OM SYSTEMBLX-1 - Rechargable Lithium-Ion Battery for OM SYSTEM OM-1 Camera

Perfect and lasts well out in the field

original Olympus battery at a fair price

Good news: powers the camera for several hours.Bad news: the price compared to other vendors (incl. some with good reputation).

The BLX-1 battery has been created for the latest [as of 2024] OM-Digital mirrorless Micro-Four-Thirds camera bodies. It is well made and although I have not owned any long enough to give a view as to potential capacity fade with time, but so far the amount of use - the number of shots and active, switch-on time, and performance all appear good. Before I get to a more detailed review, however, I wanted to offer a word of warning to anyone considering buying a third-party battery.A few years ago I was invested in the Canon ecosystem and a work colleague persuaded me that I could "save a lot of money" by purchasing 3rd-party batteries for my camera. One day I was attending a county fair that included a falconry display, and I was shooting in C-AF mode with my camera, taking bursts of shots in groups of say 15-20 at a time. I started to feel my right hand getting hot on the camera grip... and when I investigated discovered that a brand new third party battery was overheating, likely because of the draw that continuous shooting was causing.Another reason for using original batteries concerns the performance/specification of the compatible units. Also with a Canon camera [7D] I found that I had an issue with auto-focus accuracy during C-AF operation. In the end I gave up on the camera and sold it. I later discovered from a friend who owned the same model that the issue with focus lag was caused by the fact that a single 7D battery was simply not capable of driving the camera and the big Canon L-Series lenses... which is why the Canon "Pro" range always uses huge batteries. He solved the issue by purchasing a portrait grip and adding a second battery.OK, to the review of the BLX-1:-Positives:+ Very well made+ Designed and built to operate with the OM-Digital M43 range+ Nice increase in capacity [and therefore shots] compared with my Olympus OM-D EM-1 Mk IINegatives:- Outrageously, offensively expensive for what it is. To give you a like-for-like comparison... at the time of writing this battery is retailing on Amazon for £79. A couple of weeks ago I purchased 2 extra 5.5Ah batteries for my Makita 18v cordless tools... and I paid £65 each, again from Amazon. The Makita batteries have *far* more capacity, *far* more power [they have something like 8x the volume of the BLX-1] and they are designed and built to withstand use on building sites... OM Digital are ripping off customers at this price.- Change for change's sake. When I put the BLX-1 battery side-by-side with my Olympus-original, the changes are trivial... The BLX-1 runs at 7.2v, the BLH-1 at 7.4. The BLX-1 provides 2280mAh / 17Wh of capacity; the BLH-1 provides 1720 and 12.8, respectively. But the biggest difference here is that the BLX-1 has adopted a "rounded shoulder" profile, a lot like the batteries in my old EOS 7D... which means that the BLH-1 batteries simply won't fit. This means that if I take 2 bodies out for a day's shooting [to quickly switch between mounted lenses] I have to take 2 complete sets of batteries. It means I have to run 2 sets of chargers. It means I have to invest in more batteries.Sum-UpI appreciate that OM-Digital are a separate company, but if they want customers to be loyal to the brand, then the brand needs to be loyal to customers. And two of the most important elements of that - apart from producing good quality gear - is to charge fair prices and offer rational upgrade/migration paths. OM-Digital are doing neither of those things with the BLX-1, which is why they only deserve 3 stars.

This is the genuine Olympus battery for the OM-1, so there will be little doubt about the quality; but it is expensive for what it is, just like any other Olympus kit. I suppose you're paying for peace of mind. Recommended.

my battery went wrong would not hold a charge, i have had to send it back to get a refund, i have neverknown a genuine om/olmpus batterery to fail, this battery has, i have an olymus battery from 2012 and it still charges, get a genuine battery.

A must have spare battery. Works as well as my other. I miss having a battery charger and the price is fixed,