14Aug Canon LP-E8 battery charger Clone
Steven asked:
Do you have any tips on a good battery charger for the LP-E8 batteries?
This is what I’ve been using (above). On the left is a generic clone Canon LP-E8 battery charger and on the right is the official LP-E8 battery charger from Canon. If you look really close you can see that the insert arrow on the left charger is shinny and the led light windows are slightly opaque, otherwise they look identical.
Both the clone battery charger and the official Canon unit charge decoded LP-E8 batteries. The clone charger is $10.50 and comes with a 3 foot cable, while the official charger is $60 and comes with a 4 foot cable.
Build quality of the clone charger does feel a little less substantial in your hand. The clone battery charger feels like it’s made out of slightly thinner plastic and seem to weigh a little less then the original Canon charger. Batteries fit just a little bit less snug in the clone charger but the snap clips still hold the battery in place. Charging times seem about the same and without look closely it’s hard to tell which is which.
I don’t know if this is a Canon Asia charger or if it’s a flat out counterfeit, but it does the job and it’s 1/6 the price. The official Canon charger might outlast the clone battery charger if you plan to subject it to heavy use and abuse but at $10.50 a peace, you can have 5 backups for the price of a single $60 Canon unit. I’ve been using this one for over 6 months without any problems, so for me it’s a usable option, but mileage may very.
August 14th, 2012 at 6:47 pm
This is the type that came with my 550D (KISSX4) – Self contained flip out plug. I’m curious why these aren’t more popular.
Here’s the link
August 14th, 2012 at 7:12 pm
A little more expensive, but the flip out tab does seem nice.
August 14th, 2012 at 7:04 pm
Wow, yeah no kidding Dave, I would much rather have a flip out than a cord I have to wad up for travel. But good to know there is a cheap alternative. Thanks Deejay.
August 14th, 2012 at 7:22 pm
The nice thing about the cord is that you can fit 3 or 4 of them on a single power strip. The flip out units take up a lot more space on the power strip.
August 14th, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Thanks again for suggesting that. I’ve got one on the way already. This is much cheaper than buying a dual charger.
August 15th, 2012 at 9:14 am
DeeJay
WHat do u recommend for an off brand LPE6 Charger?
August 15th, 2012 at 10:01 am
I have 3 official lp-e6 chargers, but I have one of these on order to see how well it stacks up against the real thing. It hasn’t showed up yet, but I’ll post some more info once I’ve had a chance to test it out.
December 11th, 2013 at 8:25 pm
Just bought one of the cheap chinese lp-e8 on ebay and it came dead on arrival, the seller agreed to let me keep the dead charger and is sending me a new one, thus, I have cracked the case and took some photos of the internals, can anyone confirm this to be a proper CC/CV charging circuit?
http://imgur.com/a/KHvqB#0