What are issues encountered when using a battery grip on a DSLR for video?

A

analogs

Well-known member
I am using a battery grip with my 5D III Camera for video and I am considering buying accessories for it but I would like to know if I will be encountering problems when using the following:
- shoulder rig
- bassplate system
- cage
- fluid heads
- matte box
- follow focus
etc.

Note: all these accessories I have listed will most likely be the more affordable type, like for example the matte box will be the cheapest Ebay version.

The thing I am noticing the most is height and weight that a battery grip adds but I am unsure as to what I will be limited to with my battery grip installed. Hoping people can list issues they encountered when using a battery grip with the accessories I have listed or other accessories that they feel are worth mentioning.

Example:
- It will be impossible to use a matte box with a baseplate because the height the base plate mounts the camera with battery grip exceeds the maximum height of the matte box?
- the only cheap cage from Ebay that can fit a 5D III with battery grip is this one here ............? But you will find that the balance for the handle will be uneven?
- a follow focus is too low to work on a 5D3 with a battery grip?
(Just hypothetical examples, not sure if these are true)

Thanks
 
You will have to customize your rig a bit more to align everything correctly with the taller body, but it's completely doable, just make sure to screw the camera as low as possible on the rig (completely flush or maybe a bit lower than the rods if possible).

you can also put a follow focus on top rods instead of bottom ones and it will reach your lens with no problems.
 
I am noticing my battery grip exhibits a creaking noise from the batteries inside when tilting the camera. Anyone notice these issues with their battery grip set up as well and how are they dealing with the issue?
 
I've shot tons of commercial projects for years on DSLRs. Skip the grip. It just makes a bad form factor 10x worse. Don't fall into the "more crap I bolt to my camera the cooler it looks" trap.

It makes using a matte box go from simple to an offset mess. DSLRs are really hard to get rock solid (since most gear is setup for fore-aft camera bodies WITH DV pins, and DSLRs are sideways with only one connection point). The taller your rig, the harder it is to keep tight and stable. Your follow focus may be impossible to get where you want it.

Just make sure your baseplate gives you battery door access. I've chopped corners off baseplates with angle grinders when I've had to.

Love 'em for stills though. But for video, why on earth anyone would want to raise a camera another inch or two from their baseplate is a mystery to me...
 
How are you finding battery life? Are you using some form of DC coupler attached to an external battery pack (eg. 2 X LP-E6 batteries on a plate)?

I have an external audio recorder, shotgun mic, 7 inch monitor. I mainly do things on my own. Would you recommend a cage or a baseplate with those types of extras? How important is having a top handle on a DSLR rig?

Are matte box a must have if you have lens hoods for each lens or are matte box better at preventing light stray or are more flexible than what a lens hood designed for each lens can do?
 
Im in there with Michael... I used to have a grip for my 5D2 but that was mainly for stills.
When I upgraded to the 3 I didnt bother with the grip.... Simply because the form factor is terrible.
Instead now I have 5 fully charged batteries with me on every job.
The 5D3 csn sit on the Manfrotto Sympla badeplate and still open the bat door. So no issue.
 
I can't shoot stills without a vertical grip. I've also got bigger hands than most people so I leave the grip on my 5D3 if I'm shooting video since I rarely use a rig. If I'm on a tripod, it's usually with the 70-200 so it's mounting on the lens's foot. On those occasions where I'm actually going to rig the camera, well then it doesn't take long to take off the grip. If I were shooting regularly on a rig, I doubt I'd have the grip on there. The extra connection is just one more wiggle point with little benefit.
 
Andrius Simutis said:
I can't shoot stills without a vertical grip. I've also got bigger hands than most people so I leave the grip on my 5D3 if I'm shooting video since I rarely use a rig.
Click to expand...

I've never shot a DSLR without a tripod or some kind of rig. Just "holding the camera" has always given me worse footage than with a shoulder mount, fig rig, whatever. So it's always on rails/ tripod for video work. My front handles are wide enough to leave on for shoots where I switch between a tripod and shoulder mt. (so you can slide the rig off the head without the handles catching).

As for matte boxes... generally if I'm using a zoom and zooming a lot - crash zooms for music videos or fashion stuff - I might skip the matte box, unless I'm outside (since changing the focal length changes the physical length of the lens). Most of the time I have the matte box and a rubber lens hood pressing against the donut to seal it up. If I change the zoom, the focus ring moves so the FF has to slide anyway, just a couple seconds to reset things. My favorite zoom is a vintage-ey Nikkor that gets bad veiling flare so I've gotten used to the hood. But with an APS-C sensor, the rubber hoods are dynamite - they seal up the matte box, or pop them out to length without it.

And yep, I carry a lot of batteries - my Canon bodies didn't eat batteries like my 7100 seems to. But I just get cheap batteries from Amazon and keep spares close by, and keep a charger in the case. My last DSLR shoot was 2 locations, after setup we probably shot from 10AM til 11PM, with the camera feeding several screens for framing and rehearsals so "on all day". I think I used 4 batteries.

I found a deal on a great large-format rolling case, so I can pack my setup fully rigged. I've never used a top handle, I usually carry the rig under the baseplate. With a DSLR that has a loupe and FF, there's not a lot of places to rig a top handle (for me anyway), never needed one. Never liked cages since they tend to cover up ports, etc. Just a really solid baseplate and I've been good. But DSLR rigs are like clothes, what works for me may not work for you.
 
Michael Carter said:
I've never shot a DSLR without a tripod or some kind of rig. Just "holding the camera" has always given me worse footage than with a shoulder mount, fig rig, whatever…
...But DSLR rigs are like clothes, what works for me may not work for you.
Click to expand...

Bingo! It's all going to come down to what you shoot and how you like to shoot it. For me, there's just no reasonable way to lug that much gear to where I'd be shooting so it winds up staying home. For me, it has to be light and fast to set up. That usually means a mic and a viewfinder loupe is as much as I can get on the camera. An IS lens and the nature of these shoots make it completely acceptable to work this way. Would I do it this way for a studio shoot of a drama? Probably not, but it's the right set up for me just as Michael Carter's is the right one for him. Take a good look at what you're shooting and what's going to work for you.
 
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