GH2 Third party batteries

lsf2000

I have 1 pair of DSTE 1600mah decoded batteries that do work. That was the first order I did. The ones that came later does not work at ALL in my GH-2 euro body (they just shut down the camera with a message: "this battery can not be used". Tianlin2010 has no good answers for this. And no idea how to fix it, for now the last batch of GH-2 cells are just not working in my camera, they do however work as a second cell in my Ownuser grip. I also bought other cells from tianlin2010 (BLM-5 for my Olympus E-5) and they work as they should. This is a really hit and miss game. If you want something that works for sure, buy original cells from B&H, they have some of the best prices online and you will get working products and no grief. If you don't mind potentially loosing a few $ experimenting with whatever is out there then keep the reports coming. Someone in china has these batteries decoded (or copied somthing from the original DMW-BLC12), if not, then my first unoriginal battery would not have worked. If this is a deliberate scam then someone went to a lot of troubble to prove that the first batch was ok in order to scam all the later buyers. And I can't really see that the market is big enough to make such a scam worth while.

BTW: Firmware version does not matter. Either they work and work in both versions or they don't work.

tinbeo

could you up load a picture of your battery bought from Tialin that work as VK suggested in previous post

zigizigi

Just received mine I ordered from tianlin2010 a month ago - no in camera levels, dies after ~1:20, nowhere near the advertised 1600 mAh. Verdict - another one too many crappy Chinese battery.

ehr

I just got my batteries. I contacted the seller before purchasing to ask if they where the decoded batteries that showed battery level in camera. The seller confirmed that they were. But they are not. No level indicator. They seem to charge fine though. Old and new Ptool does not make a difference. Here is where I bought them from, I was sent the 1600mAh batteries.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170654448208?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

KeithLommel

I'm wondering whether the first batch sent out were repackaged genuine Panasonic batteries to generate buzz that this seller had decoded the battery and attract a lot of orders at a premium price, but all subsequent shipments are just the standard knock-offs.

zigizigi

I performed some tests with the fake in-camera-levels-claimed DSTE batteries I got. One of them generates a lot of heat while recording and not only it doesn't have the advertised capacity but it affects performance as well. I experienced random lock-ups and recodring stops. Note that I use no hack, just stock 1.1 firmware. The card is ok, stock battery and the second DSTE battery of the same batch don't have heating and recording failure issues with the same card. But I aslo have another Chinese battery of a different brand I bought previously that has the same problems.

I'm just writing this to warn people that Chinese batteries vary in quality even within the same batch, some of them are unreliable and even risky and you must test them extensively prior to real-world use.

Kihlian

Thanks to report!

blazer003

I just want to throw this out there. It may very well be that these ebay sellers themselves got duped. They could have bought a big batch from one of those wholesale sites listed, and while the first couple boxes were decoded the next shipment of batteries were not. Not saying that's the case, just playing a little devil's advocate before we tar and feather them too much.

Mike_C

No way! A scam like that and you're out of business (as a wholesale seller).

reprec

@tinbeo @lsf2000 "could you up load a picture of your battery bought from Tialin that work as VK suggested in previous post" I'm up for this.

lsf2000

Sorry, been away for a while.

Sure, I'll get some photos but it looks exactly like the one that does not work. Same numbers and everything. So it might defeat the purpose. They also look exactly like the ebay picture that tianlin2010 has on the ebay link. All I can say is that this is really a hit and miss game. Tianlin requested pictures from me to show him the camera shutdown message. Also I did a battery measure at 0.1C and the first batch was 1578mAh and 1613mAh charged with the original panny charger, the second batch was 962mAh and 983mAh. So my conclusion is the first ones I got was the real deal, the others (that I cant even use at all with my camera) are something completely different, but they all have the same plastic. It would interesting to open one of the broken ones and one of the working ones to see what the difference is. But untill one of the working ones either loose a lot of capacity or stop working i'd rather not destroy it.

Mike_C

Thank you lsf2000. Can you please explain more in detail how you make the measurement to test the mA in the batteries?

Mike_C

My timebest2011 DSTE battery arrived today. FAKE as expected (i.e. no battery meter showing).

lsf2000

@Mike_C: with a load cirquit (potmeter) and a Voltmeter and a amp meter and a way to time it. Discharge a 0.1C = 160mA so it should last 10hours for a 1600mAh cell. You can buy instruments that will tell you all this, or you can find tons of DIY cirquits online, or you can do it like I did with a normal voltmeter and amp meter (to get 160mah discharge current) while using my webcam to record a low power LED light in paralell to the potmeter (that uses a LED + diode to show cut off at 5.8V or 2,9V per cell if you like). Ohms laws are all you need you do the math.

Btw, your picture looks exactly like the cells I have (both the working and the non working).

Mike_C

Thanks lsf2000.

nod

I have a third party battery that will not work on it's own in my GH2 but seems to work as a second battery in my ownuser gh2 grip. It works as long as I have a genuine battery in the other bay. Does anyone know how the ownuser grip works? does it draw from both batteries at the same time or from one then the other?

Ulisse

Someone have tested this: http://www.batteryupgrade.de/shopBrowser_search.php?tracker=adwords_de_modelnummers_2250gt&adkeyword=DMW-BLC12&langId=2&gclid=CLDA7rbGmq4CFQeHDgodez3XIw#/assortmentProductId/90201988/shopGroupId

DrDave

800mah for $40 is 20mah per dollar.

nomad

Got the DSTE battery from "timebest2011" on Ebay and he wrote: "Now this battery is full coded can show battery level in your camera LCD" – NOT TRUE, another scam.

dixier

Yes, battery from "timebest2011" on Ebay not display power.

reprec

Battery arrived today from "timebest2011". Doesn't show battery level on LCD.

blues

never use a third party battery when updating firmwares of loading your patch.....i had a very very expensive lesson.....i ended up with a bricked GH2.

trayloader

The question is: was there ever a third party battery with indicator at all?

I´m using the non decoded one,from day one (actually I was the first guy who took the plunge on alibaba back then and had to order 20) , always get the non supported message but after a short on and off switch those work absolutely fabulous. How can this be?

Ze_Cahue

Question 2: Knowing that the DSTE battery dont show levels, knowing that maybe it will not charge on the genuine charger, knowing that I will never update the firmware with these batteries, getting a "kit" 2 batteries and a charger from the "original" DSTE seller "dstebattery" for $22.49:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2Pcs-DMW-BLC12-Battery-DC114-charger-for-Panasonic-DMW-BLC12-DMC-GH2-/180771299390?pt=Batteries_Chargers&hash=item2a16cf203e#ht_4459wt_1396

Which risk I have of getting a dead GH2 body?

DrDave

My aftermarket battery, which I bought when I bought the camera as there were no power adapters available, does not give me a warning message of any kind, but also does not display the remaining battery time.

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