300D/10D battery grip - DPChallenge Forums

06/16/2004 08:09:25 AM · #1

I'm considering buying a battery grip for my 300D. I'd love to hear from anyone that owns one for the 300D or 10D and what they like/dislike about it.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

06/16/2004 08:19:21 AM · #2

I have the D60 grip (same as the 10D)

It lets me shoot in portrait mode without twisting my arm over the top of the camera.

It doubles the battery life without having to swap batteries.

It makes the camera look bigger.

It makes the camera heavier, which depending on the lens you have improves or ruins the balance.

It makes the camera heavier, so its more tiring to use.

It makes the camera look more intimidating. (good for muggers, perhaps bad for making subjects feel comfortable)

It creates confusion at least for me, on where to attach a neck strap
(there are now 3 points - the original two and one on the 'bottom' - it then becomes an issue of how to hold it - if you use the original strap points, the strap gets in the way when shooting portrait mode.

It duplicates the * and [...] buttons as well as the shutter, and also the upper aperture dial, so you can use them in portrait mode too.
You can also hit them by accident when using the camera in landscape (though you can switch off all the battery grip controls with a small slider switch)

It makes the camera incompatible with the really right stuff L bracket I paid $140 for (though I can buy another one at the same cost to fit the battery grip that wouldn't work on the basic camera without the grip)

I use it when it suits the situation (people, sports etc)

wewillexplore

06/16/2004 08:24:18 AM · #3

Also - I understand doubling the battery life, but are you shooting things you NEED to get off 1000 shots without a battery change? I can get 450-500 with one battery! Just curious.

M

EddyG

06/16/2004 08:30:11 AM · #4

When I had my 10D, the BG-ED3 was the best accessory I ever got for it. It never came off my camera. If the Mark II didn't have the vertical grip "built in", I would have ordered one straight-away...

06/16/2004 08:33:10 AM · #5

Gordon,

So unless you have a specific need to use it (portrait shooting for instance), you don't have it on your camera? The reason I ask is if that's true, it sounds like it doesn't offer a great deal of extra general-purpose ergonomics?

06/16/2004 08:34:37 AM · #6

Originally posted by EddyG:

When I had my 10D, the BG-ED3 was the best accessory I ever got for it. It never came off my camera. If the Mark II didn't have the vertical grip "built in", I would have ordered one straight-away...

Battery life isn't important for me, as I don't have much problem switching batteries.. Do you think it adds to the camera's ergonomics significantly?

wewillexplore

06/16/2004 08:39:47 AM · #7

Balance the ergonomics of not tilting your hand sideways with the ergonomics of handholding the extra weight. It will definitely make the Rebel look bigger...

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

06/16/2004 08:46:40 AM · #8

Thanks for the advice guys - some food for thought. :-)

birgir

Canon EOS-10D

06/16/2004 08:48:17 AM · #9

Buy it!!! It is so worth it.

EddyG

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

06/16/2004 08:52:16 AM · #10

Originally posted by PaulMdx:

Do you think it adds to the camera's ergonomics significantly?

Absolutely! Of course, I love taking pictures in portrait orientation, and it makes that so much easier. In terms of ergonmoics, I was at a party on Sunday and I had to take some pictures with a friend's D100 (which didn't have a grip) and it took me at least 30 seconds to try and get comfortable holding a DSLR vertically without a grip!

Message edited by author 2004-06-16 08:53:28.

dwoolridge

06/16/2004 08:59:44 AM · #11

When I bought the D60, I picked up the grip at the same time and it's been attached ever since. My only minor pet peeve (and this is largely a function of my tripod/head) is that the release plate, when attached, makes it impossible to open the battery compartment. This has never been an issue where it really mattered, but it might matter to you.

tfaust

Canon EOS 80D

06/16/2004 09:04:19 AM · #12

Originally posted by mavrik:

Also - I understand doubling the battery life, but are you shooting things you NEED to get off 1000 shots without a battery change? I can get 450-500 with one battery! Just curious.

M

At my last motocross shoot I worked for a good couple of hours and got over 900 pictures on the same battery. This was using the 100-400mm with the IS on.

wkoffel

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

06/16/2004 09:09:28 AM · #13

I have the BG for my 300D, and I must echo *everything* that Gordon says. This is the perfect answer to your question.

The rare time that I take the BG off is when I need the camera to look smaller, if I'm just out street-shooting with a 50/1.4, and don't want the attention of a big setup. I spent a little time with the neck strap on the BG, but gave up because it didn't help much, and made it a pain when I wanted to go back to just one battery.

Otherwise, I have it on all the time.

Oh, one final thing, it makes it a little awkward to set the camera down on a table or something, because it tends to always then be leaning on a lens hood, or the lens, because of the extra height at the back. But I just lay it sideways to avoid that.

-Will

Originally posted by Gordon:

wkoffel

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

06/16/2004 09:11:10 AM · #14

Originally posted by mavrik:

Also - I understand doubling the battery life, but are you shooting things you NEED to get off 1000 shots without a battery change? I can get 450-500 with one battery! Just curious.

M

I find that I need it when using my 70-200/2.8 with Image Stabilization. The IS really eats up battery power, especially when you are spending a lot of time with the shutter halfway down on the Rebel, because you can't force AI-Servo mode (another thing that would eat battery). So I'd say the dual-batteries get a lot of use for these sort of IS sports shooting.

-Will

W.R.Miller

Canon EOS-50D

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

06/16/2004 11:22:42 AM · #15

I received the battery grip last year for Christmas as a gift and it hasn't been off of my camera since. I have fairly large hands and the grip makes holding the camera much easier and much more comfortable. Even when using the camera in landscape mode the grip adds about an extra inch to the bottom of the camera grip so that you can spread your hand out a bit. For the brief time I used the camera without the grip I always felt as if I was going to drop it because it was small in my hands. The grip fixes that issue completely.

I myself can't think of any reason at all why I would remove the grip. I really like the heavier feel of the camera with the grip on the camera.

I also like that the bottom of the grip has a sort of rubber bottom for when sitting the camera down where as the bottom of the DR it self does not have any such protective rubber like surface.

I also find it easier to remove the batteries from the back of the grip rather than from the bottom of the camera for charging.

I also feel more comfortable using 3rd party batteries with my grip. I would rather replace the grip if a battery would corrode rather than replace my camera if the battery were to corrode inside the cameras battery compartment. By the way, I have several 3rd party batteries from eBay (12.00) that are over a year or so old and I have had no issues with them. They actually last longer than the Canon brand batteries.

Hope this information helps!!! I say, "GET IT!!!".