Did I just buy a Counterfeit LP-E6NH?

[matheushill]

Hi everyone, I'm from Brazil where camera equipment and accessories are double the normal price, so I was shopping around for new batteries and decided on buying from a well trusted site, but that started operating as a marketplace recently, so these batteries came from a third party.

What I noticed about them is that the plastic seems cheaper than my 3 original LP-E6, the fitting of the halves are bad, as is the fitting from that orange cover.

The holographic sticker also doesn't turn green and is off centered, although it features the "canon" and "genuine" words as you move them.

Both also feature the same serial number on the back "2021036A".

Did I buy fakes?No green on the holographicSame serial number on bothPoor fittingPackaging

[wq9nsc · Accepted solution]

The holographic sticker should be highly reflective, use sunlight and it should sparkle and then change color as you rotate it off axis.  If it doesn't, that is a very strong indication they are counterfeit.  They may well have come off the same line in the Chinese factory as the legit products and may be of the same quality but that is an unknown with fakes.

I believe that number on the back is a date code instead of a serial number; to see the serial number put it in your camera and check battery info.

The LP-E6NH (my Canon 5DS and 5DS R use these) is the only time that I have switched from buying OEM batteries because I have been highly unimpressed with them.  The last two Canon LP-E6NH batteries I bought (from Adorama) were both replaced under warranty shortly after I got them because they refused to accept a charge; they self-discharged sitting out of the camera in a couple of weeks.  I could force them to start charging by using one of my benchtop power supplies to trickle charge them a little bit before then putting them into the charger but I wouldn't trust those two in the field again.  Prior to those I had 3 LP-E6N and NH batteries that died within two years of pretty light use since my 1DX series bodies are the ones I use the most.

The Canon batteries for the 1D Mark II I bought long ago along with my 1DX, 1DX II, and 1DX III bodies have always been flawless but I have seen early death from multiple LP-E6 family batteries that were properly maintained.  Canon released info about ways to try to force the LP-E6 series packs to charge after the owner was greeted with the fast flashing charge error light which is a strong indication that it has been a fairly common problem with this family. 

So at this point I have been happily using third party batteries in place of the LP-E6NH packs.  I don't mind paying high prices for quality parts but I wasn't getting that quality in the LP-E6NH line.  I suspect the issue is with Canon's "too clever by half" charge management because as the label indicates the cells themselves are Panasonic and those are of high quality.  I have several third party LP-E6 packs that are now past three years old and working without complaint.

Rodger

[Waddizzle]

I suspect a production date code is in the lower left corner.

[matheushill]

Yeah, the holo won't change to green even in the sun.

I also charged one to the point were my charger said it was full, and as I put in the camera the battery info said it was at only 88% capacity. I put the second one also, and while the codes are different, one is 7 digits and the other is 8 digits.Charger said the top one was Full. Also 7digit and 8digit serials.

[Waddizzle]

---

@matheushill wrote:

Yeah, the holo won't change to green even in the sun.

I also charged one to the point were my charger said it was full, and as I put in the camera the battery info said it was at only 88% capacity. I put the second one also, and while the codes are different, one is 7 digits and the other is 8 digits.Charger said the top one was Full. Also 7digit and 8digit serials.

---

Do your batteries report their recharge performance, from the previous screen?  Most counterfeits report a date, not battery health.

[Waddizzle]

If you are referring to number(s) on the top right, then I do not believe those are the serial number of the battery.  Here is a photo of the two batteries in my R6II.  One came in the box with the camera, while the other is a spare.  

The batteries were purchased at the same time from B&H.  I have lost track as to which is which.  My labels do look different from yours.  I cannot draw any conclusions.  I have other LP-E6NH batteries that I can check, too.  I am guess the top battery is the spare.  I do not recall what the packaging looked like for the spare battery.

[matheushill]

I was referring to the one in the little box on the bottom left. Yours are both different, as well as the labels. Mine seem to be fakes, I just talked to the company for a refund. Thanks!

[Waddizzle]

I believe the codes in the lower left are production date codes, not serial numbers.  Those stamps are not the serial numbers reported by the camera.  Mine are different because they likely came from different production runs.  Yours may be from the same production run.

I cannot draw any conclusions regarding your batteries.  My other batteries are all LP-E6, LP-E6N, or Dr Watson.

[shadowsports]

The holograms on the outside of his packaging look different from mine.  Mine only says Canon once in larger letters.  They change color correctly in sunlight.  

My EAN/JAN and UPC match his (back of box) as does the MC # at the bottom.  

I'm using 3 Canon OEM and 3 Watson's at the moment.

I cut and use a little piece of blue tape with a number to keep track of them.  I stick the number on when I start using them.  

I also just received a Battery Grip from B&H which was Gray Market.  Warranty Card was Australia / New Zealand.  It was a brand new authentic product, but no way could I register it here.  B&H is graciously replacing it.  They even paid for the return shipping.  

[matheushill]

One thing that I noticed on all examples of genuine canon batteries that I found is that the Canon logo on the holographic sticker is centered and the stickers themselves are perfectly centered in their little recess, mine are off and poorly placed.

I wrote in silver sharpie on mine old LP-E6 to know which one is which.