Battery Grips

<p>How many of you are adding battery grips to fx cameras like the D800-D810? I have always used them and have them on my D7000. I like the heft, ergonomics and find the extra mass helps with steadying handheld shots. What I don't need is the one extra fps. I'm contemplating buying a couple of D810s and wondering whether or not to add the grips.</p>

<p>I use battery grips on both of my 350Ds.<br>

I like to shoot verticals without having to swing my elbows out.<br>

It gives a more stable shooting position.<br>

I carry both most of the time.<br>

An 18-55 on one and a 75-300 on the other.<br>

I got tired of having the wrong lens on the camera at the wrong time.</p>

<p>If you are shooting primarily vertical all day, the flying elbow gets old fast. As Willis says, it is more stable and could help with sharpness by pinning the right elbow to the side. I note some folks think it looks elegant, want elegant, hold out your pinkie. </p>

<p>I have caveman hands, so vertical grips have always made SLR-style bodies more pleasant for me to use. I like the stability, the extra mass, and the longer battery live (especially as I shoot more and more video these days). I wouldn't go without having one, even it isn't always, always mounted. Shame they cost what they do.</p>

<p>I used them when I had the 5dII, but I have decided not to use them now I have the 6D. The are useful but not essential for me. If I was shooting vertically a huge amount I would probably get one, but my vertical shooting is not year round so I decided to simplify this time. When/if you change your camera, they are just something else you have to sell on.</p>

<p>I found them helpful (as grips) on the smaller model DX-size cameras, but on the larger DX- and FX-size, they make an already large camera too big for me.</p>

<p>I've always used them as well. I wondered specifically about the D810 -- it is larger and already weighs two pounds.</p>

<p>Always, all of the time, form the beginning of the SLR cameras, I haw a motor drive or motor winder, on all of my cameras ( to many) mostly for the stability of the camera and my hand. It is much more comfortable to walk around, ready to shoot, camera hanging on your hand, strap around my wrist, just in case, ( never dropped any camera in my life ) holding easily the whole package ( sometime a big package, like the Nikon F2 with battery pack and motor drive ) without getting the hand spasm. Never mind, the tourist style, hanging the camera on your neck. Never hanged a camera on my neck. Many time or most of the time I don't even using the motor drive to drive the camera, winding is a joy for me. To bad, the Df don't have optional battery pack, styled to the camera, not the ugly plastic, you can have from China.</p>

<p>I've always been tempted by them, but I like small and carry-able, so I've avoided them.<br />On something really "pro", they make sense.</p>

<p>I had such stuff when it was called Pentax Motordrive A or LX. I burned a few frames in borrowed fully rigged F4 & R8 dabbled with a grip on the C330 and my only camera that really needs one seems to be the Technika.<br>

I never felt an urge to buy a grip for my DSLRs. <br>

I can agree that they give better ergonomics especially when you are holding the one body with one lens all day long, but an overloaded wrist is exactly that, no matter how comfy the hand feels. - I mean I don't want to hold anything like a big pro body with attached huge zoom and flashgun for long in just my right hand; its heavy enough to shout for the left hand's support. I believe I stopped using my various motors when the attached cameras started bitching and got partially replaced by simple ones (K1000 style) and I don't feel as if I missed much. <br>

My 1st set of DSLRs didn't get me into machinegunnery. 5fr / 1 minute buffer flushing the other wrote faster but did only 3 fr in a row. - enough time to grab another camera in between, little need for a grip and that shooting style stuck.<br>

@ Bela: its only the 3rd camera that will end around my neck, I don't like them banging against each other when they share a shoulder.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I have caveman hands, so vertical grips have always made SLR-style bodies more pleasant for me to use.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I'm with Matt, here!</p>

<p>I used to use a Minolta XG-M and X-570, and the Minolta Motor Drive 1 accessory transforms the handling of those cameras (and others in the series).</p>

<p>When I got my Canon EOS 7D, it wasn't long before I splurged on the BG-E7 grip. The grip has hardly left the camera since. And when I do place my order for the 7D Mark II, I'll be ordering the grip for it as well.</p>

<p>If you shoot with large, heavy lenses (70-200 f/2.8L, 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L and bigger), the added weight of the grip plus extra battery is almost negligible, and it gives you a much better grasp of the camera when you need to go to portrait orientation.</p>

<p>I use the MB-D12 on the D810 when I'm using a 135mm or longer lens, as usually I shoot a lot of verticals and it is much more comfortable for me to hold such a lens for vertical orientation shots with the grip, I can hold both my elbows against my torso. I have also the MB-D15 for the D7100 for the same purpose.</p>

<p>For landscape use, I take the grip off. </p>

<p>Thanks, Ilkka.</p>

If I ever use a grip it's for the extra fps or extra battery life. I found the grip is bad for

holding the camera.