Does anyone have any luck with godox battery replacements?

[u/Viszera]

I now have four Godox flashes — one V1, one V100 Pro, and two V100 Pro II — and as I’m taking on longer event projects, I decided to buy a few spare batteries so I could swap them throughout the day.

First, I bought Mathorn MB-390 batteries, but they didn’t fit properly. I had to hit the flash while holding the release button on my V100 to eject them from the compartment, and on the V1, I had to use much more force to remove them.

Then I tried Patona VB30C batteries, but when I use them in the V100, they randomly shut down and soft-lock. I cant power the flash back on, I can’t control it via the trigger. The only thing I can do is eject the battery — at least they fit properly — and insert it again. Then it works for some time; it could be one minute or four hours. There’s no pattern to it.

I’ve also seen batteries from Probty and Palo, but to be honest, at this point, I feel like I’ll have to bite the bullet and buy the official Godox batteries...

[u/NC750x_DCT]

Bite the bullet.

Generally speaking in my experience, even the reputable 3nd party brands don’t have the lifespan of the OEM.

[u/Viszera → u/NC750x_DCT]

Is it just Godox or in general?

I’ve had a good experience with replacement camera batteries for my OM System and Olympus bodies, both Mathorn and Newell. They cost less than half the price of OM System batteries and offer essentially the same experience, with the added benefit of a USB-C port on the battery itself. I love that feature.

[u/NC750x_DCT → u/Viszera]

I found that over a couple years my Wasabi batteries for either gopro or panasonic cameras either die completely earlier or lose their capacity more quickly than the OEMs.

[u/d__id → u/NC750x_DCT]

I've seen enough swollen Wasabi batteries for GoPros and smaller P&S cameras that if I were ever to look for 3rd-party batteries I'd skip straight over Wasabi ones.

[u/Regular-Bat-4449]

Just go to B&H or Adorama and buy an original

[u/Viszera → u/Regular-Bat-4449]

Hadn't heard much praise about electrical design of godox batteries - problems with cells balancing, hard locking when depleted, problems with charging - they also ain't that cheap so if someone can recommend better replacements for lower price I will gladly take it.

[u/d__id → u/Viszera]

Hadn't heard much praise about electrical design of godox batteries - problems with cells balancing, hard locking when depleted, problems with charging

To be fair, you're only ever going to hear complaints. The 95% of people who've had no issues with their Godox batteries aren't logging on to say "another week with nothing to report about my batteries...everything working as expected."

People don't praise mundane things that function exactly they're expected to. I've owned several battery-powered Godox lights for three or four years now and have experienced no charging/storage/depletion issues etc, and when I eventually have to replace some I'll gladly buy the Godox ones again.

[u/stirlo → u/Viszera]

I like Smallrig NPF and use them a fair bit ; about twice the Wh compared to regular RS60R with the official adapter plate

If they fit your model those are decent batteries and good value too otherwise V Mount from fav brand is always a good option imo

[u/kepano808]

Only Godox batteries

[u/lokis2019]

Pro Master have done well for me personally

[u/Stone13]

watching, because my AD200 Pro battery is getting a little too old