After market battery for Canon G7

ShaunOBoyle · #1 01-06-2007, 07:46 PM

Just got a Canon G7, very pleased with this camera, despite the lack of raw, but it does seem to go through the battery rather quickly. Any suggestions for reliable quality after market batteries?
The canon battery is almost $50. I can buy a car battery for that. I see many after market batts online for about $10 each, a couple of those would do me fine, any experience with brands?

Ken_Tanaka · #2 01-07-2007, 01:31 AM

I've been using the "Power 2000" brand of 3rd party batteries for my G7 (as well as the same batteries for my older S70, and the batteries for my 5D). I've also used them for Canon video cameras for years. They're extremely reliable, higher capacity and longer life. Of course cold conditions will shorten the life of even the best batteries.

You can find these at B&H.

Ken_Tanaka · #3 01-07-2007, 01:36 AM

BTW, Shaun, here's a tip that might significantly extend your G7's battery life. Set the image stabilizer to be active only "On Shoot", rather than it's default of always. The practical difference is nil, as IS kicks in when you half-press the shutter button anyway. But there's no reason to continuously drain the battery by keeping IS running at al times.

Changing this setting made a very significant difference in my G7's battery life.

ShaunOBoyle · #4 01-07-2007, 08:54 AM

Ken, Thanks for that info on the IS. I wondered about the autofocus setting also, continuous or single. Obviously would have better battery life on single, and I don't see any significant time savings with having it on continuous. The manual does suggest that continuous is faster.

Ken_Tanaka · #5 01-07-2007, 02:36 PM

Yes, ditto the "On Shoot" setting for auto-focus although this did not seem to make the power saving impact that the image stabilizer setting made. Curious, eh?

ShaunOBoyle · #6 01-14-2007, 06:05 PM

I'm growing pretty attached to my G7, it being just a pinch bigger than my beloved Rollei 35SE it goes just about everywhere with me. Very nicely designed camera, if only canon would enable raw support this would be a killer camera. Looking forward to a future G with a larger chip (lower noise at higher iso) and raw support, everything else can stay exactly as it is.