[ramseybuckeye]

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To fake the date. That battery could've been sitting on a Pentax warehouse shelf for 10 years, then sold off dirt cheap to a reseller due to no longer meeting capacity. The reseller prints out a new counterfeit label, with a relatively recent date, then sells it quickly at a massive profit so they can take the money and run before too many people demand a refund.

I don't know about this one specifically, but it's not unheard of for people to peel off the counterfeit label to find the original label still attached underneath.

LOL, stranger things happen/. I have a Pentax battery from 2012 that is still going pretty strong.

[Not a Number]

Probably came out of the back door of the same factory as the real ones!

Most of the time these are the rejects that don't pass even the modicum of QA.

[MarkJerling]

I'm not so sure. I'm guessing but I think with some of these factories there appears to be a clandestine "night shift" that manufacture the same thing or nearly the same thing and on sells at a fraction of the cost. I've seen that often with cycling gear and clothing and some electronic goods, most notably laptop batteries.

I don't think they're rejects but rather that they are manufactured for a different market.

[ChristianRock]

To fake the date. That battery could've been sitting on a Pentax warehouse shelf for 10 years, then sold off dirt cheap to a reseller due to no longer meeting capacity. The reseller prints out a new counterfeit label, with a relatively recent date, then sells it quickly at a massive profit so they can take the money and run before too many people demand a refund.

I don't know about this one specifically, but it's not unheard of for people to peel off the counterfeit label to find the original label still attached underneath.

Considering that I still get a thousand pictures out of my original K10D battery, I guess I'd buy a Pentax battery even if it was old...

[kypfer]

From personal experience, there have been some aspects of camera battery technology that were considered so advanced and so secret they weren't even patented.
Without a patent to work from it's so much more difficult to reverse-engineer an idea!
There's a good chance that the advanced technology that goes into OEM batteries is a closely guarded secret, making replication of them probably impossible for the "clone" market, hence the shorter life and lower capacities!

[BigMackCam]

From personal experience, there have been some aspects of camera battery technology that were considered so advanced and so secret they weren't even patented.
Without a patent to work from it's so much more difficult to reverse-engineer an idea!
There's a good chance that the advanced technology that goes into OEM batteries is a closely guarded secret, making replication of them probably impossible for the "clone" market, hence the shorter life and lower capacities!

It can work the other way round, too... I have some third party batteries for my A7 MkII that last longer than the OEM ones when the camera is switched OFF. The OEM batteries have circuitry that identifies them as such, and it constantly drains a small amount of current. The third party ones don't... However, they also don't work well in the battery grip...

[Jonathan Mac]

Those are fakes as they would not be made by Hoya and wouldn't have the typo.

I have used third party batteries before and they're not worth the trouble - they end up being a false economy because they don't last nearly so long and don't hold so much charge even before they kick the bucket.

I wouldn't trust fake batteries even enough to put them in my camera.

[tonyzoc]

Those are fakes as they would not be made by Hoya and wouldn't have the typo.



I have used third party batteries before and they're not worth the trouble - they end up being a false economy because they don't last nearly so long and don't hold so much charge even before they kick the bucket.



I wouldn't trust fake batteries even enough to put them in my camera.

I knew they were fakes as soon as I saw who I paid. I'm not sure why they refunded me and still sent the batteries. I've used 3rd party batteries, Wasabi and Dtke (or something like that) and they're ok but not as good as OEM. My 2016 Pentax battery in my K70 still outperforms the new knockoffs. When I got my K3iii I bought 3 Pentax batteries. It was worth the cost. Which is why I was looking for Pentax batteries for my K70. I've got my email in with B&H to notify me when they restock....hopefully.

[turbo_bird]

I bought a cheap one from eBay that was supposed to be a genuine Pentax as well, and when it didn't seem to have any better life than a couple of Wasabi power ones I sent a message to the seller, who insisted that it was a genuine battery. I never looked that closely at it, but just checked now and it also says made by "Hoya Corportion". It was shipped with what looked like a genuine Pentax box in the package, but the box was flattened and the battery itself was inside some fake charger so that it was "installed" in a device, and able to get past some sort of shipping regulation. For less than $20 US including shipping, I suspected it wasn't going to be a genuine Pentax battery.

Kristian

[photogem]

I bought a cheap one from eBay that was supposed to be a genuine Pentax as well, and when it didn't seem to have any better life than a couple of Wasabi power ones I sent a message to the seller, who insisted that it was a genuine battery. I never looked that closely at it, but just checked now and it also says made by "Hoya Corportion". It was shipped with what looked like a genuine Pentax box in the package, but the box was flattened and the battery itself was inside some fake charger so that it was "installed" in a device, and able to get past some sort of shipping regulation. For less than $20 US including shipping, I suspected it wasn't going to be a genuine Pentax battery.

