[gbw7223]

Our daughter in law needs a new AC power adapter for her Canon HG10 camcorder, rendering it pretty much unusable.

The Canon replacement (CA-570) sells for around $125. In my (naive?) view, this seems pretty steep for what is essentially just a plug-in transformer and connecting wire.

Does anyone know if there is a generic alternative that is reliable but cheaper?

 

[JamesK]

Do you have the specs from the original? If you have the original, go to a place like Sayal and see if they have anything suitable. The important variables are voltage, current, polarity and connector type.

 

[gordonb]

According to the Instruction Manual from Canon USA the CA-570 Power Supply:

Rated output / consumption 8.4 V DC, 1.5 A / 29 VA (100 V) – 39 VA (240 V)

Which is a little odd. Most consumer power supplies use a motorola type plug with positive on the center pin. The issue is that the outside diameter and diameter of the inside pin can vary.

I normally like to buy genuine OEM parts but in this case the price is exorbitant.

There are, however, lots of places that take the worry out of finding a replacement unit. A quick search at my favorite Canadian on-line retailer found this one for less than a third of the cost from approved Canon Canadian Retailers.

Googling "canon ca-570 replacement" will find similar results but you might want to ask about the retailer before purchasing .

If you really want the genuine replacement part buying Canon Accesories from US bricks & mortar retailers are 33 - 50% less than Canadian retailers. B&H Photo Video, for example sells for 2/3 of the Canadian cost as does Adorama, the other 800-lb gorilla. These discrepancies are interesting seeing that Canon Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon USA.

Of course buying from the USA you have to pay for shipping via courier who will really nail you for Customs brokerage fees if you don't do the research up-front.

 

[ScaryBob]

The Canon replacement (CA-570) sells for around $125.

Ridiculous price. I recently purchased a similar replacement part for less than $10 that costs $60 from the OEM. The quality is not identical but close (different label but same ratings and physical appearance.) The price difference is typical. I've also purchased replacement parts for $5 (from China) that would cost over $100 from the OEM. There has to be a middle ground between ridiculously overpriced OEM products and taking a gamble on imported knockoffs, but I rarely find them. Some sellers import the cheap stuff and sell it domestically at a big markup that is still less than the OEM price. OTOH, I've had pretty good luck with the imported stuff and the cost/risk to benefit ratio is relatively small. Shipping can take 2-3 weeks.

A quick search on ebay turned up a 'CA-570 AC Adapter Power for Canon 570K ZR400 ZR500 ZR60' for $7.99 + $4.55 shipping.

 

[gbw7223]

Thanks Jamesk;
I am not familiar with Sayal, but I found their website and will check with them tomorrow.

 

[57]

I have also been successful on eBay or amazon (ca or com) for A/C adaptors selling for a fraction of the OEM price. However, recently I purchased two devices that can charge via USB and purchased an AC to USB plug for about $4 shipped, Canadian. If the camcorder uses USB, perhaps that's an option, or something to keep in mind for other equipment that has USB, provided you have the USB cable.

Of course if it has USB you can also plug it into a computer or USB port of a STB, etc to charge... (I bought mine for travel when I don't have a STB or computer handy.) They also make car chargers to USB.

 

[57]

Update:

I just received the AC to USB adaptor and it doesn't seem to work properly with my Sony eReader, but it works with my Garmin GPS. Perhaps these adaptors are specific for particular devices? I would have thought that any USB output would be fine since the eReader works fine with my computer's USB and with the SA8300HD USB ports. I thought these were simply 5V power...

I'm going to follow up with the seller to see what he says (Update - no feedback - I didn't expect much from a device that costs only $1 before shipping, $4 shipped.).