The Battery Grip

The Battery Grip: Your FIRST Accessory

"No one has ever written, painted, sculpted, modeled, built, or invented 
except literally to get out of hell. " - Antonin Artaud 

       And a hell it must have been before battery grips were invented! If you don't own a battery grip for your camera, go buy one. If you don't know what a battery grip is, keep reading, and then go buy one. It is the ultimate, most used, most useful, most important, most cool looking, camera accessory you will ever have. Or at least, that's what I think. 

 

The Two Options For Battery Grip Power

     You can probably tell by the looks of it, that this accessory is not built for or compatible with compact and 3/4 mirrorless cameras. These are only made for SLR and DSLR cameras and are available for many brands and models. Keep in mind also, it is not a "one size fits all" device. If you have two different cameras, a Canon 5D MkIII and a Canon 7D for example, you'll need to purchase two separate battery grips. 

     So let's start with the basics... First off, adding a battery grip to your camera will effectively double your battery life while you're out shooting because inside, it holds not one, but two batteries! In fact, it comes with a cassette to hold your fancy lithium camera batteries and it should come with an adapter cassette that will hold (usually) 6 AA batteries. Now, as I've experienced, when using the camera on dollar store AA batteries, they're good for about 6 hours. You'll likely get more time with name brand batteries though. In contrast, when using the two lithium-ion camera batteries, you could get several days worth of shooting time. So, the AAs aren't great, but they can be a life saver in a remote location where there's no AC power to charge anything...

The Under Side Of This Grip Reveals An Extra Strap Loop!

     The next big advantage comes from being able to turn the camera on its side to allow for a portrait orientation, and still having a shutter release button (and several other controls) right in the same spot. The grip has the shutter release, a scroll wheel, an AE lock/FE lock button, AF point selection button, & the Aperture/Exposure compensation button. The controls fully mimic those of the actual camera, so there's no learning curve at all and it feels completely natural to use. You do know what this means right? No more flailing your right elbow around potentially whacking someone in the face! Your family and friends will thank you. 

     The grip attaches to the camera through the battery compartment and uses the 1/4-20 threaded hole to secure itself. This accessory will add a lot of size and weight to the camera, but you'll get used it quickly and soon find the advantages far outweigh any size/weight concerns. On the underside of the grip, you'll hopefully find an extra camera strap loop, though it may not be available on all models. I think this is a beautiful bonus because it allows you to re-strap the camera in a way that not only moves the strap away from your busy right hand, but also allows the camera to hang in a more convenient fashion when walking. 

My Old Canon XSi With Battery Grip

      Not at all a technical aspect, the look and feel of the camera with a battery grip improves as well. I know... it sounds silly, but looks count! Even your clients will be impressed with your fancier looking gear. For me, the feel of the grip is something I could never give up. Without it, my right hand pinkie does this weird thing where it slides around on the bottom edge of the camera and after a day of shooting, my pinkie is more sore than my feet! Every camera and future camera I own must have a battery grip. It would be like trying on a pair of sneakers after wearing wooden shoes all your life. You'll never go back. 

     The last thing to mention, is how much one of these babies is going to cost you. Well, the cost of course depends on several factors. First, the model of the camera for which you're purchasing a battery grip will effect the price. For example, a battery grip for a Canon T4i may cost less than it would for a Canon 5D MkIII. Not much you can do about that, except to buy a less fancy camera, and that's just dumb. Another factor to effect price is whether or not it's a name brand unit or a generic brand. In my experience, the generic brands do a great job and shouldn't be overlooked. They feel the same, function the same and look the same as their name brand counter parts. Of course there are subtle differences, and you may opt for the more expensive name brand. That's fine! For the beginners out there without a fat bank account, don't stress, buy the generic version. 

     Well that does it for now, I hope you enjoyed the article! If you have questions, comments, or corrections for me, please let me know in a comment! And, I would LOOOOOVE it if you share my articles using the little icon thingies below!! :)

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