Canon 300D & Battery Usage

[TechKnowBabble]

I was wondering how long the standard battery that comes with the unit should last. I am pondering getting this...

argh....B&H is having techincal issues on their site. Basically it was the (excuse my terminology here) battery compartment that attaches underneath the camera to hold additional batteries. I was wondering if it was worth the purchase ($109)

Thanks!

Nikki

[Bruce Hamilton]

You mean the BG-E1 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=297502&is=REG) ?

[TechKnowBabble]

You mean the BG-E1 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=297502&is=REG) ?

Yup...dats the one

Thoughts??

Nikki

[CyberDyneSystems]

I got the battery grip for the 10D,. it is nice for a lot of reasons,. but battery life is not much of a concern. With the DRebel you should be able to get from 350-450 shots on a battery easily.. so battery life is not too big a deal. Plus,. carrying a second battery in a pocket is a good deal lighter than a vertical grip.

As I say though,. there are other reasons to get the grip.

[TechKnowBabble]

I got the battery grip for the 10D,. it is nice for a lot of reasons,. but battery life is not much of a concern. With the DRebel you should be able to get from 350-450 shots on a battery easily.. so battery life is not too big a deal. Plus,. carrying a second battery in a pocket is a good deal lighter than a vertical grip.

As I say though,. there are other reasons to get the grip.

What reasons...please share your thoughts.

I like to stay open to any possibilities which is why it took me this long to order the 300D hehehehehehe

Nikki

[drisley]

I makes shooting while holding the camera vertically much easier.

[Lamplight]

I got my DRebel last Friday, and I've been charging mine every other night or so. It has not died on me yet, but a few times it has been too low to upload files to my computer. (I don't have a card reader yet.) I still plan to get an extra battery or two.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Sometimes I shoot an entire event in "portrait" (or with the camera held vertical).. for that,. the grip is an absolute must.

Many people claim that they keep the grip mounted 100% of the time because they prefer the weight, balance and feel,. especially with lenses larger than say a 50mm... However,. I don't tend to agree myself,. I will often shoot without the grip just to save weight and bulk.

[CoolToolGuy]

Sometimes I shoot an entire event in "portrait" (or with the camera held vertical).. for that,. the grip is an absolute must.

Many people claim that they keep the grip mounted 100% of the time because they prefer the weight, balance and feel,. especially with lenses larger than say a 50mm... However,. I don't tend to agree myself,. I will often shoot without the grip just to save weight and bulk.

As CDS says, the vertical shutter button is the best reason to get the grip. If that has little value to you, the grip is probably a waste of money. Battery drain is not the problem it was a couple of years ago, so if you carry a spare, you will usually be okay. The things that drain the battery are: use of the LCD screen; IS lenses; and microdrives. If you see yourself doing a lot of those things, the grip may make sense.

Another thing to keep in mind with the grip is that it takes two batteries to refresh the power - if you want to carry a spare, you need two - if not, and if the batteries run down, you have to wait for two of them to charge up. Scratch the grip and get yourself an aftermarket charger with a car cord, and you will likely never run out. There are obviously some folks that have a need for the grip, but I don't think they are the majority.

Have Fun
Rick 8)

[Malaxos1]

I have the battery grip for the D Rebel and love it. I do use the shutter button on the grip, however, when I use my strobframe I cannot access the button. Besides being able to keep shooting without changing batteries, the thing I like best is the added weight and mass. When I used to put my 28-75 f2.8 lens on the Rebel the camera would tilt downward when around my neck. Now it stays straight, even when I use longer zooms like my 70-200 L. I have a Canoc D30 that is heavier than the Rebel, even though the D30 doesn't have a grip. But what I have learned is that I need a grip for that camera as I am having a hard time keeping my hands steady when I use the 70-200. The camera just wants to tip. I will get the grip for every camera I ever get...Dean

[drisley]

I got my DRebel last Friday, and I've been charging mine every other night or so. It has not died on me yet, but a few times it has been too low to upload files to my computer. (I don't have a card reader yet.) I still plan to get an extra battery or two.

Apparently using your camera to download the files to your pc is by far the biggest user of juice.
One test showed that even transfering just a few files will cause your battery life to drop by almost half!

In addition, transfering from the camera is dreadfully slow.
I got a usb2.0 card reader, and I can now transfer a whole 512mb card in the time it used to take transfering only a couple pictures directly from the camera.

As far as battery life goes, the Rebel,10d and new canon slr's that use the BP511 are the reigning champs. I used to have an S30, and I can tell you that in comparison, the battery life on the Rebel is superb!

[Avarond]

I also have the Battery Grip and love it. It hardly seems like I ever charge the batteries anymore. I probably dont take the quantity of pictures like some users here and I can get away with not charging them for quite a while. Also I think the camera just feels better, especially when you have the 70-200 on it.

[Vinny454]

I have asecond battery as a backup, but I can easily get 400+ shots with each battery. The second battery is a BP-512 (it takes either) and still haven't figured out why 2 different batteries are available as they are the same price and have the exact same ratings.

Vince

[Lamplight]

In addition, transfering from the camera is dreadfully slow.

Yeah, no kidding. I was amazed how much longer it took compared to the Smart Media card in my old Olympus camera. Looks like I'll need to browse for a card reader. :)

[drisley]

Lamplight,

Even my G3 was faster transfering directly to the PC, and that is taking into consideration the different filesizes.
The USB reader was a great investment.
A full 512mb card only takes a minute or two to transfer with the reader.
I think it would have taken atleast 20 minutes directly from camera.
So, I would say the reader is atleast 10x faster than the camera.

[Old Guy]

I got the grip because of the size of my hands and the convenience of the vertical shooting as well.