T3i Accessories

Just got my DSLR and took it out for a spin last night, only to find out my battery died fairly quickly. Also the stock strap that came with my camera was rather uncomfortable when it rest across my neck. So this led me here, I need battery, grip and perhaps a new strap, but want a fairly decent one for a solid price. The Canon OEM batteries are ridiculously priced, perhaps they last longer tho??? Are the 3rd party even worth it?

Well, any Li-Ion battery will go quickly the first time or three it's recharged. Before you decide you need a "better" battery, run the current one through a few cycles. But Sterlingtek makes (based on my BP-511 and others' LP-E6 experiences) good third-party ones.

For a strap, check out the POTN OpTech strap available from the POTN Shop (link at the top of this and every page here).

I haven't found a need for a grip since I moved away from film bodies with the advance lever, where the grip gave me motorized advance.

Jon wrote in post #16034434
Well, any Li-Ion battery will go quickly the first time or three it's recharged. Before you decide you need a "better" battery, run the current one through a few cycles. But Sterlingtek makes (based on my BP-511 and others' LP-E6 experiences) good third-party ones.

For a strap, check out the POTN OpTech strap available from the POTN Shop (link at the top of this and every page here).

I haven't found a need for a grip since I moved away from film bodies with the advance lever, where the grip gave me motorized advance.

Just got a few batteries and AC/DC chargers from the site I was able to get 3 batteries and 2 chargers, not bad for $70 consider 1 battery is essentially that much.

The way I see it, If your going to get those 3rd party batteries at incredibly low prices, just get lots and lots of them.

I mean excessive amounts like 6+

3rd party are definitely worth it. They provide identical or better (some have higher capacity) performance than the OEM Canon's for much lower prices. Sterlingtek and Wasabi are the best, I believe.

As for straps, you have either neck straps like your current strap, or sling straps which go over your shoulder and across your chest/back which I prefer as they distribute the weight better and the camera doesn't bounce against your chest with every step when you're walking.

The most common brands for sling straps would be BlackRapid, Carry Speed and Luma Labs.

I've used BlackRapid and Luma's straps, I was never very interested by Carry Speed's for some reason. I found the Luma Cinch to be better than the BlackRapid. The Luma Cinch is incredibly comfortable, the design makes it more secure than the BR, and the camera bounces even less.

Battery tech has advanced quite a bit over the years. A while back, batteries only lasted a few hundred shots. Lots of batteries and battery grips made a lot of sense. You should always have a backup battery anyways. Nowadays, if you're only taking pictures, your battery should last over 1000 shots. If you're doing video or using the built-in flash, you'll use it up faster. By any chance were you popping off a lot of flash photos?

klr.b wrote in post #16034726
Battery tech has advanced quite a bit over the years. A while back, batteries only lasted a few hundred shots. Lots of batteries and battery grips made a lot of sense. You should always have a backup battery anyways. Nowadays, if you're only taking pictures, your battery should last over 1000 shots. If you're doing video or using the built-in flash, you'll use it up faster. By any chance were you popping off a lot of flash photos?

Yes but I used an external flash, and i had a mix of video as well. Im actually not sure if my battery was dying, but on the video side my camera kept doing 30 second videos if that, I had a class 10 8GB Eye-Fi card in, but it was only 3GB or so into the card, perhaps a switch to my 16GB wouldve made more sense at that time.

sounds like it might be a buffer issue more so then a battery issue.

Littlejon Dsgn wrote in post #16039906
sounds like it might be a buffer issue more so then a battery issue.

Buffer? I kept getting a flashing thing on the right side of the LCD screen.

KeenanRIVALS wrote in post #16042275
Buffer? I kept getting a flashing thing on the right side of the LCD screen.

I dont have a t3i so not sure what the flashing thing is, but the manual will tell you what that light indicates. If your battery indicator was not showing a dead battery, my guess would be the card could not keep up with the camera write speeds. I am just guessing here, but I can go all day on a battery (granted not doing movies, never have done a movie with my camera, might have to try that).

On the screen, or to the right of, but not on, the screen? The card access light is just below the door for the card.