Thoughts on a Battery grip?

C

Cieloent

Well-known member
I use a T2i and I'm thinking about buying a battery grip, thoughts are for extra weight, longer battery life, able to use AA's and overall I think it just looks very professional.


Anyone who has or uses a battery grip can you please give me your opinions on it? I have about $200 and would like to spend it on my camera, no good lens is that cheap and outside of a basic mic I really don't see what else I can spend $200 on.



Thank you
 
Personally I love using the battery grip.
Yeah it does make the camera look more professional, but more than anything it gives me extra battery time, as well as makes the camera more substantial and easier to hold.

The only thing that is bad about battery grips on cameras is that most cages are not tall enough to accommodate the camera plug grip.
 
vegas06 said:
Personally I love using the battery grip.
Yeah it does make the camera look more professional, but more than anything it gives me extra battery time, as well as makes the camera more substantial and easier to hold.

The only thing that is bad about battery grips on cameras is that most cages are not tall enough to accommodate the camera plug grip.
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Do you have any problem mounting it onto a tripod?


THanks
 
i can't live without my battery grip. the camera is just way too small without it if you ask me. plus on some tripods you have to completely dismount the camera in order to swap out batteries, with the battery grip you can easily side load cartridges. it's seriously not even the same camera without it. buy it, you won't be disappointed.
 
paulgandersman said:
i can't live without my battery grip. the camera is just way too small without it if you ask me. plus on some tripods you have to completely dismount the camera in order to swap out batteries, with the battery grip you can easily side load cartridges. it's seriously not even the same camera without it. buy it, you won't be disappointed.
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can you change out one battery while still using/running the camera on the other?
And I definitely will be picking one up, once they go down in price
 
paulgandersman said:
it mounts perfectly on a tripod.
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Thank you, also the price has gone down, they are now $149+ tax ( still expensive though ).


http://www.amazon.com/Canon-BG-E8-B...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1273013101&sr=1-1


41ejxBJp1TL._SS500_.jpg



Also if I don't get the battery grip I might think on getting a monitor? So many things I need, :(
 
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I love my battery grip. I bought an off-brand grip for my 7D and it's identical to the canon brand and cost a lot less. One benefit that I hadn't thought of is that the grip on the 7D allows me to swap batteries without taking the camera off of the tripod/rig/jib/etc since they pop out the back (the grip for the t2i looks like it ejects the batteries out of the side, so same idea). It's the little things in life, I suppose. The idea of being able to use AA batteries is comforting too, though I've never had to.
 
The battery grip is great and *seriously* consider the non-canon version. It's basically the same thing and it will cost you about 50% less!

I picked up the Zeikos ZE-CBG7D for under $100 and it's been great.
 
DCERVENKA said:
The battery grip is great and *seriously* consider the non-canon version. It's basically the same thing and it will cost you about 50% less!

I picked up the Zeikos ZE-CBG7D for under $100 and it's been great.
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The problem is that as of now, there is no aftermarket battery grip for the T2i. The grip you posted is for the 7d.


ps. I see the price in Amazon has gone up, crazy how the early adopters get raped :(
 
i was thinking about getting a battery grip too... but i wasnt sure about something.
Is this just a battery holder? Do you have to buy that extra battery for the 7D? or does it come with the batteries?
 
iConquer said:
i was thinking about getting a battery grip too... but i wasnt sure about something.
Is this just a battery holder? Do you have to buy that extra battery for the 7D? or does it come with the batteries?
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Well this thread is regarding the T2i, not the 7D. Since the &d has been out longer 3rd party manufacturers have already made their own battery grips. Unfortunately none exist for the T2i ( that I know off) so we have to pay Canons price.

Now to my knowledge the battery grip does not come with any batteries, also the 7D is a larger camera when compared to the T2i . The main reason for me on getting the grip was for added weight, stabilization, extra power, and it just looks more professional.
 
Cieloent said:
Do you have any problem mounting it onto a tripod?


THanks
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No problem mounting on a tripod, as you attach a QR plate on the base.
The battery compartment simply slides out to the left.

The left sliding battery compartment, might be an issue with a follow focus attached to the left side of the camera. I found that that I had to tweak the position of my D|Focus 2 with my DSLR mount attached tot he camera a little bit, so I would be able to access the battery tray with the FF attached.

This is what's nice about the 5D/7D battery grip, in that the battery compartment slides out from the back of the grip. Much easier to access no matter what is mounted on the camera.
 
I emailed Opteka which does grips for other Canon cams; they currently don't have one for the T2i. They replied promptly and said it would be available in a couple weeks. I've heard their grips are decent. And it'll probably go for about $70.
 
just get the grip. shooting without it on a 550D sucks. the camera is hard to hold cuz its so small. the extra weight with two batteries in the cartridge adds some stability, and since one battery only lasts for an hour, the grip is even more substantial. the cartridge slides out on the left side so changing batteries while mounted on a tripod/gorilla plate/etc is much easier. to my understanding, a 7d/5d on a gorilla plate doesn't affect battery replacement cuz its far on the right side. on the 550d however, the camera body isnt that wide so the plate gets in the way.

as far as batteries are concerned, i went ahead and ordered 3 from ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Canon-EOS-R...ZBatteries_Chargers?hash=item27b060195f#rpdId

they aren't official canon batteries, although they are marked like it. the markings are a a few shades lighter compared to original canons, but they last just as long if not longer and charge perfectly fine on the charger. only problem is that the remaining battery life isn't reflected. solution: put one of these in the primary slot, an original in the secondary slot, and it you should see remaining battery life once the first is drained.

** btw, i have the original canon ones. i dont know about the off brand units but there's a nice rubber texture on the bottom that adds grip when mounting to plates. i use it on a merlin and it stays steady on the plate. without the grip, the camera tended to slide every now and then.
 
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ANTshooter said:
just get the grip. shooting without it on a 550D sucks. the camera is hard to hold cuz its so small. the extra weight with two batteries in the cartridge adds some stability, and since one battery only lasts for an hour, the grip is even more substantial. the cartridge slides out on the left side so changing batteries while mounted on a tripod/gorilla plate/etc is much easier. to my understanding, a 7d/5d on a gorilla plate doesn't affect battery replacement cuz its far on the right side. on the 550d however, the camera body isnt that wide so the plate gets in the way.

as far as batteries are concerned, i went ahead and ordered 3 from ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Canon-EOS-R...ZBatteries_Chargers?hash=item27b060195f#rpdId

they aren't official canon batteries, although they are marked like it. the markings are a a few shades lighter compared to original canons, but they last just as long if not longer and charge perfectly fine on the charger. only problem is that the remaining battery life isn't reflected. solution: put one of these in the primary slot, an original in the secondary slot, and it you should see remaining battery life once the first is drained.

** btw, i have the original canon ones. i dont know about the off brand units but there's a nice rubber texture on the bottom that adds grip when mounting to plates. i use it on a merlin and it stays steady on the plate. without the grip, the camera tended to slide every now and then.
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Thanks for the post, but I do not understand why people say the camera is hard to hold without the grip? I guess I must be one in a million that can do fine just the way the camera came :undecided

Regardless lets see what happens when the Grip gets here. The thought of having a little more bulk is nice and being able to use two batteries can really be helpful, I still don't understand why it cost so much though?
 
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