Benjamin Franklin had a saying that told us not to despise small gains nor ignore small expenses. He would have loved the Jupio brand of camera batteries.
Lithium-ion batteries are the basic building blocks of digital operation. No battery life, no camera operation, no pictures. Every camera and many flashes need these batteries to give a usable time for a shoot.
The amount of shots you get - or the amount of time a video will operate - is related to the drain on the battery as much as it is to the actual capacity. Some cameras are electricity hogs - and they'll get greedier if you turn on extra features or screens. It really can make a difference if you shut off a back screen and only use an EVF - or better - an optical viewfinder.
Every camera we buy will have a battery included - a manufacturer's model that corresponds to the design of the body and presumably maximises the shoot or play time. Most good cameras will also come with battery chargers so that you can recover this capacity once it is spent. If you don't get one, you can buy after-market chargers quite readily. I like the Hahnel dual ones myself, but as I have four of the regular Fujifilm chargers dotted about the home and studio, I don't need more.
The makers of each camera will abjure you to only use their proprietary batteries and avoid the " dangers " of after-market types. There seem to be few explosions or bloodbaths associated with cheaper batteries, but you take your advice where you get it. I have used both originals and substitutes and the house is still standing.
In one case a battery did not retain a charge quite as long as the standard ones - but it was only by a small margin. And it was quite a long time into the use-cycle before this turned up.
It can also be put forth as an objection that "other" batteries might tend to swell with the build-up of hydrogen gas within their sealed case. Only ever saw this twice - and one time was a major maker's offering. So the verdict from me is that the other-maker battery is a viable alternative in many cases. As it can come at a lower price, it may be a real benefit for the person who has to maintain a number of batteries in an outfit. So the Jupios may be just what you and your pocketbook are looking for.
Note: I took a notion one time to number my W-126 batteries from one to eight - I used a Dymo machine to make thin tapes for this. Then one day one of the labels decided to do a fold-over in one end and this stuck inside the compartment of a camera. It was a session of brain surgery with little knives and bad language to unstick it and get the battery out for recharging. Imagine if it had been in the middle of a dance or wedding shoot when I needed a fast change!
I quickly peeled off all the other labels.
