GH3 extra batteries or the battery grip?

D

droid

Member
So my question is should I buy 2-3 extra batteries at $65 each or just get the battery grip for $200? If I use pro rechargeable batteries in the grip how long does it last versus the regular batteries? Sometimes I record long events, 60-90 minutes straight. Thanks! I just opened my camera, I haven't even stuck a card in her yet! Can't wait!

Andrew
 
It's not either/or - it's both. If you are doing long events, then absolutely you should get the grip, because the way it works is that you can set the GH3 to first use the grip battery and then use the internal battery, so you have continuous power. The grip uses the same exact battery. So you have to buy a battery anyway. I bought the grip and it came with two extra batteries and a charger in an ebay deal (a Chinese knockoff). So I now have 3 batteries. This is perfect from my point of view, because I could theoretically use it non-stop: put a fresh battery in the GH3 and in the grip, then as the grip battery exhausts and it switches to the GH3 internal battery, I pop out the grip battery and pop in the third battery in the grip, and the exhausted battery goes to the charger and by the time the other two exhaust, I got the third one charged up again and the loop continues. Bottom line - grip and three batteries total covers you. As it is, everyone reports that the GH3 is very good with power management, and the battery really lasts a long time. I think the GH3 is great when it comes to power.
 
droid said:
So my question is should I buy 2-3 extra batteries at $65 each or just get the battery grip for $200?
Click to expand...

The grip holds two batteries, and provides you with an excellent grip to hold the camera vertically when shooting still photos.

Also, you can buy generic batteries for $20 or less that work quite well in the GH3. ( just use a Panasonic battery when upgrading the camera firmware )
 
TheDingo said:
The grip holds two batteries, and provides you with an excellent grip to hold the camera vertically when shooting still photos.

Also, you can buy generic batteries for $20 or less that work quite well in the GH3. ( just use a Panasonic battery when upgrading the camera firmware )
Click to expand...

The grip holds one battery. You can have one battery in the camera and one in the grip. Set the camera to use the grips battery first then if you really need to, you can replace the grips battery while the camera battery takes over. Saying that, with two batteries you should be able to shoot all day without having to do a battery change as the GH3 is excellent on batteries.

To the OP, the GH3 should be able to shoot continuosly for 2-3 hours on the one battery easily. For piece of mind on long recordings though, I'd use the grip considering how affordable the ebay versions are.
 
TheDingo said:
The grip holds two batteries, and provides you with an excellent grip to hold the camera vertically when shooting still photos.

Also, you can buy generic batteries for $20 or less that work quite well in the GH3. ( just use a Panasonic battery when upgrading the camera firmware )
Click to expand...

Just to clarify for those who may be wondering - the grip itself holds only one battery, the other battery is in the GH3 body. In other words, the maximum number of batteries you can have at one time in the GH3 + Battery Grip (DMW-BGGH3) combo is - 2:

"The Battery Grip for Lumix DMC-GH3 Digital Camera from Panasonic is designed for the Panasonic GH3 digital mirrorless camera and accepts one Lithium-Ion battery in addition to the battery in the camera body. With two batteries installed, your shooting time is effectively doubled."
 
aldolega said:
The grip holds one battery.
Click to expand...

Yes, my mistake.

I knew that the grip enabled a maximum of two batteries, but I kept thinking that the grip took over the camera battery compartment like many of the Canon / Nikon grips do.
( I only use the grip for still photo work, which is about 5 percent of my work these days )
 
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