topic Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

DBP — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 20:19:43 GMT

I haven't been able to find a vertical battery grip for my new t7i. The model has been around for awhile, so I'd suspect Canon makes one by now. If not, do you know of a 3rd market seller who makes or has one available?

I prefer not just a shutter button, but the usual extra controls (zoom, focus, exposure, etc.), but it's looking like that's not available anywhere. Please let me know if I'm wrong. I'll take what I can get. Thanks!

(BTW, I know it needs a shutter release cable since the camera doesn't have the proper contacts for one in its battery compartment).

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

John_ — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 20:38:22 GMT

That is odd I could not find a battery grip made by Canon either. If you go 3rd party you're going to take a chance with complete compatibility unless someone else here knows of one that is fully compatible. You can try calling Canon, maybe they have one to be released soon.

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

Waddizzle — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 10:56:37 GMT

If Canon did not announce a battery grip when the camera was released, then there will not be one from Canon.

As noted, the battery compartment lacks the extra contacts to properly support a battery grip. Using a shutter cable on a battery grip is hazardous to the health of your camera. It means you walk around with the ports exposed, which is okay on a tripod, but not so good for handheld shooting.

If there are any 3rd party grips out there, they will only be useful as source of extended battery life, which is not such a bad thing. I think the T7i would benefit from having extra battery power for extended shooting sessions.

I like grips because I have big hands. A grip gives the camera better balance with larger lenses, IMHO.

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

jrhoffman75 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 13:55:44 GMT

Try Google. Appears to be a few out there.

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

ebiggs1 — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 14:01:35 GMT

I would not buy that nor do I recommend it. I don't have any experience with that specific unit but I have seen 3rd party grips cause problems. If you do have problems and you contact Canon for help, the first thing they tell you to do, is remove the grip.

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

John_ — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 14:14:13 GMT

Yes and the second thing they will tell you is your camera's warranty is now void!

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

doxamen55 — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 02:43:41 GMT

This maybe old information but Vello makes a Canon7ti grip. You can get it via Amazon or B&H although I'm having problems with the one I got from M Z Photo (i think they are a distrubutor). I'm attempting to get a new one.

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

jrhoffman75 — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 02:58:46 GMT

“ Yes and the second thing they will tell you is your camera's warranty is now void!”

That’s not totally correct. They won’t warrant repairs for damage caused by non-Canon equipment. An unrelated failure would be covered.

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

Waddizzle — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 16:25:53 GMT

@doxamen55 wrote:
This maybe old information but Vello makes a Canon7ti grip. You can get it via Amazon or B&H although I'm having problems with the one I got from M Z Photo (i think they are a distrubutor). I'm attempting to get a new one.

Food For Thought:

Canon cameras that have had battery grips released by Canon, also have battery compartments destined to accept a battery grip's connections for the control buttons on the grip. Canon cameras that are not designed for Canon grips lack these connections inside of the battery compartment.

In addition, when you use a battery grip the cameras seems to alternate between using one battery for a little while, and then the other for a little while. The camera seems to alternate between using each battery, discharging fully charged batteries at an equal percentage of charge.

Alternating between the batteries seems to be built into the firmware. Cameras can read the "health" of the installed battery. When you use a grip, it can report the health of each battery independently. I do not know if a camera not designed to use a grip can report the health of each battery independently.

If a camera cannot report the health of each battery, then I do not see how it would know how to switch between the two batteries. I would guess that the grip must fool the camera in some way into thinking there is only one battery, while the grip manages the alternate between batteries to extend their charge. I do not see how this is a good thing for the cameras.

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

RobertTheFat — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 23:41:57 GMT

@Waddizzle wrote:
@doxamen55 wrote:
This maybe old information but Vello makes a Canon7ti grip. You can get it via Amazon or B&H although I'm having problems with the one I got from M Z Photo (i think they are a distrubutor). I'm attempting to get a new one.
Food For Thought:
Canon cameras that have had battery grips released by Canon, also have battery compartments destined to accept a battery grip's connections for the control buttons on the grip. Canon cameras that are not designed for Canon grips lack these connections inside of the battery compartment.
In addition, when you use a battery grip the cameras seems to alternate between using one battery for a little while, and then the other for a little while. The camera seems to alternate between using each battery, discharging fully charged batteries at an equal percentage of charge.
Alternating between the batteries seems to be built into the firmware. Cameras can read the "health" of the installed battery. When you use a grip, it can report the health of each battery independently. I do not know if a camera not designed to use a grip can report the health of each battery independently.
If a camera cannot report the health of each battery, then I do not see how it would know how to switch between the two batteries. I would guess that the grip must fool the camera in some way into thinking there is only one battery, while the grip manages the alternate between batteries to extend their charge. I do not see how this is a good thing for the cameras.

Whether it's good or bad depends on the user's point of view. If you want to ensure that you have as much power remaining as possible at any given time, and/or you're carrying only one spare battery, you probably want the camera (or the grip) to run one battery all the way down before switching to the other. But that algorithm can bite you if it runs down one battery, only to discover that the other one didn't hold its charge. It might be better if the user could choose between the two behaviors, depending on the circumstances.

I'm indifferent. I have a grip that came with my 5D4, but I never use it. If I did, the camera wouldn't fit in any of my bags.

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

Waddizzle — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 07:07:26 GMT

"Whether it's good or bad depends on the user's point of view. If you want to ensure that you have as much power remaining as possible at any given time, and/or you're carrying only one spare battery, you probably want the camera (or the grip) to run one battery all the way down before switching to the other."

Bob, I was not expressing an opinion. I was pointing out the facts.

Here is another fact. You would not want to run one battery all the way down before switching to the other battery. Once battery charge drops below certain level, your frame rate drops slightly. I think this transition occurs at either 50% or 30%.

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

ebiggs1 — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 14:37:26 GMT

"If I did, the camera wouldn't fit in any of my bags."

A poor reason to not use a grip, IMHO. They make bag that do.

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

ebiggs1 — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 14:40:22 GMT

"Here is another fact."

The only fact you need to know is the camera wasn't designed to use a grip. Can it be forced to do so, apparently it can but is it optimal? Not my decision but I would not.

Re: What battery grip for Rebel T7i, Canon or aftermarket? Thanks

RobertTheFat — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 16:46:49 GMT

@ebiggs1 wrote:
"If I did, the camera wouldn't fit in any of my bags."

A poor reason to not use a grip, IMHO. They make bag that do.

Not one that I can lift. I have the biggest bag Domke makes, and if the camera has both a lens and a grip on it, it ain't gonna fit.