jonnyapple said:
Sometimes it seems like the more frivolous the thread (note that I don't say uninteresting and I think this battery discussion was really interesting), the more comments it gets on this forum. Lots of members here are a bunch of clowns, and I mean that in a good way—if I weren't entertained as much as I am around here I don't think I'd spend as much time on it.

Wow man no need to drop the F- Bomb. ;p

spraynpray said:
WOW! This post has legs.

Sometimes it seems like the more frivolous the thread (note that I don't say uninteresting and I think this battery discussion was really interesting), the more comments it gets on this forum. Lots of members here are a bunch of clowns, and I mean that in a good way—if I weren't entertained as much as I am around here I don't think I'd spend as much time on it.

It's the .45ACP HK for me :^)

mb said:
“QC Passed” stickers were something most Asian companies used on them products. Every single printed circuit board made in PRC had one even the lowest cost one.
Today most of those companies are ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 certified so the quality management goes per se.
But none of these labels says nothing about how good or bad the actual quality of the product is, it just states that the quality would be consistent among batches.
We must admit that PRC today has highest quality for lowest prices in the world and actually there is no single high volume product that is not partly or completely made in China and then finished by sticking fancy label Made in Germany for example.

That's cool... I guess? Not really useful, but the sticker is always cool. :D

I always like sig 9's... Don't require batteries yet either.

9mm glock? We need to talk about having you upgrade to a 40 S&W Glock ... but that's another forum, isn't it?

WOW! This post has legs.

JBL: The name is tongue in cheek really. I haven't been called that otherwise for a long time. In fact it was when I sot practical pistol with a 30 round mag in my glock 19....

Warprints - you're prolly right.

kanuk: 'Emergency battery'? Just when I was convinced to bin it you had to go and write that! Nah, I'll bin it.

Thanks guys!

spraynpray said:
A point that nobody seems to adquately address, is why go to the bother of making a REALLY good counterfeit when you can just put cheap easy labels on it and sell it in an ordinary box as an aftermarket generic?

First and foremost profit, people are willing to spend more on what they believe is an OEM battery.
Next liability and accountability, who are you going to or can you blame if a counterfeit battery fails?
I don't think there ever had been a battery recall by a manufacturer/distributor of counterfeit batteries :P

As for the "made of" of those counterfeit batteries or anything else for that matter, well it can be made in any LCC (Low Cost Country) under the direction and specification (or lack thereof) from someone greedy in North America, Europe,...etc.
Quality products can be made anywhere in the world but it always comes with a price.

“QC Passed” stickers were something most Asian companies used on them products. Every single printed circuit board made in PRC had one even the lowest cost one.
Today most of those companies are ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 certified so the quality management goes per se.
But none of these labels says nothing about how good or bad the actual quality of the product is, it just states that the quality would be consistent among batches.
We must admit that PRC today has highest quality for lowest prices in the world and actually there is no single high volume product that is not partly or completely made in China and then finished by sticking fancy label Made in Germany for example.

PB PM and poster you are both right. I get awfully nervous with my 28-80 G lens (made in Thailand) just like I used to get nervous with my old 1.8 50mm made in China lens. They both feel like you could break them in the palm of your hand and the same with hoods, caps etc.

Poster, as you say, Nikon quality control is very strict and the consumer never has to worry about quality. I love my 35mm ZF Zeiss lens. As soon as open the box, its full of certificates, and a letter of inspection approval signed by hand in pen! Mind you, these ZF lenses are designed in Japan, but yes I think we should trust quality control regardless of where the lenses are made.

kanuck said:
I agree just stick with Nikon batteries they last longer, charge properly, and have good track records compared to non-Nikon brands. Why risk it? I am keeping my alternative brand as an emergency third battery.

NSXType-R, I was surprised the 50mm 1.4D was made in China also. Its such a famous lens. The 50mm 1.8, which is equally famous, is also made in China so go figure. Thailand as you probably know makes a lot of Nikon's glass and bodies now. All the nice DX stuff like 18-200, 55-200, D300, D300s etc. I don't think any glass is made in China now. Being a Canadian, I always felt a sense of pride when I discovered that Leica Leitz made M lenses in Canada in the 1980s for many years and the quality is almost indentical to those made in Germany! Just wanted to sneak that in there. :)D haha

PB PM said:
If anything Nikon is making more stuff in China now than before. The 50mm F1.4D was made in Japan for a long time, but that changed a few years ago to lower the price. Most of the DX lenses are made in China, in fact I was surprised to find that my 85mm F3.5G Micro was made in China, considering the $500+ price tag I was expecting it to be made in Thailand.

PB PM said:
Well, I can tell you that the stuff from China is not as well made as that from Thailand. Even the lens cap on the 85mm F3.5 Micro feels cheap compared the one that came with my 50mm F1.8D, I'm tempted to grab an old pinch cap from an older lens!

Good points guys. :D

Thing is though, the "Made in China" branding is something I don't really like because of the infant formula issue that they had. It most definitely has nothing to do with Nikon, I just associate it with that. But Poster, you're right, I hear Sigma's usually a hit and miss. Besides, most Macs are made in China, and most of them come out alright.

And in any case, my copy of the 35mm 1.8 is fine too and took wonderful pictures the other day.

So yeah, it's just a bad reputation thing.

Although I would expect the D300s to be built in Japan, not Thailand. It's funny how my old Nikon point and shoot is built in Japan but not my D40. :D

I guess it's only the exotic lenses and the D3 line of bodies that are built in Japan now.

On a side note, why do old film bodies have the "QC Passed" gold sticker on them? My dad's FM2 and my Mamiya both have them on it. I assume it's Quality Control, but how come they don't stick them anymore on bodies? Was it a Japanese thing only?

