Grips

[Toby]

Always wondered whether I'd get much benefit from (or indeed get on with at all) a grip. One of the main reasons I was interested in one was to promote more portrait shooting as I don't tend to do this much, partly because I find holding the camera vertically to be awkward and partly because it just never occurs to me.

Never got round to buying or trying one on the 40D and, as I've known I'd be upgrading for a while, it would just have been one more thing to sell when the time came.

Last week I took the plunge and got a BG-E7 for my 7D. Figured the only way to know was to take the plunge and try it out.

My first reaction on attaching it to the camera was "OMG this is HUGE!". It really does add some bulk to the body which takes some getting used to. At this point I was already wondering whether this was a bad idea. Went out with it in anger this weekend though and I must say I'm converted!

Portrait use is obviously much more comfortable and natural with the grip, that's no surprise. What did surprise me was that the whole camera felt much better balanced with it on. With it hanging in front of me, normally the lens pulls the camera forward and downward but, with the grip, it felt much better balanced front-to-rear. I also found that, when shooting in normal landscape orientation, the slight extension to the body's own grip-hold provided somewhere for my little finger to go - normally it's off the bottom of the body. This made it feel much more comfortable.

All-in-all I'm quite impressed and glad I took the plunge. The one big disadvantage is obviously weight. The 7D, grip & 17-55 is a heavy combination, coming in at the thick end of 2kg once you've added a couple of batteries, but I think it's worth it.

[Kitten]

mine's pretty heavy on the 40D with the 70-200L on it, but it's worth it. I much prefer it with the grip on now I've got one.

[Dee]

Love my grips, I would never be without them now :)

[Mark]

Found the same on my 450D, especially with the 70-300 loaded on the front it had a tendency to twist my wrist which quickly got uncomfortable.

Haven't got one for the 7D yet, because I found the sheer bulk of the 450D plus grip frustrating, and the 7D is big enough already.

I'll see how I do on holiday though which will be the first time I've actually used my 7D for any length of time.

[Stan_Lite]

I use the grip on my 40D almost all of the time. My hands aren't massive but they're big enough that the bare camera is just a little small and feels a little fiddly. Also, the shutter button on the grip is handy when taking photos in portrait.

[Matblack]

Grip hasn't been off my 40D since I bought it, without it it feels small and unbalanced to me especially when using a longer lens. I wouldn't be without it.

MB

[Mondo]

I can use it with and without on the 5D, makes no difference to me on most lenses.

But with a bigger lens, 24-70, 85L, 70-200, a grip makes it easier to hold.

Though i never take one when traveling.

[Toby]

I'd have thought grips were virtually essential in your line of work, what with the amount of portrait shooting involved?

[Mondo]

Not really, jeff ascough shoots without one, Lara jade shoots without one. In fact, jeff ascough hates grips. I am thinking of not using mine as they add weight, they are nice when shooting portraits but not essential.