cost for me. If I can get a little extra juice to finish a shoot while the OEM is charging up, that's good enough for me.

PS: Glad you found your charger :) Where did it turn out to be hiding?
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Turned out to be in my bedroom dresser. I usually keep it in my office or gear bag, so I was looking there, my car, the clients I used it last in, etc... I must have left it to charge overnight one time in the bedroom, and the Mrs didn't know what it was. Glad that got sorted out. :)
 
For $10.50? It would be worth it as an insurance policy against losing your charger again. And you'll have an extra battery on top of it.

P.S. Same thing happened to me with my old Casio EX-P505 - lost the OEM charger, bought a 3rd party replacement which worked, then found the old one. It is nice to have the extra charger on the shelf, just in case.
 
Got two of these chargers when the OEM were not yet available.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LTT994/

Never had a problem with any of my seven OEM batteries, & prefer their small size when traveling.

I suggest you stick with OEM batteries as the camera will automatically shut down when they become low to avoid corrupting the clip.
 
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