[stormcloud]

been looking into a spare battery or two for my k7 and there are unbranded batteries availble for alot cheaper than a geniune pentax battery

are these safe to use? i couldn't help but noticed that they mostly seem to be 7.4v rather than th 7.2 of the original

and often seem to give greater than the 1860mAh of the original too which would be a nice bonus but not if the extra 0.2v is gonna fry the electronics

so again are these safe to use? will it void the warranty of the camera?

[knoxploration]

been looking into a spare battery or two for my k7 and there are unbranded batteries availble for alot cheaper than a geniune pentax battery

are these safe to use? i couldn't help but noticed that they mostly seem to be 7.4v rather than th 7.2 of the original

and often seem to give greater than the 1860mAh of the original too which would be a nice bonus but not if the extra 0.2v is gonna fry the electronics

so again are these safe to use? will it void the warranty of the camera?

Ah, the great unanswerable question. It really depends what battery you get, made by whom. Could be just fine, could be dangerous, and there's absolutely no way to know if it's not a brandname battery.

Will it void the warranty of the camera? No, if it works. If it blows up in the camera and you can't provide a blown-up Pentax battery to match the damage, you'll be very unlikely to get it repaired free though.

Oh, and for third-party batteries, if they're name brand, you can safely ignore the mAh ratings. If you're an anonymous battery manufacturer whom your customers have no recourse to, what's to stop you doubling the number to get a few extra sales? Nothing at all. Consensus here seems to be that the third-party batteries offer somewhat shorter life overall, albeit not drastically so.

Really though, nobody can answer your main question. It's a gamble, chances are most people will get away with it - you just have to hope not to be the person left crying over a damaged camera to save a few bucks.

[kittykat46]

If you get a 3rd party battery from a maker with a known track record its probably OK.
Totally "unknown" sources are a lot riskier.

I often use El Cheapo AA batteries for non-critical uses. No problem.
High power Lithium Ion battery packs, with their combination of complex chemistry, potentially nasty contents, and high-power density are a lot more unforgiving of design and manufacturing defects.

Anyway the main risk of anything going badly wrong is during recharging , rather than normal operation. So if you get a 3rd party battery keep an eye on its behaviour during recharging - very high temperatures, any fluid leakage, any unusual smells....these are symptoms of a battery malfunction.

[SteveM]

You also have to ask yourself how long an aftermarket battery will hold it's charge. It won't be cheaper if it runs out of juice half way through your shoot....or if it won't hold a charge after 6 months. I've always ordered one additional Pentax battery and have never needed a third...

[brosen]

I was looking for a replacement battery, but I was not able to find something a lot bigger than the standard capacity 1860mAh, most of the options were smaller or the same value in mAh, and the price difference was $10 to $20, not a huge difference for a long term investment, and the risk of burning the camera with an alternate battery is not zero, so at the end I bought a Pentax OEM battery.

[bdery]

For my K20d I got an Impact battery from B&H. I cannot tell the battery apart from the original based on performance, only by thenlittle blue mark on it

[Spock]

I got a Chinese battery off eBay for about 1/5 the cost of an OEM battery and no probs. It lasts pretty much as long as the OEM battery on a full charge.