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Does anyone have an opinion or experience with third party battery grips for the Canon 7D? I see them advertised on eBay for all kinds of prices from third-party grips, some with remote controls and readouts. The main reason I am interested in these grips is that I was at the point defiance zoo with my 7D and the 70 to 300 camera on lands added to it, my right hand got pretty tired at the end of the day. I was thinking maybe with the grip added that have more support for my hand while shooting.
A grip definitely helps balance out a longer lens, and affords a more comfortable handhold. It also allows attachment of a hand strap, for even more comfort. I use one on my 7D (and on my 5DII). No recommendations on 3rd party option, though. For something providing power to my cameras, I
I have the Canon battery grip for my 7D, and to be honest, it isn't my favorite battery grip. I had an Opteka battery grip for my XTi which was great, and the Canon battery grip for my 50D which also worked fine. However, I find the 7D's battery grip buttons to be too sensitive--I often fire off a shot or two by accident every session. Other than that, it's not bad.
Battery grips don't require cutting edge technology, and there's no reason why a 3rd party manufacturer can't reverse engineer one to meet most consumers' satisfaction. I'd suggest looking at the Vello battery grip on BHphoto. However, using a 3rd party grip will likely void your warranty if something should go wrong--so you do have to weigh that in your decision making.
I have a Canon one and a Vello one, they both work great, I think I would only ever buy third party for this accessory in the future. B&H has about three different brands of third party grips, at least with them you will have no hassle with returns.
I had just looked into grips. Adorama has a video for two different models other than Canon. One thing to watch for is the grip itself. Some actually have bumps to help your grip and others have a port on the side for a monitor to plug in to and also act as a remote shutter release. That one also had a spot inside the grip for the battery door you had to remove to use it. I think it was like Photoix or something like that.
I wonder how a battery grip would affect weathersealing of a camera? I don't have a grip (canon or otherwise) so this could be a silly concern, butthe 7D is a weather sealed camera, so wouldn't the grip have to be weathersealed as well? I would think (hope) canon would take this in consideration, but how about 3ed party grips? Would the weathersealing be up to the same standard? Or would there be a potential to let water into the battery compartment of the camera at the attachment to the grip? Also, are any other ports weathersealed (like the monitory plug or shutter release mentioned above)?
For what it's worth, this is definately something I would consider before purchasing.
Stephen
I don
I bought this one for my 7D, and couldn't be happier. It's a tight fit and functions just as well as Canon's, at a fraction of the price.
http://www.amazon.com/Zeikos-ZE-CBG7D-Battery-Power-Camera/dp/B0032JTOBM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1306106252&sr=8-2
That
Yes, that's the one. The shutter is essentially the same feel, but it's so slight, that I don't notice it. The grip looks and feels very nice. It snugs up well on the camera. The overall feel is very good.
The thing that I did notice was that the price was a LOT less than Canon's. Because it performs similarly, it's a great alternative.