Using the 400D Battery Grip

It’s been several weeks in use now, so I feel it’s time to comment and share my experiences with the battery grip I have plugged onto my Canon 400D.

First a reminder: This isn’t the official Canon BG-E3. This is a made-in-China replica, which has some added functionality.

So why would anyone want a battery grip attached to their camera? To ease taking pictures in portrait (aka vertical) mode, and to increase battery life.

Without the grip attached, to take a portrait orientated photo, you need to swing the camera around 90 degrees anticlockwise – which means that your right hand is on your forehead - kinda like making the L-Looser sign – and your elbow is waving about exposing your underarm BO.

The additional grip fixes that. Now you can hold the camera normally, with your elbows tucked in at your side. (Which is how you want to pose for greater camera stability.) The grip has its own shutter release button more-or-less in the exact place you’d expect to find it. It’s not exactly positioned as on the actual 400D body, but it is close enough.

Using the camera in portrait mode becomes second nature now. It just feels natural to flip the camera 90 degrees and carry on shooting. That said, the bit you wrap your fingers around on the grip is considerably fatter than on the 400D camera body. It’s not uncomfortable, but it is bigger and my little fingers only just wrap.

(As an aside, I recently got to handle a Canon 40D. It’s a big camera, and the part you wrap your fingers around feels like it would be a problem for me – too big.)

The battery grip also has other control buttons, just like on the main camera body. Using them there on the grip isn’t much different. Except when selecting a different focus point. Then you have to reach over and use the cursor keys and Set button next to the screen. This requires shifting the weight of the camera to your left hand and stretching your right. I don’t do that too often, so no real problem.

The battery grip definitely does add significant weight to the camera. I haven’t put it on a scale yet, but you’ll notice the difference. That means I have changed the way I carry the camera with the neck strap. The battery grip has a place for strap attachment underneath, to the right of the tripod screw. I’ve got my neck strap connected there, and on the normal place on the left of the camera body. The camera now sits diagonally. This may seem awkward, but in practice it is more comfortable to carry. Instead of just putting the strap around the back of my neck, I now put it over my right shoulder and under my left arm. Considerably less pressure on my neck now. Once again, this may seem awkward, but when carrying the camera with a heavy lens on a long walk, this setup is comfortable and flexible.

I’ve been doing a bit of close-up of flowers at some really strange angles lately. The grip adds so much flexibility, and feels so natural to use, I found myself with my hand on the grip rather than on the camera body most of the time.

Being a Battery Grip, you’d expect to hear about batteries. Open the side door on the grip and there is a tray that slides out. The tray takes two normal NB-2LH batteries. This is where I should get all scientific and tell you how many extra shots you get before you need to change the batteries. Sorry. I haven’t counted. In the 6 weeks I’ve had the grip attached to my camera I’ve changed batteries once. That seems reasonable to me, considering I do use the camera just about every day, and it includes bird-watching expeditions and the Motor Show. One moan though. The battery indicator on the camera seems to drop off very rapidly – it went from full to zero, in like 20 shots or so.

The grip I have also has some “professional” features – functions to do time-lapse type photography. I haven’t used these features in anger yet. That might be another post.

Conclusion:
Usability: great – it works exactly as you expect it to.
Weight: there are workarounds to keeping it comfortable. And bear in mind a 40D or other “full-size” camera will weightier.
Quality and general feel: adequate – solid, but buttons do feel a bit plasticy.
Still recommended? Yes, definitely.