GH3 Get the GH3 Battery Grip... it's worth it.

I just noticed a 3rd party battery grip for the GH3 on ebay. They have a buy it now price of 99 for a grip, two batteries and a charger, or a buy it now price of $72 for just the grip. Free shipping from Hong Kong. Search ebay for "DSTE DMW-BGGH3 Battery Grip"

DSTE DMW-BGGH3 Battery Grip
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DSTE-DMW-BGGH3-Battery-Grip-Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GH3-Camera-/171092446292?pt=US_Camera_Battery_Grips&hash=item27d5e78c54
 
davidp158 said:
I just noticed a 3rd party battery grip for the GH3 on ebay. They have a buy it now price of 99 for a grip, two batteries and a charger, or a buy it now price of $72 for just the grip. Free shipping from Hong Kong. Search ebay for "DSTE DMW-BGGH3 Battery Grip"

DSTE DMW-BGGH3 Battery Grip
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DSTE-DMW-BGGH3-Battery-Grip-Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GH3-Camera-/171092446292?pt=US_Camera_Battery_Grips&hash=item27d5e78c54
Click to expand...

Great Scott! Nice find. I've been waiting for a cheaper version of this for the longest time! I literally just bought one.
 
Noah Truth said:
Great rig. Anyone know if you can use a 3rd party FF? Their components are a bit on the pricey side.
Click to expand...

Their FF is a regular 15mm mount unit. Any FF that mounts to 15mm rails should work fine.

Their prices are actually pretty reasonable. Some companies charge $500+ just for a baseplate with no rails or shoulder pad. edelkrone are an innovative company with some great designs. Considering you are getting a baseplate, shoulder mount and 15mm rails in an innovative package that the Indian and Chinese companies couldn't dream of coming up with, I think it's worth every penny. If we all just bought the cheap knock offs, there would be no incentive for companies like edelkrone to innovate and make our tools better.

Just my 2c.
 
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davidp158 said:
I just noticed a 3rd party battery grip for the GH3 on ebay. They have a buy it now price of 99 for a grip, two batteries and a charger, or a buy it now price of $72 for just the grip. Free shipping from Hong Kong. Search ebay for "DSTE DMW-BGGH3 Battery Grip"

DSTE DMW-BGGH3 Battery Grip
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DSTE-DMW-BGGH3-Battery-Grip-Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GH3-Camera-/171092446292?pt=US_Camera_Battery_Grips&hash=item27d5e78c54
Click to expand...

Thanks for this, just bought the $98.99 deal - well worth it! I'll give a report when I receive it.
 
OldCorpse - Please post a review when you receive it. I've studied the on-line photos, and it looks exactly like the Panasonic product. Maybe they are the OEM for Panasonic, or its just a really good knock-off. If the fit and build quality is good, I will buy one.
 
Hey guys,

Just to let you know, mine came in the post today. It works great. Feels great, solidly built. I don't have an actual Panasonic one to compare it to and it does feel a wee bit plastic compared to the GH3 body, but I'm more than happy with it regardless. The GH3 is a small camera so the extra bulk is very much welcome. No way I could justify splashing out for the cost of the official one, waaay overpriced.
 
Mike - From the photos I've seen, the unit looks identical to the Panasonic unit. I'm wondering if this comes from the same factory. Does the offset tripod screw hole cause problems when panning on a tripod? I would think it could be an issue, albeit a minor one.
 
I suppose it will pose a problem if mounting to a rail system as the lens will not be inline with the rails.
 
OK, so I received the battery grip today. On the whole I'm fine with it - I don't have the original Panasonic one to compare to, but it seems solid enough. One slight annoyance is that I can't quite get it to hold rock solid because it's just one screw, so there is a bit of a rattle every time you move it around, instead of being solid-flush against the camera. But it works perfectly, the battery in the grip is recognized and all is well. I tried all the controls on the grip and they all work - very nice. I got the $99 deal with the battery charger and two extra batteries; the charger seems to work fine, I managed to charge one of the new batteries and it's recognized by the camera, so far so good. How good the batteries are, I can't tell, because I've just charged one and have not used it up as yet.

The downside, as has been surmised already, is the off-center attachment hole - don't know why they did it, but it's a problem for rails, and can be annoying even on a tripod.

Overall, it's been worth the $99, but I wouldn't pay more.
 
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OldCorpse - Glad to hear you're pleased with the grip. I was hoping that the the two pins that stick into the body would stabilize the unit when attached. I don't like to over-tighten attachments, for fear of stripping theads to the tripod screw hole. Maybe a thin rubber pad could be placed between the grip and the camera for a more stabilized contact?

Regarding 3rd party batteries, I have one and it seems to last about 3 1/2 hours compared to the 4 1/2-5 hours that I get with the OEM Panasonic battery. I'm really pleased that the 3rd party battery life shows up on the GH3's display.

Too bad about the offset tripod hole. Is it very noticeable when doing a wide tripod pan with medium to distant objects? I suppose it could be a problem with close foreground objects.
 
Haven't noticed a problem with distant/medium pans, but it can be an issue with very close objects, because the offset is pretty big.
 
I just received mine from Ebay today. I think it's a keeper! Great deal and it fits nice and tight, feels good in the portrait position for stills. I'm pretty happy.
 
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