Capacity in watt-hours is the figure that travels, and it is printed on the cell

The best camera batteries for 2026

A spare battery is bought against a named body and nothing else: the pack designation is the specification, and physical similarity between two makers' cells means nothing about voltage or contacts. Capacity appears in two forms and both are useful. Milliampere-hours is the number printed largest; watt-hours is the one that actually compares two packs of different voltages, and it is the figure airlines use, which makes it the number worth reading before a flight. Voltage is fixed by the body and is not a place to economise. The quiet issue on this shelf is communication: many camera makers put a chip in their packs so the body can report a percentage, a cycle count and a temperature, and third-party cells vary from full compatibility to a body that refuses the pack after a firmware update. Listings that name the firmware versions tested are being unusually candid. Then the practical questions: whether a charger is included and whether it is a dual bay, whether the pack can be charged in-camera over USB, and what the maker says about cell origin and protection circuitry. Stated shot counts belong to the camera rather than the battery, and are measured under a published standard rather than in the field. We compare bodies named, capacity in mAh and watt-hours, voltage, chip communication described, charger contents and stated protection.

The accessories that earn their place in the bag

1. 

   Fosmon LP-E8 replacement, 7.4 V, 2000 mAh

   Twelve euros for a 2000 mAh LP-E8 replacement at 7.4 volts — the highest capacity on this shelf, with a chip against overcharging and no charger.

   Bodies named

   NINE, in the first and fifth bullets — Canon EOS 550D, 600D and 650D; Rebel T2i, T3i, T4i and T5i; Kiss X5 and EOS Kiss X6i. Those are the same cameras under European, American and Japanese names, which makes the list shorter than it looks and more useful than a bare part number: a buyer with a Rebel T3i need not know it is a 600D

   Capacity in mAh and watt-hours

   2000 mAh, in the third bullet — THE HIGHEST FIGURE ON THIS SHELF, against 1500 for both Sony replacements and 1100 for the NEEWER. No watt-hour figure is published, and 2000 mAh at 7.4 V is about 14.8 Wh, which the page leaves for the reader. Canon’s own LP-E8 is rated lower than this, and a third-party cell claiming more capacity than the original is a claim to weigh rather than to trust outright

   Voltage

   7.4 V, in the third bullet. Matching the original voltage is the non-negotiable part of a replacement: a body expects 7.4 V from an LP-E8 and will not tolerate otherwise

   Chip communication described

   PARTIALLY: the fourth bullet names an integrated microchip that prevents overcharging and extends battery life. What it does NOT say is whether the chip reports a charge percentage to the camera — which is the difference between a battery showing three bars and one showing an exclamation mark. Two batteries on this shelf are equally vague, and none is explicit

   Charger contents

   NONE. The fifth bullet describes a replacement battery in Fosmon retail packaging, and nothing else. At 12 € it is the bare cell, for a body whose own charger already exists

   Stated protection

   Overcharge protection only, via the chip. The 29 € ENEGON and 36 € NEEWER on this shelf both publish four or five protections — over-voltage, over-current, short circuit, overheating

   Amazon reference

   B008JFBIGS (same reference on 6 Amazon marketplaces)

   EAN

   0879562228937

   • Two thousand milliamp-hours, the highest capacity on this shelf
   • Nine body names across European, American and Japanese conventions
   • No watt-hour figure, and no charger

   Best for: A Canon 550D through 650D that already has its charger and needs a spare cell for the price of two coffees.

   ≈ £9 / 12 €

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2. 

   DuraPro Two NP-FW50, 7.2 V, 1500 mAh, fourteen bodies

   Two NP-FW50 cells at 7.2 V and 1500 mAh for 23 €, with fourteen Sony bodies named — and nothing said about chips or protection.

