Mailbox: LP-E6 + charger

 

I received my aftermarket LP-E6 battery and charger today that I ordered while in the US. In addition to another set of 2 batteries plus charger I bought during my stay in America for use with my SmallHD DP4, I now have three batteries and 2 chargers in total.
The charger I received today is a familiar one: the same model that came with my first order of LP-E6 batteries. It has a removable battery-plate that you can swap for other types of camera batteries. The battery is 1800 mAh as opposed to the 2200 mAh from my previous (US) order. The printing on the battery is also different but the body feels and looks the same.

WHO VERIFIES WHAT MANUFACTURERS CLAIM?

You can use a single LP-E6 to power the DP4 so I'm curious to see whether the 2200 mAh lasts longer than the 1800 mAh. Moreover: does or can anyone verify/control what Chinese manufactureres put on their products? How do we even know that 1800 mAh is not really 1400 mAh? Or is that just the risk we take at $15 for a battery+charger incl shipping, a fraction of official Canon battery prices..?

Note: the batteries I bought from the US seller for 19,- are still holding up, after about 3,5 hours of operation on the DP4. In addition to the wall-charger they ship with a car-charger.  So they look like a much better deal. Seller does not guarantee info-recognition in camera but that's a feature I don't need.

Mailbox: OEM LP-E6 batteries

I received my much-awaited LP-E6 clones today, for which I paid express shipping so I can use my SmallHD DP4 during my stay here in the States this month. I paid $30,- for 2 batteries including travel charger, car charger and express shipping.
The batteries do not display information to the camera but since I am solely using them for my monitor, I don't need that function. And I hate to pay for something I don't use.
These batteries are 2200 MAh, which I believe is more than the standard Canon 1800 mAh and I confirm that they work ;-) The question is, of course, for how long. Time will tell.
For now they power up my DP4 and I've had the pleasure to shoot some video with the battery-powered monitor, my GH2 and my new Super-Takumar 50mm 1.4. I love this lens already- will post footage tomorrow!

SmallHD DP4 on the way

 I bit the bullet and ordered the SmallHD DP4 monitor/electronic viewfinder. I am really looking forward to using this device with my GH2 during my stay here in the States. Problem is, the DP4 ships with a Canon LP-E6 battery plate. Since I don't own a 5D Mark II or a 7D, I don't use these batteries. I asked SmallHD about an optional Sony NPF plate (I have a bunch of small NPF's for use with my Z96 led light.) but they don't have an alternative plate as of now. They wrote they are working at it but it doesn't seem to be a priority. They should have alternatives: how hard can it be to produce such a plate?
So I am looking at a charger and a few LP-E6's. There's a lot of really cheap deals: $20 for 2 batteries and a charger. Too good to be true? I'm gambling that they are cheap because the camera doesn't 'read' the battery info. But since I won't be using them on a camera, that's fine with me. I'll let you know how they fare. And I'll tell you all about my SmallHD DP4!