GH3 Is there a GH3 cage that works with the battery grip?

Jaime Valles

Jaime Valles

Veteran
Hey, folks!

Just curious if anyone knows about a cage for the GH3 that works with the battery grip installed. I ask this because I find the grip very handy, and doubles the battery life of the camera. But since the tripod mount on the grip is off center, I can't use any regular baseplates or rods, etc.

If there isn't one available, it looks like a good opportunity for some enterprising company to make one. Heck, I'd settle for a baseplate that corrects the tripod mount on the bottom of the grip!

Cheers!

:2vrolijk_08:
 
Personally I'm hoping that one of the (hopefully) inevitable generic grips fixes the off-center mount.

But to be honest, is using the grip for the extra battery capacity really worth it when you'll have to take the camera out of the cage, and then the grip off of the camera, to change the second battery? True, you could just leave that battery in and keep changing the battery in the grip, but is that really worth the height/weight/hassle of using the grip?
 
Yeah, that's just it. You can leave the one battery in the camera and swap out the grip battery in seconds. But the point of having the grip is to not have to swap batteries at all! This is why I'm interested in someone figuring out how to center the tripod hole on the grip with a plate or cage of some sort.
 
Just out of interest, what type of batteries are you using? If they are genuine Panasonic batteries, I can generally shoot the best part of a full day with the one battery and definitely no more than 1 battery change needed per day.

I know we all shoot in different ways but the GH3 is pretty efficient on batteries that I don't see 1 or 2 battery changes really warranting the use of the grip.
 
The Wooden Camera Dslr cage allows for battery grip use. There is an additional part required, an offset adapter.
 
aldolega said:
Personally I'm hoping that one of the (hopefully) inevitable generic grips fixes the off-center mount.
Click to expand...

I purchased a generic grip over the weekend, based on this link, found by another poster:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DSTE-DMW-BGGH3-Battery-Grip-Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GH3-Camera-/171092446292?pt=US_Camera_Battery_Grips&hash=item2 7d5e78c54

They're indicating 7-15 working days for shipping, it supposedly shipped today according to the message I got from the seller through ebay, so we'll see. By the look of the photo, this is a knockoff of the original (or maybe they manufacture it for the OEM), and it doesn't seem as if the screw is centered :( - but it was still a good deal.

xenogears said:
A cage for DLSR cameras with battery grip, nice builded and cheap:
http://www.photographyandcinema.com.../products/gearbox-video-camera-accessory-cage
Click to expand...

I have that P&C cage, as well as this Kamerar Tank cage:

http://kamerar.com/products/kamerar-tank-tk-2-cage-with-rods-support

When I get the grip I'll try it out in both cages and give a report.

The off-center thing is kind of a pain. A solution would be nice - otherwise many rail systems and whatever comes on them, such as FF and matt boxes won't work really well. In all honesty, I suspect there'll have to be some kind of metal cheese plate with a sliding pin to put in between the cam and the quick release or whatever, to center the whole shebang.
 
I received the battery grip today. The GH3 with the battery grip will not fit the standard P&C cage (Gearbox GB-1)

http://www.photographyandcinema.com.../products/gearbox-video-camera-accessory-cage

but it WILL fit really well, if you add the separately bought height extension adapters:

http://www.photographyandcinema.com...es/products/gearbox-height-extension-adapters

and now you can fit the GH3 with the battery grip comfortably, there is enough room to even fit a QR plate, like for example I've done with my VF3, so it has enough room:

http://www.photographyandcinema.com...-gb-2-video-accessory-cage-w-15mm-rod-adapter

as a matter of fact, I suspect you could buy two sets of the height extension adapters and add to them to both ends and get even more height, so bottom line - no problem.

Of course, the attachment socket in the battery grip is off center, so you have to account for that, it may not give you access to f.ex. the battery door in every position etc.

The situation with the Kamerar tank cage TK-2 with swiss rods is not as easy:

http://kamerar.com/products/kamerar-tank-tk-2-cage-with-rods-support

The GH3 plus a battery grip will fit inside the tank, but that's about all that will fit - so you can't add anything else, like f.ex. a QR to the bottom of the battery grip (unless there's some very slim QR system I'm unaware of), there is very little clearance left. So for example, the GH3 with battery grip and the VF3 plate will not fit - so I can't really use the VF3 inside.

Instead, you may be able to use the other tank cage TK3, but without the swiss rods, instead use the longer extension rods as described here:

http://kamerar.com/products/kamerar-tank-tk-3-cage-with-rods-support

I don't have the TK-3, so I can't speak from experience, but the dimensions look like they would work from the description:

"Dimensions inside the brackets is 6 inches in height and 8.5 inches in width. If you have a camera with a battery grip or a Nikon D4 where the battery grip is built we recommend you purchase the 10 inch 15mm rods to further extend the height of the cage which is available on our catalog."

Anyhow, that's my report based on two cages.
 
There's the ALZO Transformer Rig, it has a tripod screw that can be adjusted from side to side that could help you to center the lens with whichever rod system you may screw on the bottom. We actually did a review of it last week if you are interested, in the video you can see that a T3i with Battery Grip and quick release plate fits easilyin the cage:



The only downside is that it doesn't have a rod attachment designed specifically for it, so you would have to screw one on the bottom with a 1/4"-20 screw.
 
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Thanks for that, eiker. The lack of rail solution is a bit of a bummer, but I really like the adjustable tripod screw. Definitely an option.
 
FWIW, I managed to sort of get around the problem of the off-center tripod screw placement.

1) installed the battery grip on the GH3 (bought off ebay)

2) attached the VF-3 to the battery grip

3) put the whole thing into the ALZO Transformer Rig (per yardblesses tip above), used the height extenders that came with the rig

4) to the bottom of the Transformer Rig, I attached the bottom plate from the P&S GB-2 cage with the 15mm rod adapter

5) centered the GH3 over the rod adapter and tightened the screw on the ALZO rig

I now have the GH3 centered over the rails. I've put the Kamerar Max-1 matt box onto the rails, and it fits well.

I now have to see what kind of attachment possibilities are there in the ALZO Transformer Rig for more gear - which is not the greatest - but at least this is one way to get everything centered. YMMV.
 
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