Your experiences with the Flashpoint battery grip?

May 24, 2012 9:56 AM

Fellow photographer Mefites, what are/were your experiences with this Flashpoint battery grip on a Canon EOS T1i?

Also, will six rechargable AAs give a comparable performance to the standard battery?

posted by jgwong to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (5 answers total)

Best answer: My only experience with a battery grip was the Flashpoint that fit my Canon XS about 3 years ago. Essentially this model. It worked perfectly, never any trouble at all but I wasn't using it in a rugged fashion, just indoors on shoots. I can't speak to the battery life with AAs as I picked up some knock off batter blocks, the same that the camera would normally take. It certainly worked for what I needed it for, was great to have the extra battery life but mostly just to be able to have the additional shutter release.
posted by firetruckred at 11:36 AM on May 24, 2012

I bought a Canon battery grip last year for my T2i. I really considered getting a 3rd party grip for the cost savings, but the Amazon reviews that mentioned odd camera malfunctions scared me away.
posted by BurntHombre at 11:46 AM on May 24, 2012

Best answer: I've had the flashpoint battery grip for the T2i for about six months. It seems almost identical to the one for the T1i. I've been very pleased with performance. Like firetruckred, I mostly use it with knockoff lithium block batteries. I have tried it with AAs and I seem to remember them not lasting quite as long (about 3 hours in movie mode compared to 4.5+ for the standard batteries), so I usually use the lithium batteries. The grip is fairly heavy so it adds better balance to the camera if you use larger lenses. The only downside is the battery life indicator does not seem to work as well with the grip. It indicates full until about 20 minutes before the batteries die. Despite this, I think the grip and this liveview magnifier, also from flashpoint are the accessories I use most often.
posted by 2ghouls at 12:33 PM on May 24, 2012

Best answer: When I've bought grips, I've always bought the camera manufacturer's products, but a few years ago I bought a Flashpoint grip for a Nikon D300s. The grip was almost a literal clone of the Nikon product and worked great for the nine months that I owned it.

I'd have no reservations about buying another Flashpoint grip if I needed a grip again.
posted by imjustsaying at 4:45 AM on May 25, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks for your feedback, guys! Definitely getting one.
posted by jgwong at 6:24 AM on May 26, 2012