Is a Grip Helpfull

[Jcas]

Apart from spare battery power does a grip help with stability?

To me they look rather cumbersome, but i find there are times when one can't use a tripod and wondered if these would help with stability.

[I @ M]

I don't think they add to stability on a tripod much at all Julie, if you are fitting your camera + grip to a tripod they raise the centre of gravity of the camera and that isn't a good thing.

But when hand holding ---- a grip that has the cameras controls, shutter button, shutter speed dial, aperture dial and autofocus button incorporated in my opinion makes the camera much easier easier and accurate to use as your hands are gripping the camera in vertical orientation in the same places relative to your body as when you are holding it in horizontal orientation.
So I guess it may add to stability when you are hand holding the camera.

I love mine for the above reasons + the D200 is a battery killer extrordinare.

[yummymummy]

Thanks for posting this, I've actually been wondering this myself. I had a look at Julie-Annes camera and Phils camera at the QLD meet and have since decided that it looks much more comfy taking photos with it on there when you are taking photos with the camera on the side

[Harves]

I agree with Andrew, the battery grip is great for hand held shooting, but I tend to take mine off when using a tripod, could get too much camera shake.

[Cris]

Another vote for the grip, even though it adds weight, the camera just sits better in your hand, feels more stable especially when hand holding longer lenses, plus the extra controls when shooting in portrait mode are great.
Cris

[jev]

I tend to take mine off when using a tripod, could get too much camera shake.

As always, it pretty much depends...

Long lenses mount on a collar, not on the camera - thus they don't add to the height of the construction. With long lenses, the weight distribution often is much better with a grip attached, handheld but on a tripod too. That weight distribution is important - if you ever tried mounting the camera body on a tripod with a 70-200/2.8 attached to it you know you will end up with creep - the camera will tilt forward and there seems no way to stop it doing so.

With shorter lenses, one would indeed often attach the tripod directly to the camera and yes, than instability might be more of an issue.

Handheld it is a no-brainer (at least to me ): always with a grip. All my SLR's have grips and they hardly ever come off...

[smorter]

Also keep in mind that grips cost money. This is money that can be saved up and spent on things like L lenses and stuff. It's important to also note the opportunity cost of purchases of peripherals.

I personally only have a grip for my 400D (which I never use anymore) because I got it for very cheap ($90) brand new when the 400D was discontinued, and more significantly because I wanted to use a E1 handstrap I had. But I haven't used money on grips for any of my other cameras and with the savings I've managed to pick up some other nice accessories (like a 580EXII from the money saved on a grip for the 5D2)

[41jas]

I like mine, which I haven't had all that long, because your guaranteed your batteries will last the whole day plus the main thing of having the controls at your finger tips without twisting your wrists around to use when not in landscape. When in the portrait position it makes it so much easier to set up the shot. I picked mine up new with 2 batteries all for $129.00. I thought worth a go and it's great.

[yummymummy]

wow Julie-Anne, where abouts did you get that from? I'd be interested to see how much I could get one for my Canon if they're only that price?

[bigdazzler]

Mine lives on my camera. Maybe because im too lazy to take it off I use it with my tripod and dont seem to get any camera shake, but i really love using it for portraits, makes handholding vertical so much more comfortable and you added controls .. oh and i got it for free, that helped

[Kym]

I've only started using a grip this last week. I did a sports event on Tuesday night.
Initial feelings - yes I like it and it did fell better and obviously portrait mode was much better.

[Tannin]

Interesting discussion. I've never owned or even used a grip, and have never really thought of buying one. Why add weight and bulk to no purpose? is my usual thought.

On the other hand, my Mark III (which has a grip built in, of course) is the nicest thing to use, especially with big lenses. How much of that is the grip, and how much of it other factors, it's hard to say. I do find it moderately useful for shooting in portrait, but only moderately - I'm so used to simply turning my wrist around to shoot in portrait with tre other cameras that I more often than not just do the same with the Mark III and ignore the vertical grip. But sometimes I use it.

I do admit to being a bit puzzled by the people saying that they like the extra battery life. Huh? Every DSLR I've ever used (with the partial exception of the tiny-battery 400D) has had more than enough juice in a single fresh battery to go all day long, yes, even back when I was using a 20D as my main birding camera and sometimes taking 1000, even 2000 shots. What are you people doing to your poor little cameras to thrash an entire battery in a single session? I probably should report you all to the RSPCO (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Optical equipment.)(

In any case, even if you do somehow thrash batteries out regularly, surely it's much easier to just carry a spare battery in your pocket -you have to carry spare flash cards anyway, and a battery for any normal camera takes up less pocket space than your key ring. (Not the Mark III battery, mind you, these are about the size of a plump sunglasses case, and apparently contain enough charge to power a small city for a week. Well, almost.)