   Bodies named

   FOURTEEN individual models plus two whole ranges, in the title and the first bullet: the Alpha a6300, a6000, a7, a7s, a7s II, a7r, a7r II, a3000, a5000, a5100 and a7 II, the NEX-7, NEX-6, NEX-F3, NEX-3 and NEX-5, and the SLT-A and Alpha series generally. It is the longest compatibility list on this shelf

   Capacity in mAh and watt-hours

   1500 mAh, in the third bullet, with NO watt-hour figure. At 7.2 V that is about 10.8 Wh. Sony’s own NP-FW50 is rated near 1020 mAh, so 1500 is a substantial claim — and the same figure the 29 € ENEGON publishes, which at least makes the two comparable

   Voltage

   7.2 V, in the third bullet — the NP-FW50 standard, and correctly matched

   Chip communication described

   NOT AT ALL. This is the specification that matters most on a Sony body and the page is silent: Sony cameras read a chip in the battery to show a charge percentage rather than three bars, and a cell without proper communication shows a warning or refuses to report. Four batteries on this shelf say something about their electronics; this one says nothing

   Charger contents

   NONE. The fifth bullet is unambiguous — the package contains two NP-FW50 batteries. No charger, no cable, no case

   Stated protection

   NONE NAMED. The fourth bullet offers high energy density, extra long life and freedom from memory effect, which are properties rather than protections. The 29 € ENEGON lists five circuits by name

   Amazon reference

   B07T1HSTL8 (same reference on 2 Amazon marketplaces)

   EAN

   0682559638202

   • Two cells for 23 €, the cheapest per battery on this shelf
   • Fourteen Sony bodies named individually, plus two ranges
   • Nothing at all about chip communication, on Sony bodies that expect it

   Best for: A Sony NEX or Alpha body that already has a charger, where two spare cells for 23 € matter more than a percentage readout.

   ≈ 23 €

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3. 

   ENEGON Two NP-FW50 with USB-C ports, 1500 mAh, 7.62 Wh

   Two NP-FW50 cells with USB-C sockets of their own, 1500 mAh and 7.62 Wh published, five protections named — no charger needed at all, for 29 €.

   Bodies named

   Seventeen models and three ranges, in the first and third bullets, from the ZV-E10 through the NEX series to the a7R II and RX10 II — with a note that the full compatibility list is in the description rather than the bullets

   Capacity in mAh and watt-hours

   THE ONLY COMPLETE FIGURE ON THIS SHELF: 1500 mAh AND 7.62 Wh at 7.4 V, in the first and fifth bullets. Watt-hours are what airlines use and what makes cells of different voltages comparable. The fourth bullet, however, says 1600 mAh — contradicting the 1500 published twice elsewhere on the same page, and adding a claim of about 600 photographs

   Voltage

   7.4 V, in the fourth bullet. Worth noting: the 23 € DuraPro publishes 7.2 V for the same NP-FW50 pattern, and both figures circulate for this cell

   Chip communication described

   Not as camera reporting — but the fifth bullet describes LED INDICATORS on the cells themselves: green when fully charged, red while charging. That tells the user the state of charge without the camera, which is a different and genuinely useful answer to the same question

   Charger contents

   NO CHARGER IS NEEDED, and that is the product: each cell carries its OWN USB-C PORT, in the first bullet, so any phone cable, power bank, laptop, car socket or wall charger fills it. A 2-IN-1 USB-C CABLE is supplied to charge two cells — or a cell and a phone — at once, per the second bullet

   Stated protection

   FIVE circuits, named individually in the fifth bullet: over-voltage, over-current, short circuit, overheating and overcharge, in a construction described as fire-resistant. It is the fullest protection statement on this shelf

   Amazon reference

   B0CQ4F3G6W (same reference on 6 Amazon marketplaces)

   EAN

   0721295891226

   • A USB-C port in each cell, so no dedicated charger is needed at all
   • Fifteen hundred milliamp-hours AND 7.62 watt-hours — the only complete figure here
   • The fourth bullet says 1600 mAh where the first and fifth say 1500

   Best for: Travelling with a Sony body and no room for another charger, where a phone cable and a power bank are already in the bag.

   ≈ £35 / 27 €

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4. 

