Get a grip.

[SquarePeg]

Or not? Pros and Cons other than battery life? Do you feel it's improved your results? Brand name or off brand?

 

[480sparky]

I gave up on the cheapies after they continually failed. Either ceased working or broke. OEM for me on 3 bodies.

 

[jaomul]

I think a grip is great for small cameras such as canon rebel or nikon d3xxx type series. As far as I know nikon don't make them for their smaller cameras so you can only buy off brand.

I have had a few for my canon cameras, all off brand and they are great if you want full control and a similar layout in portrait mode with your camera. I don't find them as necessary with mid sized cameras,(in fact I got a free one with the d7200 and sold it) as there is better grip generally and the batteries also have more life.

I believ Nikon have started to make it so that off brand batteries and grips do not give full functionality with their newer cameras

 

[Didereaux]

Got two from eBay one for 6D and one for 7D. wouldn't take them off for anything. much more comfortable handhold when horizontal, and simply priceless for vertical shots. add in that they have three of the back buttons as well as the shutter. I use back button focus and that setting transfers right over without a hitch...an invaluable aid on the verticals. Paid less than $40 each for them. An excellent buy as it turns out.

 

[Dave442]

I have one body with the grip and one without. For verticals or a larger lens I usually grab the one with the grip, but the one without the grip is what is with me more frequently for the smaller size.

 

[astroNikon]

I love the grip. You can easily do portraits and use the controls on the grip.
I've only used the OEM grips for reasons Sparky mentions.

Also, for convenience, unless you need a lot of battery, I only put the battery in the grip. Where it is convenient to pull out and recharge.

When I do use 2 batteries I have the configuration to use the grip battery first, then the camera bodies battery.
I was in the habit of using my d7000 & d600 with 1 battery in the grip even though I had 4 batteries available. I just rarely use more than 1/4 battery shooting a couple soccer games in 1 day.

The battery life of the d7x00, d6x0, d750 and d8x0 is much larger than on the d5x00 an d3x00 which use a smaller battery. You may not need to have/use 2.

If you use 2 batteries, then you can easily take the grip off and go without worrying.

EDIT: when I looked at OEM vs 3rd party, one weird thing some had was that the Aperure/Shutter dials were backwards to the cameras. So check detailed reviews of any you are looking at. Others drained batteries very quickly, and other quality issues. But the quality of later ones were better.

 

[Braineack]

I got the Vello BG-N10 (MB-D14 ripoff) on xmas. I love that I have a place for my pink finger now.

You effectively double the battery life (not that it was really an issue for me). But it's easier to handle giving your pinky and ring finger much better grip and vertical shots are so much better handled.

 

[weepete]

I got one a good while ago now, I think 2 years or maybe longer. I got it primarily for some comfort when taking basketball shots. It's off brand, works perfectly and hasn't been off my camera since.

Pros - shooting portrait orientation is more comfortable and much easier to get better compositions. It's steadier to hold as well as you can brace your arms against your body.

Cons - it makes the camera bigger and slightly more bulky. Off brand buttons and wheels may not feel quite the same as the ones on the camera

 

[Overread]

The screwthread on most battery grips is geared rather than direct. This means if you over-tighten it you can have the gears slip and it gets locked in place.

That happened to my 400D years ago and - quite honestly - I've never had a problem with it because I never want it off.

Battery grips let you:
1) Have increased room to hold the camera, even bigger cameras are honestly poorly designed for ergonomics (its a box) and often even on smaller hands, the small pinky finger can be dropping off the bottom of the camera and rubbing on the edge.

2) Let you fit a wrist strap like Canon E1 which is a handy thing to have and more stable than those that connect to the tripod collar mount. My grip I find I use for some support whilst shooting and to let my relax my hand more when dangling the camera down. It's also flat enough that the hand can just press over it and shoot as normal so it never slows you down.

3) Give you two batteries instead of one with increased general battery life. A bonus always - but if you've only 2 batteries I'd recommend keeping one in body and one out so that you've always got a spare with you (better than having both inside and running out on both at the same time without warning).

3) Let you shoot portrait aspect shots without having to hold your hand over the top of the camera. A difficult position to hold especially if you get good (heavy) lenses. Takes a lot of strain out of portrait shots and saves you right wrist.

4) Let you have increased weight at the camera end which means that you've more force pivoting around your left arm which faces your body. This is ideally what you want for stable shooting as that pivoted weight is pressing into your body and moving the camera+lens centre of weight closer to yours. Making it easier to hold by far .

5) Make you look super pro!


The real only downside is it increases your camera bulk, but my view is most DSLRs are already bulky so itsnot a huge increase. If you want non-bulky chances are you're already looking at point and shoots or mirrorless options.

 

[astroNikon]

3) Give you two batteries instead of one with increased general battery life. A bonus always - but if you've only 2 batteries I'd recommend keeping one in body and one out so that you've always got a spare with you (better than having both inside and running out on both at the same time without warning).

I don't know if this is Canon or not, but my Nikons you select which battery it uses first. So it drains one battery first, then the other.

Since the OP has a d7100, that's the reason I mentioned if you use one battery to put it in the grip as you can easily get to it. To get the body battery you have to take the grip off. If it's in the grip you simply pull out the tray, recharge/replace.

If you use 2, select the option to use the grip battery first - the most convenient for me.
On a d7000 this was in the Custom menu, D14. I would guess the d7100 is about the same place.

 

[ronlane]

I've had "knock-off's" on two of my cameras but I got the Canon for the new 7dmkii. I think that the build quality on the Canon is better than the other two.

 

[hamlet]

make sure you get a nice off bround grip. Just imagine the horror of the grip coming off at either ends while on a tripod or one of those fancy straps that screw into the tripod mount.

 

[SquarePeg]

Thanks all for the info and suggestions. I got a nice gift card from a friend with the instructions to spend it on my hobby and since I just upgraded my body and also got myself a new lens for Christmas... I was trying to figure out what my next purchase might be. I really don't need anything at the moment so I'm probably going to save it for my next GAS attack.

 

[astroNikon]

Thanks all for the info and suggestions. I got a nice gift card from a friend with the instructions to spend it on my hobby and since I just upgraded my body and also got myself a new lens for Christmas... I was trying to figure out what my next purchase might be. I really don't need anything at the moment so I'm probably going to save it for my next GAS attack.

Then I recommend this for GAS attacks ==> Beano® Prevent Gas & Stomach Bloating

 

[spiralout462]

I'll never be without a grip. OEM is worth the money in my opinion.