3rd Party Battery Grips

Alan White

Alan White

Messages
352
Name
Alan
Edit My Images
No
I am looking for a battery grip for my Canon 400d as its a bit small in the paws sometimes.

Have looked at the original Canon BG-E3 and had kittens at the cost for a battery holder!

See lots of 3rd Party types about and some look good and other look like tat to me.


Best seen is one from China (of course) on Fleabay for £40 called a Travor and its the spitting image of the real thing.

Anyone had experience of these or other 3rd party grips.

Help advice or derission welcomed :)
 
I've got a Chinese one and it's fine - all the buttons & portrait functionality of the original Canon one.
My seller sent me one with a timer built in on the back to allow timelapse etc - it's not what I ordered but it's a handy gadget so I didn't complain.
The only issue is that the catch for the battery tray has now slightly broken which causes a bit of a problem changing batteries but it's not a massive deal - Canon might have been better quality though!
 
I've got the Phottix one for my 30D and it seems to be of very good quality, everything works as I expected it to, I haven't handled the Canon one so can't really compare but I would find it hard to believe that it is three times better (going by price anyway)
 
I love the Phottix one on my D300. Didn't go down the EN-EL4 route, just opted for 8 x rechargables and the added weight is decent too.
 
Ive got a chinese one for my 40d , i love it build quality is excellent and at a fraction of the price.
 
D200 ones, build quality is the same as the nikon (read: not great but the nikon one would make you feel robbed...), do the job fine, got two, no problems here...
 
I have the Opteka for my 50D and it works and fits fine, HOWEVER, it doesn't have the pin on the base to allow the Canon hand strap to be fitted. The Photix one does. So if using the strap is on your agenda, be careful what you buy.
 
Make sure its not an hanel one for the 400D they dont have the buttons and are really just a battery holder, as unfortunately found out, and as it was a Christmas present bought weeks earlier couldn't return it still not got a proper one yet for fear of offending my son who bought it for me
 
I recently got a 'Linkdelight' one, and I was amazed at the quality! I got it from here secondhand for £30 with the battery holder and a spare battery. I honestly can't see how the Canon one could be worth double or triple the price, to be honest I think the grippy finish on the 3rd party grip feels a better quality than on the 450D!

Chris
 
Thanks all for your input and all basically positive.

It hi ho hi ho off to fleabay I go then! :'(

Lets face it most of this genuine reproduction items are possibly from the same places everyone ships out the manufacturing of the genuine parts from?? You never know? :naughty:

Once again thanks all for your input, appreciated.
 
Certainly having handled both the linkdelight and nikon mbd200s, I would not be surprised if the factory is working for nikon 9-5, then another shift comes on and makes a batch of linkdelight ones....

Just watch out and make sure you get one that has the buttons and control wheels - sometimes described as the 'pro' version!
 
Had the Ansmann grip for a Canon, worked fine and nice solid build too

Made the whole lot a bit too bulky for my daughters very small hands and just sold it for a fair old loss on the bay
 
I have a Linkdelight grip - was originally delighted and whooped for joy, then it started missing a few beats (two weeks after purchase) but I put up with it. Then the battery compartment door kept opening and would not stay shut.

I sent it back to them and I am currently awaiting a replacement to drop through the letter box. Returning it cost me the best part of £22. So please bear this in mind!
 
I had a phottix for my 50d, grip itself was fine, I just dont get on well with grips in general. I recomend it as an experiment as you dont take too much of a hit reselling it on here (I lost like 20 quid)
 
I have the Phottix on my D300 with the Kosmo battery,works fine at 8 fps and all other functions.


Viperbiker, please accept my apologies for forgetting to post photos of it some time ago,totally forgot.......:bang:
 
Frogbad said:
I have a Linkdelight grip - was originally delighted and whooped for joy, then it started missing a few beats (two weeks after purchase) but I put up with it. Then the battery compartment door kept opening and would not stay shut.

I sent it back to them and I am currently awaiting a replacement to drop through the letter box. Returning it cost me the best part of £22. So please bear this in mind!
Click to expand...

