Hahnel EM-5 battery

[evilmeta]

At the risk of reinventing the wheel, or asking a question that's been asked before (although I searched for this and couldn't find it...), has anyone in the uk used the Hahnel BLN-1 battery replacement?

Having lived in a single battery so far, and with an impending trip to sub zero Iceland in a few weeks, I thought I'd better stock up on a few batteries.

I've read all the jazz about the wasabi batteries, the ezopower batteries, and here in the uk the ex-pro batteries.

I understand that the Hahnel battery is decoded, charges in the original charger, and shows battery life from the limited reviews I've found so far online. It's also half the price of the OEM battery.

As I trust this forum more than random Internet sites, thought I'd ask around here?

Cheers

 

[owczi]

I recommended this battery in another thread. I don't own it but google found a thread on the photography on the net forum I think where some user confirmed it worked with the Oly charger. I've used this brand with Nikon and they were reliable.

 

[evilmeta]

Thanks.

I bit the bullet and bought the Hahnel. I'm pleased to day it works fine in the em-5. Power meter seems to function ok. Turns out it wasn't THAT sub-zero at all in iceland (apart from on the glacier trek) so didn't notice much of a problem with either OEM or Hahnel battery playing up.

Can also confirm that the weather sealing of the em-5 works pretty well - my camera with the 12-50 mounted was pretty much drenched in an unexpected heavy snowstorm in the glacier - no complications, left it to dry off in a sealed bag with some silica gel and bingo!

 

[owczi]

Sounds good - last year I spent a few full days out with the E-M5 and the 12-50 under constant heavy rain - no issues whatsoever.

I decided to splash out for extra Oly batteries before the Hahnel were available (doh!). With 4 Oly and 3 DSTE I can shoot all day and all night

 

[smartwombat]

My Hahnel is doing fine.

Time to throw away the no-name cheap batteries I bought when there were no real ones available in the world!

 

[pake]

I bought a Hähnel BLN-1 battery replacement about 5 months ago. I had to send it back after one week since it didn't recharge. I got another one a week later and everything worked fine (with the original Oly charger).

Well... A couple of weeks ago it broke. Sometimes it would blink the error signal and sometimes it "recharged" (or at least according to the charger lights) but after fitting it into the camera my E-M5 worked for a few minutes and then went blank. I contacted the seller and they said they've had so many problems/complaints with the battery that they decided to stop selling it. I was given the option to get my money back or pay ~20€ more to change it to a Olympus one. I chose the latter and am now waiting for it to arrive...