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CANON BATTERY GRIP

User Reviews about Canon BG-E2N Battery Grip for Canon 20D - 30D - 40D & 50D Digital SLR Cameras

Purchased this for my C50D. It has attaches tightly and with two fully charged batteries lasted an entire weekend and approximately 1800 pictures. Based on the increase size I may need to purchase another camera bag.. but worth it. -- Canon BG-E2N Battery Grip

I bought my first DSLR a few years back and liked it. It worked just fine and then, looking for new accessories, I picked up a Battery Grip.

I didn't really need the extra battery life, but figured I might at some point and gave it a shot after seeing the high reviews.

Turns out, it's a "must have" accessory and I make it a point to purchase one of these with each new DSLR I get. The thing is, it's not really about the extra battery life.. It's about all the other benefits that it brings:

* Larger size - it makes the camera BIGGER - a few inches bigger - to some this might be a problem, but I think it gives a much nicer feel to the camera. It "rounds it out" and makes it easier to control.
* It contains 2 battery slots (no batteries are included, so pick up a 2nd if you don't already have one) - this doubles the life of your batteries by using both instead of a single. The other neat thing is that they have a battery "tray" - load it up with AA batteries and shoot off those if you ever need some extra charge but the camera batteries are dead!)
* It allows the handstrap - Canon makes a nice handstrap for their DSLRs - the Canon 2344A001 E1 Hand Strap for Eos Rebel Series - the problem is, it only works if you have a battery grip.
* It lets you shoot in portrait mode while keeping your hand on the right-side (not twisting it over the top).

The last bit is actually the most important to me - you can shoot vertical/portrait style without making the weird "over the camera and to the left" arm movement to get your hand on the shutter.. the battery grip adds another shutter button to the right side of the camera (when it's in portrait mode) - not only that, but also a dial and buttons to make changes to your settings directly from the battery grip.

Overall it makes portrait shooting much easier, gives you a longer battery life and a nicer overall "feel".

Now there is a con to it:
It's expensive. For being somewhat basic, it's prices quite high. Canon makes other battery grip type products (ones with WIFI transmitters to upload photos as they're taken) which are much more expensive, and I just don't see why. It would be nice to have some of these benefits incorporated to the battery grip.. whether it's a wifi transmitter or GPS (to geotag photos). There are 3rd party brands that work the same for 1/4th the cost.

Even with that, I love the battery grip and highly recommend it to everyone. Whether you go for the Canon brand or another, definitely look into the battery grip. -- My "must have accessory" with each new camera.

I'm a photo enthusiast and now that I have this, I'll never take it off. Battery life is great (it appears to use one at a time, not both at the same time). It offers landscape positioning controls, which is huge for me. I tell everyone with a DLSR that they need a pack like this. -- Definitely worth the money

This is the second BG-E2N I own. It's great having the lithium batteries in it for more shooting. I'm using it on a 50d now, and I'm going to be getting a 40d. According to the instruction book, I should get more shots with the 40d. I guess I'll have to see. Having a grip is so convenient. It gives you a better grip on your camera, and I like the vertical release. That just make it a pleasure to use. I'm very happy I have these on both my EOS's. -- camera grip

No complaints here for the battery grip. I've had it about 2 weeks....had a week to play with it before shooting a wedding, and it's just what I expected, just what I needed. Many shots were vertical. It's very convenient to have your hand in the natural shooting position while shooting. I change the ISO and aperture a lot, so the buttons and dial on the grip are a great feature. The extended battery life (hey, that's what it's for anyway !!) is great, also. It's Canon, so I expect high quality.

Guy Livesay
Livesay Photography -- Two thumbs up for the Canon BG-E2N battery grip !!