Quote Originally Posted by canoli
I wish Canon would design an attachment that adds theportrait button functionality without the
cumbersome battery holder. That would be a great tool. Add a 1/2" in height instead of 2 ...and give you a portrait release and a back-focus button.

Have to disagree there. First off, the battery grip (at least the one for my 7D) adds 1.75", not 2". That's especially relevant when you measure the space needed for the 3 buttons - AF point selection, AE Lock, and AF-ON - that space is ~1.25" on the camera body. The spacing is the same on the grip - and it had damn well better be, since I want the same button and placement on the grip otherwise changing orientation is not convenient. So, adding the battery compartment adds only 1/2" to the necessary size of the grip - a pretty minor difference. In fact, they could probably design the battery compartment to take up no extra space, meaning a 1.25" thick grip instead of a 1.75" thick grip. Why didn't they? In portrait orientation, you still have to hold the camera. If the grip was only 1/2" high it wouldn't be much of a grip - the point of a grip is that it should be comfortable to hold. The definition of grip is, "part of, or attachment to, an object, allowing it to be moved or used by hand." They could make the grip on a tennis racquet or a golf club the same relatively thin diameter as the shaft - but that would be a crappy tennis racquet or golf club, and your game would suffer as a result. Imagine if they shrunk the grip portion of the camera body to a thinner dimension. Would your camera still be comfortable to hold?


If I had a wish that Canon would grant on the subject of battery grips, it would be to add a multifunction controller (aka joystick), for AF point selection, to the grip.


Just my 2¢.