I prefer to not use a grip. Most people rarely, if ever, shoot enough at once to run down a battery in a full day. In normal shooting most DSLR batteries today will get you many, many hundreds of shots and might even get you close to 1000 shots per charge. When it comes to weight and bulk - things that matter to me - a separate battery wins over a grip. In fact, several extra batteries win.
One reason for using a grip is the supposed advantage of having the shutter release in the same location whether you shoot in landscape or portrait mode. However, if you are switching between these two modes frequently, I would argue that the grip is less efficient. When I rotate 90%, I keep my finger on the shutter button the whole time. It is completely second nature to shoot this way, and there is no need to reposition at all. On the other hand, if you rotate with the grip and want to use the other shutter release button, you must not only rotate the camera but also move your hand to a new position on the body. The former is faster than the latter.
If you shoot from the tripod, you\'ll use a remote release that the extra shutter release is irrelevant. Here using a L-bracket and a quick release tripod head will be faster and more accurate.
Some think that adding a grip makes the camera/grip package look bigger and more pro. However, if this is your goal - looking more \"pro\" to other photographers - adding a grip might actually have precisely the opposite effect in that there is a certain type of poseur who is often seen using the grip. (Not everyone who uses one is a poseur, and not everyone cares...)
Dan
alhajri wrote:
Hello everyone,
I\'m going out for some camera gear shopping tonight. I wanted to get an extra Canon LP-E6 battery for my Canon 7D and the ND filter from the other post we talked in.
I\'ll charge this battery and have it in my camera bag as backup when I run out of battery charge. Which brought the question, why would one buy the battery grip? as opposed to having a backup battery? The only thing that comes to mind, is to have a continuous power for a long video recording without interruption, or set the camera to auto take photos over a long time.
But, if one would go for a trip to take photos, the battery grip is not really needed. Having a 2nd or 3rd battery is all one needs..
What do you guys think? Battery grip or backup single batteries?
Kal
Jan 14, 2013 at 03:16 PM
Previous versions of gdanmitchell's message #11269229 « Having a battery as backup vs battery grip »
