Battery Grip Recommendations

I've never used a battery grip before. So, other than the authentic Canon brand, can anyone recommend a less expensive brand for battery grips? I am looking to purchase one for my 6d and one for my 7dII and am on a tight budget. I almost snagged a brand new Canon one for the 7d II for $110 but snoozed for a minute and lost out.

Someone on Facebook recommended Neewer brand, saying it has worked out well for him. Are off-brands safe to use as long as you put real Canon batteries in them? I just fear that there is a chance of messing up my camera going off-brand. Would it be better to just save my pennies and buy Canon (new) or wait it out for another Canon one to show up on the used market.

Denise

I bought a used Canon battery grip for my 7DII from LensRentals.com .... it works perfectly.....good prices on used gear there.

Thanks, Joel! Whenever I am scoping out the used market, I always forget to look there. I will check out what they have and keep them under my radar for that and a few other items!

A very good company to work with...I also bought my infrared converted 5D from them too:)

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Originally Posted by ddt0725

I've never used a battery grip before. So, other than the authentic Canon brand, can anyone recommend a less expensive brand for battery grips? I am looking to purchase one for my 6d and one for my 7dII and am on a tight budget. I almost snagged a brand new Canon one for the 7d II for $110 but snoozed for a minute and lost out.

Someone on Facebook recommended Neewer brand, saying it has worked out well for him. Are off-brands safe to use as long as you put real Canon batteries in them? I just fear that there is a chance of messing up my camera going off-brand. Would it be better to just save my pennies and buy Canon (new) or wait it out for another Canon one to show up on the used market.

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My opinion: if you're on a budget, slow down your purchases, don't cheap-out to get to the wrong stuff. It's a lot like "By Thom"'s article on tripods: you can spend $1100 or you can spend $1700, but either way you'll end up with a $1100 tripod. Especially with the 7D2, not all of the aftermarket units have the second joystick. Even though I think the Canon grip puts it in the wrong place, and so do the aftermarket ones that have it, I'd rather get a grip with it than not. There's also the support headache: when my wife's 40D with Canon grip decided that it wouldn't shoot at all if the grip was in the camera, but did fine if removed, it was so much more convenient to send the whole thing to Canon and let them sort it out (main board issue, $215 repair). Had I separated an off-brand grip and sent the camera in, probably would have had the same result, but perhaps they would have missed it until I'd spent the grip price difference in shipping.

I've purchased a few third party grips over the years with varied degrees of satisfaction experienced. The last third-party grip I purchased seemed to work fine. However, when attached to the 5D III, it caused the 5D III's multi-controller joystick to malfunction. Note that I didn't say the battery grip's multi-controller joystick malfunctioned – but it caused an issue with the camera's own joystick. I attached a BG-E11 grip and everything worked fine.

I know the OEM battery grips are expensive, but I've come to the conclusion that they're worth the extra money compared to less expensive third-party ones.

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Originally Posted by Sean Setters

I know the OEM battery grips are expensive, but I've come to the conclusion that they're worth the extra money compared to less expensive third-party ones.

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I agree with Sean. Check with LensRental and also KEH for a good used Canon grip. :)

Yep, that is what I'm going to do. I will keep my eyes peeled to the second-hand depts. and snag an authentic Canon one or just buy a new one for only one camera and leave it at that for awhile. Best to be safe than sorry! I would most definitely be upset if I messed up one of my camera's trying to cut corners!!