Poll: To grip or not to grip

If you use a battery grip, what is the primary reason you have it?

  • Comfort / ease for vertical shooting

    Votes: 44 33.8%

  • Extra battery power

    Votes: 8 6.2%

  • A combination of the above

    Votes: 63 48.5%

  • 'Cause it makes my camera look bigger ;)

    Votes: 6 4.6%

  • Other (post you reason below)

    Votes: 9 6.9%
  • Total voters
    130
Nick_1981

Nick_1981

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I was just about to order a battery grip for my backup body and then thought do I really need it as the camera really wont get much use anyway :thinking:

Which led me on to question the primary reason people opt for a grip, for me I think it's ease and comfort of vertical shooting before additional power.....

How about you?
 
Not to grip!

Bought a grip and never used it.

My new canon battery lasts forever without charging and I have a spare which I've never used!

It just adds weight, and for me it just isn't needed!
 
Grip every time, I just find it balances the camera out more, and when I'm doing night time photography I don't want the camera giving up since it's only got a single battery in :thumbs:

Also makes shooting in portrait so much easier IMO

Matt
MWHCVT
 
Grip.
For me, I've found the balance is improved and just the overall handling. It feels better in the hand.
Macro, I remove it, though. It adds too much bulk and limits position in some situations.
I will say that I was bought a grip with fancy timers and interval stuff on it and that is more of a pain than not. If I was buying again, I'd go for a plain one and just use Magic Lantern.
 
Both really

Grip for balance and comfort with certain lenses, no grip for other lenses ...
 
I have to go gripped , the camera just feels better to hold with it . I have small hands as well so I don't think it has anything to do with hand size . A thought though is a gripped body better balanced and is this why 1d bodies are larger . I don't think its just down to the size of the batteries internal electronics , have Canon concluded that the larger body is more ergonomic but only decided to offer it in the top end bodies ?
 
I've answereed, although I'm not gripped at the minute; I have one on order, and I've gripped bodies in the past as my answer reflects: I do if for both ease of handling in portrait and also the extra power.
 
Grip for me too..I'm another with shovels for hands :)
 
I use the grip as It came with the camera and has always been fitted, plus I like it, keep forgetting about the other controls on it though when shooting portrait style ha ha!!!

spike
 
No grip.

It's a complete pain in the backside to have to use the joystick on the back of my 7D to change AF points when running vertical. The shutter button feels different on the grip and I don't have battery issues.

In principle I like the extra balance they give, but the other stuff just irritates me.
 
I agree about the feel of the shutter button, doesn't feel right
 
Grip for me, makes life much easier on the vertical. Being able to use AA's is handy too, as it the extra battery.
 
zeitghost said:
Not to grip for me. I have very small hands and a grip makes the camera too large and unwieldy and too heavy.
Click to expand...

Could've written that myself. Spot on.
 
I've had 5 bodies and they've all had 3rd party grips on and even the wife's 650D is gripped. It's much better on batteries and for me its much better balanced.
 
Not to grip I don't mind holding my hand above my head, as all the buttons are in the same place

But I think a lot of people add a grip to make it look like they are carrying a pro body
 
Siilver said:
Not to grip I don't mind holding my hand above my head, as all the buttons are in the same place

But I think a lot of people add a grip to make it look like they are carrying a pro body
Click to expand...

:lol: That's why I added option 4 :naughty:

p.s really like the gallery on your website, particularly the old mini!
 
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There is bound to some people, if they have they speak that is something else
I can vote so can't see the results
 
Shouldn't there be an option for "not to grip" judging by the thread title

That would be my pick, tried a couple of times and doesn't work for me at all
 
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I'm doing a wedding soon and was going to get one but would take me too long to get used to it
 
Siilver said:
But I think a lot of people add a grip to make it look like they are carrying a pro body
Click to expand...

Haha, I've also sometimes wondered the same thing. I'd never put a grip on my camera, it makes it too heavy and unwieldy. I also don't really see the point from a power perspective - why not just carry extra batteries? Furthermore, how often do you actually run out of juice on an average shoot? Unless you're shooting long exposures in cold environments which drain the batteries quicker, I don't really see the need.
 
i've got one on my D7000, it transformed the camera and made it much nicer to use. Especially with me 70-210 on, its not a particularly big lens but having the battery at the bottom in the grip made it much better balanced and easier on my wrist :)

I've never felt the need on my D200 though, the bigger camera sits better in my hands i can't say i've ever felt like it needed one :)
 
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not grip. gripping a camera just looks like you're trying to convince the worl you have a pro body
 
I only use my grip when I'm helping my brother out shooting equine. Why would anyone just put one on for show when it weighs much more if you don't need it?
 
I bought a grip for my D90, didn't like it. Doesn't feel like its apart of the camera, it feels out of place and I never liked using it. But on the D3 with the built in grip I like using, its apart of the camera, it feels the same as the rest of the camera and just feels right. :)
 
No grip. I don't like the extra weight/bulk and my 30D balances well enough. I might feel differently if I was using an XXXD body though, they're a little small/cramped for me and I don't have particularly big paws.

I'm not sure about wanting to look as if 'you're carrying a pro body'. Most photographers would know it's not, if they were really interested in something so trivial, and most non-photographers probably wouldn't notice or care.
 
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I use a grip on both the D300 and D90 because they help to balance the camera better with longer/heavier lenses fitted, plus I prefer the way the camera feels in my hands. When shooting in portrait orientation it also allows me (you) to maintain the most stable hand-holding technique and therefore aids stability.

Having siad that, I do find the gripped D300 to be a pretty heavy beast so if I'm just out shooting for fun (like yesterday in Wells) I remove the grip.
 
I love the feel the of the camera with a grip in both vertical and horizontal shooting, and the extra battery power is handy too.

BUT.... these days I always seem to want to travel light and I only seem to use my 18-35 and/or 50mm, and put the stuff in my smallest camera bag (hadley pro).

If was using a 70-200mm or another similar big lens more often I'd grip the camera, but I don't really feel the need to for small lenses.
 
I prefer the feel of a gripped body
non gripped for those with women's hands and gripped for us men
 
Gripped for me as i use my 5D for weddings so the extra battery power saves me from fliiping around changing batterys more often if it wasnt connected, plus using it in portrait with the grip makes it feel easer to use and balances the camera out better with heavier lenses on.
 
Balance, portrait orientation, extra battery, and bigger. That was with the 350D though, haven't got one on my D3100 as it doesn't have an original, and you have to have a wire and flap open full time.
 
Gripped with hand strap, hand strap doesn't feel as safe or as comfortably without.
 
Grip.

I'm another with fairly big hands, grip has made all the difference to it. The camera just feels more solid with it, portrait shooting is easier and the battery life is amazing.
 
gripped for some stuff, like studio shoots and fight gigs when weight is good and power is needed.
also the vertical controls are handy
for everyday stuff...not at all
will grip my backup 40D for extra power as the batteries are failing now :(
on another note, I can't figure out why people put 'gripped' in their camera box over here
<----------------------------------------------------------------------------------O
seems hugely irrelevant to the whole canon/nikon camps etc or even in the occasional one-upmanship that might occur.
I've seen it quite a lot and never figured it out.
Might get a grip for my recent canon purchase, but always go 3rd party as I'm cheap like that and don't use them all the time
 
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