BG-E2 battery grip, Discontinued?

[jbradc]

B&H no longer lists the BG-E2 on the accessories page for the 20D, however you can find it by doing a search but they have none in stock. And on Canon's site (http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=SNAModelSuppliesAct&fcategoryid=803&modelid=10464) if you click "Buy Now" it says "This product is not available".
I know this part has been a problem for Canon, maybe they are redesigning it?

I just thiught it was interesting.

Cheers,

[Nezmo]

I'm hoping it's just due to a redesign or recall on Canon's part. I'd like the grip but I'm not risking getting one until things are resolved. I just don't want to mess with sending it back and forth for repair.

[markush]

It seems they are indeed shipping again as i received mine a few days ago from Amazon.com after being on the waiting list for only two weeks. The expected ship date was the middle of July so i was suprised to get mine so early. The following was pulled from Amazon.com


http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/customer-reviews/stars-3-0.gifWhy the BGE2 grip does not seem to be available (May 2005), May 28, 2005
Reviewer:Michael L. Baird (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/cm/member-glance/-/A12C1TVFHW1JX2/1/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-0473646-5404159?%5Fencoding=UTF8) (Morro Bay, CA USA) - See all my reviews (http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A12C1TVFHW1JX2/ref=cm_cr_auth/102-0473646-5404159?%5Fencoding=UTF8)
http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/reputation/c7y_badge_rn_1.gif (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/13158871/pop-up/ref=cm_rn_bdg_help/102-0473646-5404159#RN) (...)

To customers using the BG-E2 battery grip with an EOS 20D digital SLR camera:

Thank you for using Canon products.

We have confirmed that the BG-E2 battery grip for the EOS 20D digital SLR camera causes issues such as the number of shots being limited or a low-battery warning being displayed immediately when used with a fully charged battery pack or a fresh set of AA batteries. Canon offers its sincerest apologies to all customers who have been inconvenienced by this issue.

Starting at the end of May, we plan to offer repairs free of charge for all BG-E2 battery grips that are affected by this issue. The starting date and more detailed information will be announced soon. With sincere regret for the inconvenience this represents for our users, we ask for your patience until that announcement can be made.

We spare no effort in our quality control process, to make sure our customers can use our products with confidence. Please accept our thanks in advance for your patience and understanding.