Battery Grip

Konstantin

Hello again!
I'm looking forward to getting a battery grip for my T2i. They sell them on the internet for different prices. I'm wondering what is the difference, if there is one, between new $27 and $169 battery grips? They look the same to me.

Gizmojo

I haven't personally purchased a battery grip, but I probably will soon. I have purchased spare batteries for my T2i. I bought a double pack for about $9, rather than the official Canon batteries for $69 each. They work perfectly and I haven't had a single problem with them. The only difference I can see is that they don't say Canon on them.

If it were me (and it soon will be) I'd buy the cheaper one from a reliable source like Amazon. If it doesn't work as well as you expect, you can return it.

Konstantin

Thank you Gizmojo, I'll probably go with the extra battery and get some other stuff. Thank you for your advice.

PBked

Hi @Konstantin,
This is a tricky one because I have read some real horror stories concerning third party battery grips as opposed to the Canon or Hama ones. But, then again, I have read some very good reviews.
The advantages of a battery grip are 1) they create a better balance when using longer lenses, 2) your battery life will be considerably extended (and I mean considerably), and 3) they come with an extra tray which takes 6 AA batteries (which are available almost anywhere in the world). The disadvantage is the extra weight.
As for batteries, I would like to point out that not all batteries are created equal. Third party batteries may look just like Canon but can be very shoddily made inside. However, people like Gizmojo above have used them without problems. Personally, I always buy the Canon batteries. Why spend $100's buying a good camera and then skimp on the thing that powers it?
Best regards, PBked

beowulf

Another school of thought...depends on what you're using the camera for. You can get a fairly cheap DSLR rig that will help protect your camera and allow extra mounting options for gear (especially if you're doing video work). For a few hundred bucks, you can get a V-mount or Gold-mount battery kit with a 100+mw battery that should give you a good 8 to 12 hours of camera use; probably more. They do add weight and size, and the only battery adapters are for the 7D and MK2/3. It wasn't hard to take the Canon T2i AC battery adapter, cut the wire, and use a D-tap wire from the battery and splice it to the AC one to make it work with the camera. I now power my camera, HDMI recorder (Shuttle 2), IKAN monitor and DR-40 audio recorder with my battery and I've gone over 4 hours already and the battery still shows about 50% space. So I am assuming the camera alone will go much longer than 8 hours if that is all you're powering with it. Like I said, this isn't for everyone, and is probably more for those using the T2i for it's excellent video capabilities.

Konstantin

Thank you everybody for response. I just bought an extra battery and a polarized filter instead of just a battery grip, so I think I'll be all set for now.
Thank you again.
With regards, Konstantin