Sounds like that's a recurring problem then - I've not had issues with missing shots but the battery compartment is obviously the weak point.
 
incapete said:
Sounds like that's a recurring problem then - I've not had issues with missing shots but the battery compartment is obviously the weak point.
Click to expand...

I will find out when I buy my one off the bay, going to go for the Travor one as fully reflects the Canon Layout, uncanny genuine reproduction item.
If the door falls off or similar its only £40 and if I hate using a grip its still only £40, which lets face it is not alot in photographic kit terms.

Thanks to you all for offering your advice and experience, very much appreciated.
 
doofus said:
I will find out when I buy my one off the bay, going to go for the Travor one as fully reflects the Canon Layout, uncanny genuine reproduction item.
If the door falls off or similar its only £40 and if I hate using a grip its still only £40, which lets face it is not alot in photographic kit terms.

Thanks to you all for offering your advice and experience, very much appreciated.
Click to expand...

My grip's never off my 400D - the extra battery life and the feel in my hands is much better so I hope you get on with yours!
 
fracster said:
I have the Phottix on my D300 with the Kosmo battery,works fine at 8 fps and all other functions.


Viperbiker, please accept my apologies for forgetting to post photos of it some time ago,totally forgot.......:bang:
Click to expand...

LOL Don't worry about it matey, I'm happy with it now and the AA battery shell seals perfectly.
 
Anyone able to give any opinions on this third party grip for a D300. It's only £35 but it says it has a portrait shutter release and holds 2 batteries. I know you can get grips with more features on them but to be honest, all I want is the additional size of the camera body, the extended battery life and the portrait shutter so it seems to meet my requirements. I'm just unsure what kind of quality it'll be.

EBay third party D300 grip
 
Hi Folks

Thought best post an update.

Bought a Travor grip from e-bay via Hong Kong for £34 incl post.
Arrived a few days ago and quality is very good, looks like a Canon clone.

Have had a try and all works very well indeed.
It makes the 400d feel right now in my mitts,
better balanced so very happy with it :)

Let's see how it goes longterm, but all in all for the money,
proves a grip is right for me and the camera combo,
so money very well spent indeed.

If you want a grip but not sure it's for you or are a bit tight like me and NO I am not a Yorkshireman or Scot, just thrifty, I cannot recommend one more fully than this value for money item.

Hope that helps others decide in future.:thumbs:
 
chris321 said:
I recently got a 'Linkdelight' one, and I was amazed at the quality! I got it from here secondhand for £30 with the battery holder and a spare battery. I honestly can't see how the Canon one could be worth double or triple the price, to be honest I think the grippy finish on the 3rd party grip feels a better quality than on the 450D!

Chris
Click to expand...

I'm getting the Linkdelight one too (for my D700). It gets good reviews. I am getting the large capacity battery from the D3 that fits into it as it comes with the adapter. I have found a good deal from the US so might offer to buy a batch of them and share postage.......
 
Idiot question - what happens to the battery compartment door when you fit a battery grip? Does it come off easily and go back on if you take the grip off?

Ta.
 
my 350D has a little tricky catch on it.
the 40D I now just pulls off!!!

not sure which is better.
I use 3rd party grips and have never had a problem with them so far.
 
desf said:
Idiot question - what happens to the battery compartment door when you fit a battery grip? Does it come off easily and go back on if you take the grip off?

Ta.
Click to expand...

On the D200 the door just clips off.

On the D300 and D700 then battery grip attaches to the bottom of the camera and the contacts are just covered with a rubber cover which also removes
 
desf said:
Idiot question - what happens to the battery compartment door when you fit a battery grip? Does it come off easily and go back on if you take the grip off?

Ta.
Click to expand...

On your D40 the contacts are not available inside or under the camera for a grip as Nikon do not consider that people would want to grip the D40. There are aftermarket ones that plug in and use a separate lead.
 
desf said:
Idiot question - what happens to the battery compartment door when you fit a battery grip? Does it come off easily and go back on if you take the grip off?

Ta.
Click to expand...


On the Canon ones the door has a little catch that allows the hinge to come off - then it sits in a little slot inside the grip for storage.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top