The little batteries in the smallest DSLRs (my old 400D for example) can get used up in a day's shooting if you work it really hard, but it sems a bit weird to buy such a tiny-bodied camera and then stick on a grip to make it bigger. Wouldn't it be easier to just buy a bigger camera (20D/30D/40D/50D) in the first place? By the time you pay for the grip, you'd be half-way there already.

But don't let my musings stop the discussion! I'm still reading and - who knows? - at some point, perhaps I'll start to see a reason or two to make me change my mind.

[MrJorge]

I love my grip. Yes it's a 400D Tony but I bought it and it felt ok in my hands but once I felt a grip on it it's never come off. Only got the grip because I got it for $99 though

It adds to the feel of it so much for me and makes my camera easier and more comfortable for me to hold. Purely personal preference of course.

I do think it adds to counter balance weight too with longer, heavier lenses. But every camera is going to be different.

[I @ M]

Huh? Every DSLR I've ever used (with the partial exception of the tiny-battery 400D) has had more than enough juice in a single fresh battery to go all day long, yes, even back when I was using a 20D as my main birding camera and sometimes taking 1000, even 2000 shots. What are you people doing to your poor little cameras to thrash an entire battery in a single session? I probably should report you all to the RSPCO (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Optical equipment.)(

In all seriousness Tony, the little D50 will go for ever, the D300 around 500 shots and the D200 somewhere around 300 photos to a charge and all using the same model battery.
The above figures are rough sort of estimates but the D200 is an absolute pig when it comes to power consumption and an extra battery ( or 2 ) never goes astray with them in the course of a days work for me.

Of course the original post was about the value of grips and it will be a personal thing for each of us to decide whether we like the way our hands hold the camera in whichever position but for me it is a win win situation, comfortable hands and seamless battery changeover from exhausted to charged mid way through the last quarter at the local footy match when the winning goal was scored.
That of course is after the hockey, the netball and golf shots.

[Kym]

Oh!! I should have said (I think many may be afraid to say this)...

Grip gives you pose value

[Jcas]

I guess my first impressions I am in agreeance with Tony as i always have a spare charged battery in my bag, but the 40D lasts for ages and i don't think i have had to call on that spare yet .. (yes i did, just the once on a night time shoot),

If i thought for a moment the grips were helpfull with camera stability, then i wouldn't hesitate in getting one, as i need every bit of stability i can find

Thanks for all the responses, it is really helpfull to us novices to know why you all prefer this and that for whatever reasons. (Yes Kym even pose)

[jev]

Battery life is an issue with some models but even more in combination with certain lenses and other peripherals. Image stabilization, lots of focussing (especially in low light when hunting happens), USB peripherals, they all take power. Biggest reason to have extra juice on hand: low temperatures. Even two freshly loaded batteries won't last for much longer than an hour in sub-zero temperatures...

[Tannin]

Good point, Joost. However, I have a different, and much, much better, way of dealing with battery life and low temeratures. Any time it drops to something horribly cold (like 11 or 12 degrees), I plug the batteries into the 12 Volt charger in the car, and drive north for as long until the thermometer has a decent number on it - anything starting with a "2" or a "3" is good, but I'll settle for a number starting with "4" if it's a choice between that and anything sub-teen.

Of course, sometimes I have to go to the office, and must put up with it.

[smorter]

LCD is biggest battery drainer imo. I remember I once got about 2200+ shots on a generic battery (40D) by switching the LCD off. This was with an IS lens in warm weather.

[jev]

Yeah, the LCD can take a lot of power too. Or better: it's backlight, especially with these large LCD's they put on the back of modern camera's this becomes more and more of an issue. I have the backlight set to -2 or so and it switches off after a second or so, I don't really notice it. But if you chimp a lot and have the brightness turned up, it sure will have a huge impact on batterylife. But don't underestimate anything that needs mechanical movement, especially in colder weather conditions (yes, I prefer >20 degrees too, but hey, you can't always get what you want ).

How much power IS takes depends on how hard it has to work. I know guys, especially sportsshooters, that have the IS active almost all the time (you can hear it working when sitting next to them).

Anyway, a grip just for power reserve might be a bit too much. I mainly like it for its convenience with portraiture and balance (I tend to use heavy and long lenses a lot, probably due to the fact I'm using a fullframe body).