Digital Camera Battery Grip

I guess that many amateur photographers would find it difficult to justify the cost of a battery grip. After all, for not a lot more investment you could buy another lens, or maybe a flash unit, something that would allow you to explore the creativity of your camera more than a battery grip.

Adding a battery grip to your DSLR gives you the facility to add a second battery allowing you to take twice the number of shots before you need to recharge, but there are other advantages too.

I bought a Canon BG-E3 grip for my EOS400D after owning it for just a short time. One of the major selling features of the EOS 'consumer' range SLR's is their small size and easy handling and in that respect they are hard to beat. With the standard 'kit' 18-55mm lens fitted, the camera felt just fine, but as soon as I fitted my Tamron AF70-300mm F4/5.6 LD Macro 1:2 zoom lens (itself not a particularly 'big' lens), I felt that the camera felt slightly unbalanced. Adding the BG-E3 immediately restored the balance to the camera and made it feel a whole lot more comfortable to use.

A worthwhile investment? - I really think so. In fact, when I recently upgraded to a new Canon EOS40D I made sure that I picked up the matching BG-E2N battery grip at the same time.

Although they look very similar, genuine Canon battery grips are not interchangeable between the EOS camera range. Each grip is designed to fit a particular EOS model as below:

Canon EOS 350D/Digital Rebel XT : Canon BG-E3

Canon EOS 400D/Digital Rebel XTi : Canon BG-E3

Canon EOS 20D/30D : Canon BG-E2

Canon EOS 40D : Canon BG-E2N

Canon EOS 5D : Canon BG-E4