Well, I can tell you that the stuff from China is not as well made as that from Thailand. Even the lens cap on the 85mm F3.5 Micro feels cheap compared the one that came with my 50mm F1.8D, I'm tempted to grab an old pinch cap from an older lens!

You know what's funny?

it doesn't matter where the stuff is made. So Sigma lenses are made in japan, and yet their quality control sucks arse. You have to be lucky not to get a lemon lense.( Fortunately I was with my 50mm 1.4)

Nikon keeps very strict quality control in their manufacturing centers, it could be made by four fingered one eyed man, and if it passed the quality control of Nikon's then it's going to be sold, but if the product never gets through the quality control than we never have to worry about buying Nikon gear and fearing that we might get a lemon. That's why we should not worry where the stuff is made.

If anything Nikon is making more stuff in China now than before. The 50mm F1.4D was made in Japan for a long time, but that changed a few years ago to lower the price. Most of the DX lenses are made in China, in fact I was surprised to find that my 85mm F3.5G Micro was made in China, considering the $500+ price tag I was expecting it to be made in Thailand.

I agree just stick with Nikon batteries they last longer, charge properly, and have good track records compared to non-Nikon brands. Why risk it? I am keeping my alternative brand as an emergency third battery.

NSXType-R, I was surprised the 50mm 1.4D was made in China also. Its such a famous lens. The 50mm 1.8, which is equally famous, is also made in China so go figure. Thailand as you probably know makes a lot of Nikon's glass and bodies now. All the nice DX stuff like 18-200, 55-200, D300, D300s etc. I don't think any glass is made in China now. Being a Canadian, I always felt a sense of pride when I discovered that Leica Leitz made M lenses in Canada in the 1980s for many years and the quality is almost indentical to those made in Germany! Just wanted to sneak that in there. :)D haha

kanuck said:
I didn't mean to bash China, my 50mm 1.4D lens is made there to. I just meant that all the non nikon alternative batteries I can buy where I reside are made in China. Therefore, I guess you could ask then, are they really fake or just alternatives to the Nikon brand battery?

Don't worry, I was just joking.

Wow, the 50mm 1.4 is made there too? I would like it to be made in Thailand better, at least Nikon is well established there.

spraynpray said:
A point that nobody seems to adquately address, is why go to the bother of making a REALLY good counterfeit when you can just put cheap easy labels on it and sell it in an ordinary box as an aftermarket generic?

Dude - You must be way too honest for your own good. People don't make counterfeit batteries to just feel good about being a nikon "dealer". They make the cheapest crap, spend a few bucks on packaging (both for the battery and the box) to make it look like a Nikon battery, because you'll then buy the fake Nikon product for $25 (hey, what a deal, half off B&H prices !!). So you just spent $25 on a battery that is probably half the power of the OEM and cost the mfr about $2.

NikoDoby said:
Uh, don't mess around trying to open up a battery spraynpray! Lots of dangerous stuff inside.

The guy's name is "Spray and Pray"

I don't think your warnings will stop him.

Ah, gotcha Jonny, thanks.

Here is the last one then:

It would be this way:

<img src="http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0009.jpg" />
<img src="http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0019.jpg" />
<img src="http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0021.jpg" />

gives

I use only Nikon, no clones or 2nd party replacements. I've tried cheaper batteries with Panasonic cordless phones and they would drop calls when the battery was low, no warning, just dead. I found that brand mattered.

A lot fraud in the world. It's why it pays to know your retailer. A lot of counterfeit product look identical on the outside, but that's it. Cheaper internal components, missing functionality, no regard for safety... I wish we still had government to police these issues.

A point that nobody seems to adquately address, is why go to the bother of making a REALLY good counterfeit when you can just put cheap easy labels on it and sell it in an ordinary box as an aftermarket generic? I checked the Nikon website before contacting them because I could not see much difference at all - only the four notches in the hologram label missing (I bet the next lot have that too). The box is actually identical, they were unable to fault it at all and so it is possible perhaps that as the Nikon battery is assembled in China with Japanese cells, they may have bought some Nikon boxes from the Nikon supplier?

Here are some snaps (I hope img codes off photobucket work here), see if you can see a difference:

[IMG]http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0008.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0009.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0019.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/snapper1954/DSC_0021.jpg[/IMG]

Oops - they don't. I'm off to find out how to post pics here....

I give up! How do you post pics?

Panamon_Creel said:
Aftermarket batteries which have their brand name printed on it will likely be more reliable and true to their advertised capacity than fake counterfeit batteries.

I agree. I would never buy batteries from "flea"bay

Panamon_Creel said:
Aftermarket batteries which have their brand name printed on it will likely be more reliable and true to their advertised capacity than fake counterfeit batteries.

That's what I was trying to say earlier on. Aftermarket batteries are NOT fake batteries. Batteries that say NIKON on them (not just made for Nikon cameras), but are not really Nikon OEM batteries, are fake. It is the FAKE batteries that are almost always less than desirable.
Sure, there are lots of examples of - oh, I used a counterfeit (fake) Nikon battery for ten years and nothing happened. So what. Play Russian Roulette with s six shooter and MOST of the time, statistically, you will not shoot yourself. Doesn't make it a game I want to play.

poster said:
...
in my work we use cheopo non Nikon batteries almost exclusively, why? Because the camera's aren't our's and the company is too cheap to buy Nikon brand batteries. The batteries are abused as hell, and they work fine. Though they weren't bought on ebay. They are the kind that are compatible with Nikon xyz cameras. We bought them in a regular camera store.
...

Aftermarket batteries which have their brand name printed on it will likely be more reliable and true to their advertised capacity than fake counterfeit batteries.