Panasonic DMC-ZS3 ID secure battery

[jtz54]

I bought a new Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3. The camera is great but finding a battery that works is a challenge. Ordered one on eBay for $12 that when put in the camera the screen comes up with "this battery will not work in this camera". Come to find out that Panasonic updated the firmware to detect an ID code from their battery so that aftermarket ones won't work. I ended up taking apart the one I got from eBay and indeed, there is a small circuit board with several chips inside. Anyone have any ideas or info on bypassing or modding this? Genuine Panasonic batteries are almost impossible to get becasue they are on backorder.

[Ordo]

I was lucky to buy two spare 3 part batteries in China before the new firmware and restrictions appeared. The lack of original batteries it's just a shame in a camera that eats batteries as cows eat grass. Bad service and giving a sh*** for consumers. That's it.

[jtz54]

If you search the web, you can find version 1.1 of the firmware. Panasonic website says you can't go backwards but it worked fine on mine following the upgrade instructions. After that the battery I bought on eBay for $12 worked fine. As far as I know the only change for 1.1 to 1.2 was the battery "fix". They want you to buy theirs for $40-$50 but it is backordered at almost every store!!!!

[DonalDuc]

I'm using a lot of Chinese batteries for my cameras, all okay, free shipping, 1/10 - 1/15 of price of original battery. Most of them 4-5 € (with shipping)

Funny thing:

Panasonic guarantee for battery - € 80, made in China! - THREE MONTHS

Chinese battery - € 8 - guarantee TWELFE MONTHS !

[itsme000]

Originally Posted by DonalDuc

I'm using a lot of Chinese batteries for my cameras, all okay, free shipping, 1/10 - 1/15 of price of original battery. Most of them 4-5 € (with shipping)

Funny thing:

Panasonic guarantee for battery - € 80, made in China! - THREE MONTHS

Chinese battery - € 8 - guarantee TWELFE MONTHS !

This doesn't mean anything. It simply means they'll keep sending replacement. If it's garbage, they'll just keep sending garbage time after time.

Where it's made is not the concern. Quality control employed is the concern.

I've bought a pair of generic Chinese batteries. One was DOA. The other one lasted about 1/4 as long per charge as OEM despite bearing higher sticker mAh than OEM.

When you get some no name battery, it's a hit and miss. Some are omitting protection board (prevents over charge/discharge for safety) and some don't even come close to rated capacity.

There is safety, capacity, and cycle life. Undoubtedly, there are decent quality aftermarket batteries, but the cheapest ones are not necessarily so.

[ccdd889]

Hi, Big brother...

Here i have the same problem on zs3 battery, can u tell me the detail how to order the spare battery from china... thank you very much, my email address is ccdd889@yahoo.com