Which battery?

I just received a battery from BestBatt.com for my G1 (with body firmware version 1.4). My camera works fine with this battery. It cost $22.75 plus $5.16 USPS shipping.

http://www.bestbatt.com/Panasonic_DMW_BLB13_Battery_p/bbblb13.htm

 

Morning everyone, (in the UK and related time zones, at least)

I am looking to buy a couple of Batteries for my G1 in the UK

I looked on EBay and aftermarket Chinese made ones are about £15

Has anyone bought one or can anyone recommend a UK supplier?

(surprisingly the place I bought my G1 did not have any panasonic ones in stock)

I also read recently that for certain Panasonic cameras the firmware did NOT allow the use of NON Panasonic batteries - has anyone found this happening

 

Just to add to this - I have done a little research on what is available in the UK

OEM G1 Battery is – Panasonic DMW-BLB13E – 7.2v – 1250mAh - 9.0Wh – Li-ion – Made in China – notice the E on the end of the reference

PRICES
OEM replacements seem to range from £55 to £100 - some with, ........ some without the E
after market range from £14 to £30 – and most are marked 1300mAh, (not 1250 as the OEM one is), - I have not seen any with the E - all I have seen are marked 13 NOT 13E
All are made in China

Question: Maybe most of the aftermarket ones DO NOT work with Firmware version 1.2 and above – some vendors clearly state that their batteries ONLY work with firmware 1.1 or earlier

Can anyone comment – is the E to do with firmware 1.2 upgrade

Does anyone know the difference?

Amazon list a few
The battery sites on the web have them
The crafty ads do not let you see the spec side of the Battery

If you look at the comments here

which I do not quite understand in relative to what they are selling, it seems to state what has happened

 

Hi Bill, I've uploaded the rogue firmware v1.4 which supports third party batteries here.

Cheers

Brian

 

when you state "rogue" what do you mean?

presumably this has been modified from what panasonic have released?



"What's it all about Alfie?"

sounds better than Brian

 

Brian - your safari site - what a great site with marvelous images - you should be very proud - there are some very talented photographers around

On the battery/firmware thing - won't the situation just be brought back to "no non panasonic batteries" which the next firmware update - or will a rogue update be produced every time

 

Thanks Bill,

I'm not sure what the current state of play is wrt 3rd party battery compatibility - I have the feeling that there are some manufacturers who've overcome the Panasonic protection... as for the rogue firmware - this was a mistaken release with the battery protection not enabled... I don't expect Panasonic to make the same mistake again.

Cheers

Brian

 

Ordered a Panasonic battery for my G1 from
<a href="http://www.newworldvideodirect.com/" rel="nofollow">www.newworldvideodirect.com/</a>
and they called to say that they were back ordered. They offered a 1500ma battery but I said that I was worried about incapability. I was told that the battery manufacturer had the chip and that it would work.... well guess what...
no worky.

Be advised to stay away from...

<a href="http://www.newworldvideodirect.com/" rel="nofollow">www.newworldvideodirect.com/</a>

 

Brian,

See my earlier post. The (non-Panasonic) battery I got from BestBatt.com definitely works with my G1 with (non-rogue) 1.4 firmware.

 

I use the battery from bestbatt.com in my GF1 and it works great and is priced well. Guaranteed with all firmware versions. This is also a very reliable company to work with. Another thumbs up to this:

http://www.bestbatt.com/Panasonic_DMW_BLB13_Battery_p/bbblb13.htm

 

Hi.

Best price i could find in U.K. is here

John.

 

John

Thanks -I'll give one a try - just ordered one - US prices are a lot lower, but that's par for the course for most of this stuff

 

Hi Bill

Yes, always cheaper in the U.S. The link to bestbatt works out £3.50 cheaper than Amazon when you include shipping to the U.K., so not a big saving, but a longer delivery time. Hope you find the one off Amazon ok, going to order one myself.

John.