3rd Party Battery Grips

[fooby]

Hi, I was wondering what peoples thought on 3rd party battery grips are? I'm looking to get a BG-E5 but the Canon ones are double the price and up of the 3rd party ones, while most of them seem to be identical in every way bar the logos. I know in some of the other versions Canon ones are magnesium alloy but as this is designed for the plastic bodies, that's not an issue.

 

[Big Mike]

I use an off-brand grip and it's pretty good, considering it's half as much as the Canon equivalent.

I have noticed that some of my batteries (the off-brand ones) don't fit as smoothly in the grip as they do in the camera. They work fine, but I do have to make sure that it's fully seated and working. Also, the control dial on the grip doesn't feel as good as the dial on the camera. Overall, I'm fine with the quality. I've heard that the Canon grips aren't really up to the same build standard as the cameras anyway.

 

[jaomul]

I also have a third party grip on a Canon. It is plasticky but does the job fine. It cost just under a third of the original and has a wireless remote function as an extra

 

[480sparky]

I got a 3rd party for my D7k.... works just Jim Dandy.

 

[TordFuglstad]

I got a 3rd party for my D7k.... works just Jim Dandy.

How is the build quality and where did you buy it? I want to buy a grip, but i really want the MB-D11 due to the magnesium body and weather sealant. But it's WAY too expensive atm.

 

[D-B-J]

I got a 3rd party for my D7k.... works just Jim Dandy.

How is the build quality and where did you buy it? I want to buy a grip, but i really want the MB-D11 due to the magnesium body and weather sealant. But it's WAY too expensive atm.

Not to hijack the thread, but i bought the mb-d11 and it's awesome. Sure it's expensive, but it's worth it. Add's heft to the camera, and the build quality is SOLID.

As to the OP, i've never tried third party grips, but i never really hear horror stories about them.

 

[fooby]

I decided to upgrade to a 40D as I'll be shooting allot of sports events and the more accurate AF, better grip and faster frame rate among other things will be more useful than 15mp and video. Any good magnesium alloy grips out there for the 40D?

 

[2WheelPhoto]

I could not be more pleased with my D7K knock-off grip: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...3257-d7000-aficionados-mb-d11-knock-offs.html

 

[480sparky]

I got a 3rd party for my D7k.... works just Jim Dandy.

How is the build quality and where did you buy it? I want to buy a grip, but i really want the MB-D11 due to the magnesium body and weather sealant. But it's WAY too expensive atm.

I got mine from one of the TPF sponsors..... LinkDelight. I found it on ebay for $60.

 

[Garbz]

I've compared a D200 battery grip with a cheap knockoff. The cheap knockoff worked but felt notably cheaper. The grip wasn't the same as the rest of the camera, the button when pressed felt a bit ... looser for want of a better word, the button lock was also very easy to shift compared to the real deal.

It worked but it wasn't in sync really with the quality of construction of the rest of the camera. That said it was also half the price. I say go for it.

 

[Dao]

I have 40D with Canon grip. I do not think the Canon grip is metal body.
I used to have XTi with Targus grip.

The Targus grip fix pretty well with the XTi. No issue at all what so ever. Everything just works and it do not feel cheap either.

However, the buttons feel is a little different. The button feel when press for the Canon grip for my 40D is the same as the 40D or XTi body while the Targus grip for the XTi feel different. And I like the why the camera button feel especially the half press feel.

Other than that, I do not have any issue at all with the Targus grip.