Battery grips for cameras - Experiences with the cheap ones?

[dav3evans]

Hey all, I just bought one of the cheapish grips on the bay and was wondering what other peoples experiences of them are. I've got one for my 550D and seems to feel pretty good... I seem to be reading various things around the place though, including a note that said they can mess with the electronics of your camera?

Cheers,

Dave.

 

[iamtheoneneo]

i personally wouldnt and would always go official - yes its a lot more but you didnt spend £500+ on a camera to then stick a £10 grip on the bottom of it.
Im sure their have been instances of the electronics being messed up or whathave you, lose connections etc but I doubt its very common.

 

[Ksanti]

i personally wouldnt and would always go official - yes its a lot more but you didnt spend £500+ on a camera to then stick a £10 grip on the bottom of it.
Im sure their have been instances of the electronics being messed up or whathave you, lose connections etc but I doubt its very common.

One could equally argue that the grip isn't all that important and the money saved on the grip allowed the better camera e.g. the 550d over the 500d.

 

[dav3evans]

It's more for comfort than anything else, following getting my cam and using it for extended periods I've found myself using it in portrait much more, so it seemed logical and comfortable to get a grip... You make a valid point though I did pay quite a lot for the camera.. I think I'll see how this goes for a while and if I see an official one at a good price somewhere I'll pick that up.

Searching on the forums last night for any similar threads I saw one got sold for £45ish so who knows I might get lucky =]

 

[Columbo]

When I had my D80 I bought a Mieke grip for it while a friend had the official Nikon grip for his.

Once he had seen the Mieke I had, he regretted spending so much more money on something which offered no additional functionality. Even the build quality was much the same.

At entry and mid level DSLR's all you are paying for is the name stuck on the grip in my opinion.

 

[iamtheoneneo]

One could equally argue that the grip isn't all that important and the money saved on the grip allowed the better camera e.g. the 550d over the 500d.

thats not the point of the question though is it? really random that you would even bring that up.
A grip is very important if you do portrait work of any kind.

 

[dav3evans]

That's my main focus at the moment, I've only had a play so far and it feels really nice. The battery indicator thing is a little annoying but at the moment this is fine, and I'll keep some batteries ready to go incase they run out...because if I'm honest even if I knew the battery was about to die I'd carry on shooting anyway until it's flat.

Another good thing about the grip I've noticed already is that the head from the batteries now doesn't rub off on the camera so much so shooting video over an extended period shouldn't cause too many issues either.

 

[dfarrall]

i personally wouldnt and would always go official - yes its a lot more but you didnt spend £500+ on a camera to then stick a £10 grip on the bottom of it.

You pay £500+ because it has the features you need, were as the features are much the same on battery grips, were as the prices are varied.

 

[33L]

Both of my cameras are gripped, the 5D has an original grip adn the 50D a phottix one, both have worked stellar but the markings on the cheapo one are wearing off. Would i buy cheap again, probably not, reason is the cheap one feels cheaper and less well made.

 

[iamtheoneneo]

You pay £500+ because it has the features you need, were as the features are much the same on battery grips, were as the prices are varied.

true but in the world of photography £100 is short change.

 

[dav3evans]

At the higher end sure, not really for me on this level right now. I'd rather put an extra £100 towards glass

 

[clintham]

i have had both types. i have never had any problems with either.
what would i buy if mine broke? if i coud afford it official - simply cos i like the idea of official throughout.
quality and functionality is identical imo

 

[DJ_Switch]

I used to be of the opinion that there was little point in spending the extra for the genuine one until recently. I bought a meike one recently and from the second I attached it my camera was doing odd things. I concede that the unit was probably faulty however I've seen a few other reports that have also put me off. As soon as I turned on the camera the focus point stated moving around uncontrollably and constantly. I couldn't control the focus point from either the grip or the camera. The only way it would stop moving was by removing the grip. I've seen other reports of users of the same grip that reported the grip draining their batteries...even when the camera is not turned on. I also noticed my card read/write light would flash sometimes despite me having done nothing. I am far from convinced that these grips are a wise choice but I'm sure they differ from camera to camera and when they work well then they're amazing value...I just don't want to risk the electronics of my camera with a £40 cheapo grip. Thankfully I picked up a genuine one the other day and I'm more than happy with having shelled out the extra.

As for the quality and functionality of both...there is noticably better build quality on the genuine one. Magnesium alloy vs plastic. The buttons feel extremely cheap on the meike and the dials go the wrong way. Whilst there are differences they don't amount to a £200 difference. I just wanted something reliable and that I didn't have to fear would cause more damage than would add funtionality.

 

[Biggus]

I have the £35 Meike grip on my 60D and tbh, it feels better than the Canon one which is 5x more expensive. They both have exactly the same features etc., but the Meike rubber feels more tactile and grippier.

 

[oO Stevie Oo]

Bought my replica one off ebay, 35 quid with 4 battery packs (replacement ones that work in the camera aswell, not just the grip) and 6xAA battery holding tray, its identical to my mates genuine one he has for his 600D (same as my 550D). Even the battery trays fit each other...
No complaints with build quality and it has all the buttons the genuine Canon has including half press shutter button and jog wheel for portrait shooting.

Mine

Canon 550D + EF 70-200mm F4L USM + Battery Grip + Carbon Fibre Hood With New Logo + Domo by Trackslide Photography ©, on Flickr

 

[Vertigo]

I got a genuine BG-E7 for my 7D. Whilst I'm sure the clones are decent enough, I'd worry about whether they'd skimped on things like the weather sealing and be concerned about water ingress where the grip goes into the battery compartment when using the camera in bad weather.

 

[33L]

oh and if canon find out that a 3rd party grip was used and a fault develops that could have been attributed to that, bangs goes your warranty repair. How they would find this out i dont know!

 

[neil_g]

been using meike grips for years on the 20D and 5Dmk2 with no issues at all.

the canon ones can be hit and miss anyway, google for the genuine ones getting stuck to the body..

 

[neil_g]

I got a genuine BG-E7 for my 7D. Whilst I'm sure the clones are decent enough, I'd worry about whether they'd skimped on things like the weather sealing and be concerned about water ingress where the grip goes into the battery compartment when using the camera in bad weather.

pretty sure the BG-E7 isnt sealed to weather

edit - a quick google says no seal between BG-E7 and body.

 

[Vertigo]

Ah, I stand corrected - useful to know when it rains