I am looking to get a spare battery for my soon-to-arrive GF-1. In the past I have always bought third party batteries with good success and would like to the same with the GF-1 to keep costs down. However, I have read of reports of firmware upgrades making third party batteries not work. Does anyone know of 'safe' batteries that work with the GF-1? I'm in the UK so if anyone can point me to UK suppliers that would be great.
I have purchased two of these for my GF1 from bestbatt and I'm very happy with the price and the performance. Great company to work with. And the batteries work perfectly with the latest firmware. Two thumbs up! http://www.bestbatt.com/Panasonic_DMW_BLB13_Battery_p/bbblb13.htm EDIT... I should have read your post in it's entirety! This supplier is in the USA. Oh well, perhaps there are others here in the USA that might want to know about the bestbatt option... I see no need to spend the big bucks for Panny batteries when these are available at such a good price.
I ended up getting one from digi-quick, they gave me a guarantee that it would work, and indeed it does. Here's the link if anyone else wants to order one in the UK: http://www.digi-quick.co.uk/Camera_Batteries_for_ Panasonic_Lumix_DMC-GF1__DM3863_7
I meant to add that it cost me £12.99 + £2 postage. If you spend over £20 then postage is free. If I knew for sure that it would work before ordering I may well have ordered two. Although I think I will only ever have need for 2 batteries in total.
I've got the same one as on the digi quick link. Works fine though battery life not quite as good as the original - also says it's full for ages then suddenly dies very quickly. Well worth having for that price though - being able to use one while charging the other is a godsend.
I have found exactly the same - it does die very abruptly! Not complaining too much for the money though
I haven't had issues w/ 3rd party, but the fact a firmware update could break it in the future had me suck it up and just buy the OEM battery. It's not like my canon system where I need 4-5 backups (for work), so it's not so bad. These things seem to last forever for me anyway.
If a firmware update nixes the currently compatible 3rd party cell, there's a good chance it would nix the currently compatible OEM cell as well. I think it's doubtful that Panasonic would implement yet a new block for non-OEM cells with a future firmware upgrade. In any event, at something like 1/3 the price (?) for the 3rd party cell, and the likelihood that 3rd parties would continue to update their cells as necessary to be compatible... the 3rd party solution makes a lot of sense to me. And they work great.