Kristian

This is for sure a genuine early Hoya-Pentax made D-LI90 for the K7!
Not date yet printed on that one as on D-LI50's from K20D and K10D times!

Those with Japan cells were the best, I still have one which has been used a lot but works as if new!

If it was charged with a 3-rd party charger it was quickcharged, thus it ages quicker.
Also with a used battery of those days you don't know how much it was used, how well treated,
did it suffer from discharge etc.

Hoya owned Pentax prior Ricoh!

[steephill]

This is for sure a genuine early Hoya-Pentax made D-LI90 for the K7!
Not date yet printed on that one as on D-LI50's from K20D and K10D times!

Those with Japan cells were the best, I still have one which has been used a lot but works as if new!

If it was charged with a 3-rd party charger it was quickcharged, thus it ages quicker.
Also with a used battery of those days you don't know how much it was used, how well treated,
did it suffer from discharge etc.

Hoya owned Pentax prior Ricoh!

That is not genuine, it is one of the obvious fakes. Did you not see the infamous "HOYA CORPORTION" on the label?

Edit - 2 further giveaways:-
genuine batteries read "Cell made in Japan , Pack assembled in China" Fakes have "Cell made in Japan,Pack assembled in China" - note spacing around central , .
genuine batteries read (140F / 60C), fakes have no spacing (140F/60C)

[turbo_bird]

That is not genuine, it is one of the obvious fakes. Did you not see the infamous "HOYA CORPORTION" on the label?

Edit - 2 further giveaways:-
genuine batteries read "Cell made in Japan , Pack assembled in China" Fakes have "Cell made in Japan,Pack assembled in China" - note spacing around central , .
genuine batteries read (140F / 60C), fakes have no spacing (140F/60C)

I only noticed the spelling mistake after reading this thread, and figured I'd have a look. Too late to do anything about it, but it works ok for the past year and a half. Battery life isn't great though, about on par with a used 3rd party one that came with my K3 that I have no idea of the history of. I was disappointed that a new Pentax battery wouldn't be better, but based on price alone I figured it was most likely a fake. The seller assured me it was a genuine Pentax battery when I asked about it though, good to know they're so honest. They're no longer on eBay with the same account name either.
Kristian

[photogem]

That is not genuine, it is one of the obvious fakes. Did you not see the infamous "HOYA CORPORTION" on the label?

I don't think it is an obvious because I have seen early batteries from K7-times looking exactly like this one.

Edit - 2 further giveaways:-
genuine batteries read "Cell made in Japan , Pack assembled in China"

Fakes have
"Cell made in Japan, Pack assembled in China" - note spacing around central , .
genuine batteries read (140F / 60C), fakes have no spacing (140F/60C)

I see your point but some even have it like this:
"Cell made in Japan,Pack assembled in China"

Example:
Pentax Akku – Rechargeable Battery D-LI90 – FK-Secondhand
but and this one has the date of 2011 on it.

This is the original photo how it was pictured on the original Pentax website in Europe prior Ricoh times
and also offered for the 645D.

It was 10/2011 when Hoya left and Ricoh.

There are batteries with 2011 on them, some pre-Ricoh, some post-Ricoh!

Another example:

This one came with the K7 and has the lettering/space exactly as the one you question:
https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/7G4AAOSwoFBhwP-H/$_59.JPG
but with date of 2011.
Similar to this one:
Pentax Kamera K7 gebraucht mit Ladegerät Batterie Band in Süd - Sachsenhausen | eBay Kleinanzeigen
not easy to see but one can decipher it


Then we have those sold in Japan:
PENTAX K-7 14.6MP Digital SLR Camera Body from Japan *Black *Tested Free Ship JP 27075155145 | eBay

I know the Chinese have faked a lot. But I don't think they had faked early Hoya D-LI90's.

But to be really sure I would have to open it, then I could find out for sure because the originals have the temperature-sensor
while the fakes pretend to have one via a 100k resistor.

[tonyzoc]

I've been on a waiting list at B&H waiting for a restock of the Pentax D-Li109 batteries. So today I get an email from B&H ...

"We regret to inform you that this item has unfortunately been discontinued."

Why would they discontinue a battery for a camera still in production? I'm going to see what Adorama says. They've been out of stock for a while also.

[gatorguy]

My K1 definitely does not like 3rd party batteries. It will consistently get 2-3 black frames when first turned on, yet my K3III will happily use that same battery. So I ended up buying more authentic Pentax ones so that I now have 5 Pentax batteries in total to share between two cameras plus the one third party (Watson) good in a pinch. I probably have even more for my K-70's.

Why so many? It's not unusual for me to go thru a battery plus part of another in a shoot, and I will sometimes forget to put the dead soldiers on charge when I get back home. I only notice them when packing my bag for the next shoot, most often just a couple of hours in advance, which is when they go back on the charger.