Battery Grip Question

mata.morrison

mata.morrison

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Matthew
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Hi all, got myself a cheap grip for my 500D a few weeks ago. Well chuffed with the build of it and really finished the feel off the camera off.

However at teh same time I got a few cheap batteries as well to go with it. I find that the batteries drain much quicker in the grip than before. Not including the cheapo batteries, tonight I wet out with my fully charged Canon and the meter started flashing after an hour of 30sec long exposures while out and about, I usually get a good few hours out of the battery!

So does the grip pull a charge from the battery? I do have the swich for the portrait controls switched off so that shouldnt be the issue.
 
Don't know about 3rd party grips, but I'm pretty sure Canon grips don't draw any current when not in use - even with the portrait switch on. In fact, I doubt if they draw any current, period! There's no LCD or LEDs on them, so why should they?

TBH, it sounds like your cheap batteries are exactly that. They are a false economy and should probably be binned!;)

All my bodies are gripped - primarily to give the extra battery life. Poor quality batteries will not put up with the kind of use you are talking about and the last thing you want is to have them stop working mid-way through a shoot. As a comparison, I reckon my grip/batteries gives me anything between 400-1000 shots, but they are typicaly working hard powering the big lens on AI Servo and IS.

Try one of your cheap batteries directly in the camera (without the grip) and see if it compares to what you had before.:thumbs:
 
I've got an aftermarket grip which I use with one OEM and one aftermarket battery and have no issues with battery life at all.

As John has suggested try your batteries without the grip and see if it's a battery or a grip problem :)
 
As mentioned I was out with only one battery installed to test last night and it was my genuine Canon :( So will double check without the grip next time and see what happens. I know teh two cheap batteries are 'cheap' and nasty probably but worth a punt for a few quid in the grip.
 
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I got a grip for my 60d and it came with 2 cheap battery's and they are both rubbish one wont charge at all and the other drains as quick as i use the original canon battery the camera always picks the original battery to use first for some reason.
 
It might be worth doing a few tests to see if its the grip or the batteries (or both) causing the problem.

Iv'e got the canon grip for my 50D I've not noticed any battery drain.

I've used it with a my 2 official canon batteries and my two 7dayshop cheap deals and a combo of the two, not had any problems with any battery drain :/

My experience with third party stuff is usually good, but at about twenty to twenty five squid for a second hand official grip ima have to ask how much the third party one was ? :P
 
Thanks everyone will do the test. It's not that it drains while I'm not using the camera, it was when using the camera the battery went to flashing within an hour of starting the shoot. I only finished charging the batter 30mins before going out!
 
Another thing to consider might be did the grip get knocked at all?

I cant keep still so I unconsciously started to unscrew my grip the other day and as the contacts became looser it started to display low battery, might be the cause? :-S
 
Were the batteries fully charged in the first place? I have 3 genuine Canon batteries for my 5D and i find sometimes the charger will say its fully charged when in fact its not at all, I sort this out by taking the battery out of the charger and replace it again, seems to do the trick.

Also if the batteries are new they may need a few full-empty cycles before they start performing better, I cant say ive noticed my grip reducing the life of the batteries.

How's the weather back home anyway? Is it getting cold?
 
Thanks all, will get all three batteries (! gen, 2 fake) fully charged and tested they are fully charged. Leave them in the grip and see what happens, then get them fully charged for a good night out.

In saying that I still haven't changed the battery since I was out and it's still flashing but still going... strange!

Haha yea weather is getting cold, pretty wet recently was lucky to get the other night and it be clear for some Aurora Shots :D
 
I have a meike grip a d the two batteries it came with last ages. At least 500 shots so far.
 
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