After Market Battery Grips for 5D Mark II

<p>I am interested to get some opinions on after market battery grips for the 5D Mark II. The one thing that has prevented me from purchasing Canon's BG-E6 is the $249 price tag. I searched Ebay and found several aftermarket grips for under $100. Does anyone have experience with any of these grips? Are they worth the $149 in savings? Are they reliable? I usually purchase only new oem equipment but $249 just seems to be too high for a battery grip.</p>

<p>Well, you can either buy the BG-E6, or you can buy two of the aftermarket variety so you'll have a replacement when the first one fails (usually in the field at a critical moment). Have you checked to see what warranty support there is for the aftermarket grips? As they say, you get what you pay for...</p>

<p>My philosophy is, if you spend $2700 on a body why wouldn't you just spend the extra $150 to get the real deal Holyfield? If you have to ask and wonder about an after market product I wouldn't get it. If you can afford a 5DMkII, just spend the extra money and get peace of mind.</p>

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<p>I usually purchase only new oem equipment but...</p>

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<p>With grips, stay with Canon. You get a true one year warranty and it is the only one of it's kind made of magnesium alloy. Also, think about the resale value of Canon equipment.</p>

<p>I saw this on amazon:<br>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Zeikos-ZE-CBG5DII-Battery-Grip-Canon/dp/B00246XB1S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1263750240&sr=8-2">http://www.amazon.com/Zeikos-ZE-CBG5DII-Battery-Grip-Canon/dp/B00246XB1S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1263750240&sr=8-2</a><br>

It's $85 shipped. Review of 28 reviewer rated it at 4+ stars. Never tried them though. I think saving of $160 on a $2500 camera (and dropping) is significant IMHO.</p>

<p>I have had an aftermarket grip on my XTI, and while it was servicable, I noticed that the extra shutter button required more effort, to release than did the normal one on the camera, and this gave me the feeling of moving the camera due to the additional effort required, or it might have been that it has a longer stroke to activate. Also, after a while, the other features started to get iffy. For instance the timmer function intermittent in whether it wanted to work or not, along with the ability to set the independant clock on the grip. No big deal for me as I only wanted the extra battery capacity and shutter button for portrait orientation. <br>

For my 50D I got the real one from Canon, and it has the same feel to it as the 50D's normal shutter button. </p>

<p>Would you buy a $250,000.00 luxury sports acr and $29.00 tires on it?</p>

<p>A long time ago, I saw a sign in a motorcycle shop that read, "If you have a $10 head, wear a $10 helmet". We can apply that thought here...</p>

<p>OK, My 2 Cents. I have both a rebel XT and a Canon 20D. I have an aftermarket grip on the rebel XT (Which I have had for four years) and I have a Canon grip on the 20D. I have to say that they are both equally made and of the same quality. I use both cameras quite often and both cameras have similar wear and tear and both grips have held up very well with no damage/wear. With that being said, I would probally buy an aftermarket grip in the future if I needed to. I am a firm believer that if you spend $2500.00 on a camera body then you should just spend the extra $ for the "Canon" grip but since I was on a very tight budget a few years back I was forced to go with the aftermarket item and that expierence has shown me that there are good quality aftermarket items out there. One very important note that I must add is that like someone posted earlier in this post with the Amazon link that "Customer Reviews" were very impoortant for me in my choice when I went with the aftermarket item.<br>

Good luck!<br>

David Israel</p>

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<p>I might scrimp on something like a third party tripod ring for a 70-200 f/4 lens, but not for a product that can, and has for others, interfere with shooting.</p>

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<p>O.K. I just bought a battery grip from<strong> ANSMANN AG, Industriestrasse 10, D-97959 Assamstadt/Germany. E-mail: hotline@ansmann.de</strong> for my 5DMkII. The battery grip is presently offered under various names, but I expect, that they are the same as the original Canon BG-E6, but a lot cheaper. I also guess, that they all, including the Canon BG-E6, are produced from the same manufacturer in China! Not directly from Canon, as many other product under the names Canon!<br>

The make of the ANSMANN battery grip is to my opinion equal to the original! Furthermore, I like to recommend to use only the original Canon battery packs LP-E6 with the battery grip! To save money on cheap fake products, its a waste of money!</p>

<p>Cheers</p>

<p>I think David has it here. </p>

<p>Certain Canon items are just cash grabs. Remember the cost of Canon's lens hoods and the lens-to-tripod mounts? How much technology is really put into these items to justify their outlandish prices?</p>

<p>Five years ago when I bought my DRebel I also got an aftermarket grip plus two aftermarket batteries to add to my single Canon battery. I have rotated the batteries with every charge and so all three have seen the same use. After five years and tens of thousands of frames the aftermarket batteries now hold a *little* less charge ( ~15% ) than the Canon battery does. The grip, which has been on the camera for every frame, is very simply designed and has never caused any problems. </p>

<p>Filters, mind you, are another story. I would use the money saved by getting an aftermarket grip towards buying high-end filters for sure.</p>

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<p>The thing about an aftermarket camera grip is that if it fails your shoot isn't ruined. It just means that you have to replace the batteries every so often, and your hand might start to ache. Bottom line: It's worth the risk.</p>