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What is the use of the camera's extra battery grip? Do I need to buy and use this battery grip? What kind of battery grip should I buy? This article provides answers to those common questions.
1. What is battery grip
The battery grip is an accessory used on single-lens reflex cameras and digital single-lens reflex cameras. Not only does it power the camera, but it also adds a vertical grip with a shutter button.
The battery grip is usually mounted on the bottom of the camera, and the original lifepo4 battery or AA batteries can be used to extend the life of the camera. It is usually equipped with a shutter button to facilitate vertical shooting. Some models also come with features such as audio recording, infrared remote control, and more.
2. Classification of battery grip
What we call additional grips generally refers to passing plate motors, vertical shooting grips, and their characteristics and functions are different.
● Passing motor
Cooperate with the film camera to achieve continuous film or increase the continuous film speed. Representative products are the Nikon MD series (MD is the abbreviation of Motor Drive). Early film SLRs typically used CR-type batteries. With the optional battery grip, users can use more compatible AA and NO7 batteries while improving battery life.
● Additional grips
This battery grip is mainly used to improve grip and make the camera more comfortable for users with large palms. The additional grip does not have any electronic contacts and does not provide any performance improvement. Fujifilm's additional grip is also compatible with Acca standards and can be used directly as a quick release board.
● Vertical grips
Most vertical grips are also a battery grip, allowing us to hold the camera and release the shutter more steadily when framing vertically. Nikon D8x0, D700, and D300 series Fujifilm X-T2 can also be equipped with vertical shooting grip to improve the camera's continuous shooting speed and other performance.
Common vertical grips come in two styles.
- One is attached directly to the contacts under the fuselage
- The other has a chimney that needs to be inserted into the camera's original battery compartment.
Today, some original vertical shooting grips also integrate audio and video input and output interfaces (such as Fujifilm VPB-XT2, Panasonic GH4U expansion base), GPS modules and flash contact. Third-party brands have added remote shutter, interval shooting and other features to the battery grip.
3. The function of the battery grip
Features of the battery grip include:
● Improves hand feel
The two main functions of the battery grip are to increase the battery life of the SLR and improve the battery grip feel when shooting vertically. Improved battery grip feels when shooting vertically. Most ordinary enthusiasts will not have a very obvious feeling.
● Extend battery life
For the average user, the amount of shooting in a day is not very large, and a fully charged battery is enough. At the same time, the extra vertical grip space provides a home for larger battery capacity and life.
● Improve continuous shooting speed
● Expand camera connectivity and functionality
However, if you buy a product of poor quality, it may also shake due to the poor fit of the fuselage and battery grip, which will also increase the chance of failure.
4. Two kinds of bluetooth grips
● Battery bluetooth grip
The battery grip comes with batteries that use bluetooth wireless to connect to the mobile phone. The advantage is that it does not need to be connected, and it is easy to use. The disadvantage is that wireless signals have radiation, and people who are sensitive to radiation will have a headache for a long time.
In addition, due to the separation of the two, the body posture is limited when playing, and it is easy to fatigue. When operating, it is more cumbersome to open Bluetooth debugging first, and some have delays.
● Charging bluetooth grip
This requires the purchase of a dedicated adapter cable, which is directly connected to the USB battery grip. Now relatively new mobile phones all come with this feature. The advantage is that there is no radiation, and there is no need to charge the grip. The disadvantage is that it has high requirements for the mobile phone and consumes the standby time of the mobile phone.
So for ordinary enthusiasts, the battery grip is not a necessary accessory, and it is easier to bring a spare battery. However, for professional portrait photographers who often shoot vertically and shoot a lot of shots, the battery grip can still play some auxiliary role.
5. When do you need to buy a battery grip
Everyone has a different purpose for buying cameras and accessories, and this article only lists the cases where a battery grip is usually required.
● Uncomfortable fuselage grip
Due to the size of the fuselage or the design style, the grip is relatively thin and the grip is not full enough. At this time, you can choose the original or third-party grip to improve the feel.
● Long battery life
Scenes such as wedding/memory follow-up, sports event recording, video shooting, etc., are unlikely to have time to replace the battery. At this time, we can increase the battery life to 2-3 times that of a single battery by optional vertical beat grip and filling the battery.
● More vertical compositions
Mainly aimed at portrait photographers, it makes vertical composition and shooting with medium telephoto large aperture lenses more stable.
● Gain a sense of customer identity
For weddings, photo shoots, etc., adding a vertical grip to the camera will usually enhance your professional sense in the minds of customers.
● Increase burst shooting speed
The Nikon D300/D700 is equipped with a vertical grip (6 AA batteries or a large battery of the D3 series) to increase the continuous shooting speed.
6. What kind of grip should I buy
The original vertical grip may pick up the secondary factory battery. In general, what problems can occur with a bad quality grip? Light leakage, and serious damage to the camera circuit part. There are individual differences or variations in models and versions. It is best to look for battery stores nearby to ask about it.
In principle, the battery grip directly affects the power supply accessories as much as possible when buying original products. However, because the price of the original grip is indeed higher, I believe that many friends will not help but try the auxiliary factory grip.
7. Conclusion
In the battery grip, quickly disassemble and assemble the battery pack, and the battery pack can be installed with batteries or alkaline batteries for longer photography, without worrying about insufficient power. The battery grip has dual shutters for easy photography. Suitable for all kinds of pose photography, it is more humane.
The multi-model camera cover can be replaced with the camera model, but the batteries compartment below does not need to be replaced. The main thing is to save costs, play the role of replacing the cover plate in batteries room at will, and save money and effort.
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