   NEEWER Two cells plus a dual LCD charger, 1100 mAh, 8.1 Wh

   Two cells and a twin charger with an LCD readout for 36 € — the only charger on this shelf, and the only capacity published with its watt-hours and nothing contradicting them.

   Bodies named

   Fourteen models and one range, in the fourth bullet: the ZV-E10, a7, a7R, a7R II, a7 II, a7S II, a7S, a3000, a5000, a6000, a6300, a6400, a6500 and the RX10 series

   Capacity in mAh and watt-hours

   1100 mAh and 8.1 W, both in the first bullet — and unlike the 29 € ENEGON here, no second figure contradicts them. Eleven hundred milliamp-hours is the LOWEST capacity on this shelf and the CLOSEST to Sony’s own rating of about 1020 mAh, which is the more credible position for a third-party cell to take

   Voltage

   NOT PUBLISHED. Every other battery on this shelf gives 7.2 or 7.4 V, and this page gives watt-hours and milliamp-hours without the volts between them — 8.1 Wh over 1100 mAh implies about 7.4 V, which the reader has to derive

   Chip communication described

   Not described. The charger’s LCD reports the state of each cell instead, which answers the question outside the camera rather than inside it

   Charger contents

   A DUAL CHARGER WITH AN LCD DISPLAY — the only charger on this shelf. The first and third bullets give the detail: 2.1 A charging, micro-USB OR USB-C input, and power from a wall charger, a car charger or an external power bank, with the display clearly showing each battery’s charge state. The second bullet adds that the set triples the camera’s running time

   Stated protection

   FOUR circuits, in the fifth bullet: overcharge, short circuit, overheating and over-voltage, in a high-quality fire-resistant construction. One fewer than the ENEGON’s five, and four more than the DuraPro’s none

   Amazon reference

   B07QWP7KTB (same reference on 6 Amazon marketplaces)

   EAN

   0191073100701

   • A dual charger with an LCD showing each cell’s state, alone on this shelf
   • Two point one amp charging from micro-USB or USB-C, wall, car or power bank
   • No voltage published, alone on this shelf

   Best for: A Sony body with no charger at all, or one whose original has been lost — the set that arrives complete.

   ≈ $33 / £30 / 36 €

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5. 

   Canon LP-E17 — three bullets, no capacity, no voltage

   Forty-one euros for Canon’s own LP-E17, from a page that publishes no capacity, no voltage and no camera — the same three words it prints on its hoods and caps.

   Bodies named

   NONE. Not one camera is named, on a battery whose whole identity is which bodies take it. The LP-E17 belongs to the EOS 750D, 760D, 800D, 77D, 200D, 250D, RP and R8 among others — and a buyer has to know that before arriving

   Capacity in mAh and watt-hours

   NEITHER IS PUBLISHED. Four third-party cells on this shelf publish 2000, 1500, 1500 and 1100 mAh, and two add watt-hours. The original publishes nothing, which makes it the only battery here that cannot be compared with any other on capacity

   Voltage

   NOT PUBLISHED

   Chip communication described

   Not described — and this is the irony of the page. An original Canon cell is precisely the one that reports its charge as a percentage, its remaining life and its serial number to the body, which is the main reason to pay 41 € rather than 12. The listing never mentions it

   Charger contents

   None, and not mentioned

   Stated protection

   None. The three bullets are: durable; flexible design; quality and durability. They are the identical three bullets Canon publishes for its ES-68 lens hood and its E-58II lens cap in this catalogue — a template applied to three unrelated products

   Amazon reference

   B00T3ESRTU (same reference on 6 Amazon marketplaces)

   EAN

   4549292020984

   • The original cell, which reports charge and battery health to the body properly
   • The part number LP-E17 identifies it unambiguously
   • Three bullets, and the same three Canon prints on its hoods and caps

   Best for: A Canon body whose battery readout and firmware compatibility should be beyond question, bought by part number.

   ≈ $65 / £45 / 41 €

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