 Chris Macer |
Rebel XT BG-E3 Battery Grip Hey Guys, Just wondering if any of you XT/350D owners out there are shooting with the battery grip. I was considering the purchase but just wondering what other peoples opinions are as they are pretty pricey. Cheers Chris
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Justin G. |
Chris, I have never used the XT/350D but I can contest to Canon's verticle grips (or having one in general). I used to have the Elan and I got the vertical grip for that. You will definately love it if you get one. A lot of pros say that the good majority of your photos should be verticle, b/c that's the way the human eye sees better, or something like that. Anyways I got it and shot so many verticles I didn't know what to do. Canon makes some very comfortable grips and having the extra shutter release button is very handy and you get so much more comfortable with your camera.
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Chris Macer |
Cheers for the response, Justin. I'll probably get one in the near future. I figure that the extra shutter button will really come in handy. Has any one had any dramas with weight balance or tripod mounting while using the grip? Probably nothing to worry about but just wondering.
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David Sessa |
Hi Chris! My first post ever on this site, I hope I don't mess anything up :). Anyway, I've got the XT and picked up the battery grip with an extra battery. Here's the highlights: Good: As you probably already know, the XT has a pretty small body. In fact it's the only thing about the camera I wasn't completly satisfied with, and I've got a couple of friends with 20Ds for comparison. The battery grip gives the camera a much nicer feel, and gives you someplace to put your pinky. As a counterpoint, if you're using a smaller lens and going without the flash, the battery grip may make the whole camera feel a little on the bloated side, but not any worse than carrying around a 1D or similar piece of hardware. Good: The extra battery is, obviously, very nice. But the REALLY good news is it will work just as well with one battery if you're in a budget crunch, or with 6 AAs if you completly screw the pooch and forget to charge up. Good: In response to your weight balance query...I use a pretty heavy lens most of the time (either a 24-105L or a 70-300) and I found that when the camera was at rest around my neck, the lens would invariably pull the camera into pointing-at-the-ground position. The battery grip gives the body some more leverage against your chest and I don't much have that problem anymore. I also don't have any trouble hand holding the camera when it's on. I haven't had any trouble getting it to stay put on my tripod, including some macro work where it's pointed nearly perpendicular to the ground. I don't use a hot shoe flash very often, so I can't speak to the balance with the 430EX. Not so good: Check the camera's fit in your bag. I have a bigish bag now which I had to completly rearrange around my battery grip. I was thinking of getting a smaller toploading bag, for when I just want to grab my camera with the 24-105L and hit the streets. No can do with the battery grip. I wasn't able to find a small toploader that would take the added body dimension. In case you're interested, I picked up a new Slingshot 200 from Lowepro and it fits with plenty of room to spare. (Great bag, so far, by the way) The Slingshot 100 will fit it snugly, also. Just funny: Having never used a battery grip with a vertical trigger, I found the first five or six times I took a portrait shot I tried to put the camera up to my face and found myself looking into some random place in back of the camera where I thought the eyepiece should be. Just thought that was amusing. :) Well, I didn't mean for this to turn into a long winded review... Bottom line: It seems quite expensive for what it consists of, but I feel it's worth it. Hope this helps! Dave
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Chris Macer |
Dave, Thank you so much for a very thorough view on the grip! Very useful information you have provided. Sounds like the grip is probably a decent investment. Especially about how you mentioned the balancing of the lenses. But I hadn't thought of the camera bag issue! I have a Lowepro Nova 1 AW and it's difficult to tell whether it will fit with the 430EX as well. I'm guessing probably not! :) I will try and find a display model to try before I purchase. I really want to see how it fit in my bag first. Thanks again!
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