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a6000 camera batteries


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Apologies in advance for my newbie question.  I want to purchase a spare battery for a Sony a6000. There seems to be a tremendous price range on Amazon.  I've seen them as low as two for $26.99, and as high as $49 each.  Is there a difference in the batteries?  Are there any specs one should look for before purchasing?  Thanks for your help with this.

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Buy the Wasabi Kit from Amazon. You get two batteries and a wall charger for about $25. They work great. As far as I can tell you are paying an additional $25 for the Sony named battery.

 

Bryan

Thanks so much! They cost so much less than the Sony batteries, I thought there must be something wrong with them.  :).  Glad to hear they are ok.

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I've just noticed, the cheapest buy, is not the best buy! I used two cheapies in my A6000, and after a couple shots, I've got the message from the camera - incompatible battery - !!!  I will re-charge them a couple times, and if the still fail, I put them to the electronical waste! Period!

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... I've got the message from the camera - incompatible battery ...

Please name the brand so we know which ones to avoid.

 

 

I also get a (different) message approx once every 30 uses from my $6 one. No big deal since rebooting the camera always clears it, but best go with bryangoff's midrange suggestion to be safe.

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I picked up a twin pack of aftermarket (BM Premium 2-Pack Of NP-FW50 Batteries & Charger for Sony)  and they last longer that the Sony kit batteryTwo with charger for $25!. They are 1500mAh and 10.8Wh instead of 1020mAh and 7.3Wh. NPFW50 Li-ion Battery + Rapid AC/DC Battery Charger

  • Battery Specifications - Energy Storage Capacity: 1500mAh /Voltage: 7.2 volts, Chemistry: Li-ion
  • 100% Memory Free
  • Super Long Time Recording Battery has a one-year warranty
  • Includes Qty 2 NPFW50 Batteries + Rapid AC/DC Battery Charger + MicroFiber Cleaning Cloth

In addition, a battery wallet can help you keep the batteries handy and know which ones are charged or spent just by putting them in the small holster with the contacts up or down, your choice. Small Battery Pouch for  Sony NP-FW50 about $5.

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Lithium-ion batteries are more likely fail catastrophically than other chemistries, so check review history carefully when shopping for off-brands. A cheap battery can become very costly if it bursts into flames.

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Thanks so much! They cost so much less than the Sony batteries, I thought there must be something wrong with them.  :).  Glad to hear they are ok.

 

Ehhh your essentially playing Russian roulette when buying these off-brand batteries. Check out the 1 star reviews. Few of them exploded during charging.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Please forgive the newbie question, but I can't seem to find a way to configure automatic power off (aka auto-shutdown) on the A6000.  I found the "power save" setting, but found nothing for auto-shutoff.  Since I've found my camera dead after accidentally leaving it on (on numerous occasions), I'm anxious to find a way to configure it to fully power down like my old Canon Digital Rebel would.  Any thoughts would be very welcome.  Thanks!

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  • 4 months later...

I learned the hard way with purchases for my Canon (when I had it) that you don't go cheap on certain things.  I had a third party remote shutter release.  The tip broke off in the camera.  I had to take it get it removed.  It cost me 250.00.  If I would have spent the extra 40 bucks for a Canon shutter release, this might not have happened.  Same thing with a tripod collar for my 70-200 f/4.  I went cheap, the collar broke and the lens fell to the ground.  100 bucks to get that fixed.

 

With something like batteries, I wouldn't chance it.  It could fry the camera.  I just bought 2 new Sony batteries for my new a6000 for 49 each.  You pay more, sure, but at least it's the manufacturer's own and is covered should something happen.

 

Pay a little less, now or lot later (potentially).

 

Danny 

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  • 1 month later...

I would be interested to know how many third party batteries really went up in flames and how much in "urban legends". as long as you use a real three pin charger, there is not much of a problem. afaik only surcharged batteries can burn, third party AND genuine.

 

do not believe in high capacity figures, most of them are wrong. if you buy third party batteries from reknown third party battery makers, you'll be fine. the rest may be a gamble indeed. canon batteries for the big canons are different, they are chipped, like ink tanks for most printers.

 

my sony batteries were very slow to get full capacity, more than 5 charges to be there. my third party batteries were better from start, but are a bit weaker than the sony ones now. but only about 10%, however I bought 4 of them for the price of one sony.

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Used nothing but cheap replacement batteries for my cell phones and cameras...probably three dozen over the past 10 years and have never had a single failure.  I figure I have saved hundreds of dollars.  Same has applied to cheap printer ink where I probably saved more than $1000. The only failure I had was a Samsung original battery for a galaxy 4 that fell apart!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have always used generic batteries for my Canon cameras and have never had any problems. Since I bought a Sony a6000 and my wife a Sony RX100III I have done the same. With the Sonys I have also  had a buy battery chargers (Canon cameras always came with a charger). I eventually bought for both 'Chili Power' chargers which came with two batteries, and cost under £20 the set.

 

What one has to avoid are 'fake' batteries and chargers which carry the Sony (or Canon) logo.These are meant to deceive and may not work properly.  As I mentioned I have always found generic examples perfectly OK.

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I bought the T6 brand battery, it is 1080mAh and cost about 15USD. Battery works well but A6000 won't charge it. It light orange and after about 5 sec stop charging. So I order T6 charger with wall and car plug.

Meanwhile i charge the battery at my model hobby charger and with A6000 works well but only not want to charge it.

This is little risky to buy not genuine battery if you not have wall charger and think you will charge in the A6000...

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Who on earth would want to waste time charging 'in camera' when one can have all the convenience of an external charger?

When I'm driving in the car from one location to another, and all I have to do is plug the camera in with the same cord I would use to charge my phone.

 

But yes, at home, I always use the charger from the 5n to charge a battery as I swap out for another. Although on a recent cruise, my wife needed to charge the 5n's battery, so I used the USB cable to charge mine overnight. And the way the cabin was set up, there wasn't any place to plug in another wall charger.

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For batteries there are some aspects you should check consider, buying the genuine Sony battery is the best option and buying those cheap Chinese batteries is the worst.

In between there are some brands that do work well like Vivitar, Patona, Wasabi .. But keep in mind that even those other brands are good but the battery will die sooner than the genuine battery in the future.

 

The other cheap non-branded batteries might be the worst decision ever, since most of them will not stop charging even if they get full charge that will lead to burn your camera if you charge them in camera.

 

Conclusion :

If you want a battery to live for the longest time then choose Sony genuine battery.

 

If you want a good battery the will live for approx. 1 year then choose vivitar, patona , wasabi

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  • 1 year later...

Finaly i take T6 brand, maybe local brand but works well for year now. Looks that performs same as Sony. I buy charger T6 brand too and charge them there incl Sony original.

Does the local brand battery also charge in camera? Does it lose charge over time, ie if you leave the camera for a few days, will it discharge
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No it not charge in camera, but more usable is external charger, where you can charge one battery and use camera with other.

No it not lost capacity in time.

Sometimes have T6 battery out of camera charged in bag for month and after month it is good.

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