Any experience with aftermarket canon grips for 5d mark 2?

tijoseph

I have come accross this grip for the mark 2. While I buy pretty much only canon genuine stuff, the price on this seems pretty attractive. Has anyone had any experience with this or something like it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Battery-Grip-for-Canon-EOS-5D-Mark-II-BG-E6-Camera-B7E_W0QQitemZ230332317844QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBatteries_Chargers?hash=item230332317844&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

tijoseph

bumpity bump bump

ziggy53

I have no experience with that grip but I use an Opteka battery grip on my Canon XT/350D and in around 3 years I haven't had any serious problems with it. One time I had to clean the contacts but other tham that it's worked fine for me.

I do believe that quality control of the third party grips is sporadic and that the factory grips are of better build. Even the factory grips can have problems so it's probably best to buy from a source that has a decent return policy.

If you purchase from an EBay source I do think that to be one of the riskier methods and I do not recommend that you invest more than you can afford to lose. As long as you understand the risk, and if you really need the grip and can't afford the factory grip, the price for that link is very reasonable.

I don't think I would go for it myself.

Manfr3d

If you search on google for Phottix BG-E6 you will find some favorable reviews. Phottix is a larger manufacturer of photo accessories and attends trade shows. So I ordered one for 100 bucks (including battery magazine) to see what it is about - it should arrive tomorrow. I can post some impressions an pictures if you like ...

ziggy53

Manfr3d wrote:

... I can post some impressions an pictures if you like ...

I think that's a great idea.

tijoseph

I'd love to now your take on it. Especially the finish, does it look genuine?

The saving over the canon is huge!

Manfr3d

Phottix BP-5D Mk II
The grip arrived today, here are my first impressions:

Pros:

+ Feels as robust (material) and substantial (weight) as the original grip.
+ Build quality is very good, somewhat better than my genuine Canon BG-ED3 grip (for the 10D).
+ Fits the 5D II perfectly. No wobbling etc.
+ The feel of the buttons is very close to the buttons on the 5D II (you're not going to notice it while shooting).
+ Padding on the grip is softer (but not thicker) than on the 5D II and provides more grip.
+ Camera shows full battery status when using AA batteries in the grip (I didn't expect that).
+ No shiny silver "Canon BG-E6" logo on the front (for me that is a plus).
+ Shape and look are practically identical to the original canon grip.
+ Comes with Battery magazine
+ Inexpensive (I feel I got more than what I paid for).
+ Doesn't smell like a chemical plant (like some other 3rd party bgs do), comes with multilangual manual.

Cons:

+ Not for the purist who needs a brand logo on everything he owns ;-)
+ I wish I had bought it earlier.


Although this is only the first day with the grip, I find it very nice to use and am confident that it will continue
to work well in the future. Considering that it costs only a bit more than a Canon BP-E6 battery and allows me
to use AA batteries in it, I think this grip is a very fine deal for everyone who can live without the Canon logo on it.

Here are some photos:

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7. Putting in some Sayno cells.


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10. Notice the battery indicator.


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tijoseph

Awesome review. I guess it is as good as it looks!

Thanks for taking the time to do it!

I/m sold, going to order mine today!

ziggy53

WTG and thanks Manfr3d. thumb

Very nice mini review.

Do you have any comment about stability of the camera on a tripod with and without the grip? (One very good reason to use a grip is so that you can change batteries without removing the camera from the tripod. It looks like the Phottix design makes this easy to do.)

Manfr3d

Hard to say if the grip has an influence on image quality when used
on a tripod. Following the rules of physics, the extra camera height
inherently reduces camera stability regardless of the grip type. I don't
see any differences between the Phottix and Canon grip here. It should
be no problem unless your lenses make the setup very front heavy.

In the following picture you can see the battery door fully open.

The mounting plate should not touch the rear rim of the grip otherwise
the door cant be opened fully. The plate in the picture is 3x4cm in size.
The ball head is an Acratech UMB V2.

Jane B.

I would think the stability of the camera would also be affected by how deep the mounting hole for the screw from the mounting plate is.

Jane

ziggy53

Ideally you want hard surface to hard surface between the mating surfaces of the grip and the bottom of the camera. There were a couple of old grips that I heard about which used a rubber surface and that provided too much "wiggle" for effective tripod use. The Phottix grip appears to use the hard surface approach as well as providing some anti-rotation through a pin which mates to the body. It would appear to be a good design.

The plastic composition and thickness would also affect the battery compartment rigidity and that could impact the structural stability of the camera/grip combination on a tripod. Ideally you would want a fiber filled plastic (structural plastic) and the walls should be thick enough to prevent much flex.

It also appears that the tightening wheel is not directly attached to the attachment screw. It would appear that there is a gear relationship between the tightening wheel and the attachment screw. Is this correct?

Manfr3d

The Phottix grip has a hard surface around the mounting screw on the bottom (see picture #4 above). The (metal) screwhole is almost a centimeter deep.

The tightening wheel is connected via a gear to the screw that goes into the camera (just like with canon).

I don't know what kind of material the grip is made of, but it feels as solid and heavy as a Canon grip does.

davev

With 2 LP-E6 batteries in it, will it give you the info on both batteries individually, or will it just give the info as a whole?

This looks like a good deal. Thanks for the review.

Manfr3d

I don't have two Canon LP-E6 Batteries so I cannot tell you that. (I bought the grip instead of a 2nd LP-E6)