For the past several tradeshows that I have been to, Canon has featured a great little display that asks you to identify counterfeit Canon products placed alongside genuine Canon products. The counterfeits look so convincing that I could not tell one from the other without further tips from Canon on spotting the differences.
You can see the counterfeit products highlighted in red in the image below.
Canon says that the 10 most commonly counterfeited accessories are:
- NB-8L battery
- NB-6L battery
- NB-4L battery
- LP-E8 battery
- NB-5L battery
- LP-E6 battery
- CB-2LV charger
- LP-E5 battery
- NB-7L battery
- CB-2LA charger
Canon offers some tips to help identify counterfeit products on an adjacent display.
The tips note that you may have a counterfeit if:
- The logo and/or printing on the battery is blurry
- The product uses a different font style
- The packaging uses a different “Canon Red”
- The accessory has a different hologram
- The price for it is unusually low
- the accessory comes in cheap packaging
- The product lacks a users’ manual
- The battery or accessory doesn’t fit easily
- The battery or charger overheats
- The battery or charger doesn’t hold a charge.
To avoid the chances of ending up with a counterfeit accessory, Canon urges customers to purchase from authorized dealers or directly from Canon. While lower performance or improper fit may be an issue with counterfeit products, there is also a legitimate safety concern with counterfeit products. Several have damaged other products with which they have been used. Additionally, there is the risk of fire or personal injury, particularly when dealing with batteries and chargers.
You can get more info about counterfeit Canon products and how to determine if you have received one here on Canon USA’s website.
Hard to tell from the poor quality photos.
#5 is funny. Instead they should say the price was unreasonable reasonable.
If Canon reduced it’s over inflated prices for these products then Joe public would always order from Canon direct instead of trawling the internet for the cheapest option.
I agree with Matthew. Canon milks us just too much. One doesn’t even have to compare Canon with counterfeited stuff. Let’s compare with third party products. Canon’s grips are 2-3x more expensive than Vivitar or alike. Why? Material is pretty much the same plastic which is cheap as dirt. A few tiny pieces of metal… really nothing to it! I can understand lenses or cameras but those silly accessories should not be so expensive.
Unreasonable reasonable? Lol. You are right Mark!