off brand battery grips

looking for a battery grip for my 5d2 mainly to extend battery life for events. any recommendation on an offbrand or should i just stick with the canon?

I started out with a Meike grip for my 60D. It worked flawlessly for a year but then started draining both batteries overnight. I wasn't sure what the exact problem was but I just replaced it with a Canon grip.

For me, that started a trend. I have Canon grips for both my 70D and 7D2 and have had no issues with either. I just sold my 60D and the Canon grip worked flawlessly the whole time I had it.

It was tough for me to justify the cost, initially, but I got over it. It's nice to have equipment that is reliable.

I have owned a mix of Canon and 3rd party grips, with only one issue - the one I bought for my 550D separated at the bottom plate after about a month (I had literally installed it and never removed it). After doing some research I found that the Canon grip also experienced similar issues so I went for another 3rd party grip (Zeikos I believe) which had an improved mounting design. No problem at all with it after several years. None of my other 3rd party grips have shown any issues at all; in fact, I like the one for my 5D3 even better than Canon's because the shutter release has a more positive detent.

I have a Vello, great quality. Replaced a Newer which failed. http://www.vellogear.c​om/listing?category=17​771

I purchased a Vello grip brand new from B&H. Worked fine for a few months. Soon I was noticing a couple of issues. Battery would show half when there are two fully charge batteries installed. Shoot with two bodies, check batteries in other body. Also, started noticing that grip would "freez" and not respond. Shortly after, the grip stopped working all together. A uses Canon grip came available from B&H. I have had no issues so far with Canon grip.

My take away, only Canon products from now on.

Hope this helps.

I've just picked up a MeiKe MK-70D for my 70D.
My first impressions are that it's well made (for the price), but the more I look at it and use it, the more I feel I should have bought the BG-E14. The top plate on the MK70D is thin plastic and flexible, and as such doesn't seem to exhibit the same rigidity as my BG-E6 on my 5DII. Also, the rubber on the grip seems to be very sticky and every spec of dust/dirt/fluff seem to stick to it .. reminds me of those silicon covers that attracted dirt.
I'm in two minds whether to keep it and pocket the savings (Meike is 1/3 the cost of the Canon), or just get the Canon knowing that I got the 'better' grip (I have a feeling I would be always thinking that).

I got a Meike for my 60D because I couldn't justify the price of the Canon. It ended up malfunctioning... I replaced it with the Canon grip and have been buying Canon grips since.

I realize, you can get 3 Meike grips for every Canon grip....give or take a few dollars. I decided it wasn't worth it. Other people seem to love their third party grips. I guess it depends on one's experiences.

So today I returned the Meike and I now have a Canon grip on it's way to me. I guess it's all down to peace of mind in the end.

That's how I feel. When I got my first DSLR, I had a hard time justifying the cost of the Canon grip because I paid $700 for the body. It was a pretty high percentage of the camera cost for the Canon grip. But when it drained my batteries overnight... twice, I ended up with the Canon anyway. When I sold the 60D, the grip was still working just like the day I installed it.

The grips for my 70D and 7D2 are working perfectly as well. I do agree with you.... in the end, there is the peace of mind factor. Others are quite content with their third party grips, so it's at least partially subjective.

Well, I'm playing with my first off-brand battery grip for my new 70D cameras since staying with Canon from my 10D onward. But I recall that the Canon 20D grip had such horrendous problems that Canon Japan finally issued a public apology to their Japanese customers for it and did what I think was their first recall of a consumer camera division product.

Truth. Canon grips are not immune to defects in design / manufacture. The Canon BG-E8 had a problem where the mounting plate would strip the screws holding it to the main body of the grip - the bosses which the screws threaded into were over-stressed or poorly molded and failed fairly often according to several customer reviews. My original grip (pretty sure it was an Opteka) was a near copy of the Canon and failed in exactly the same way. I bought a Zeikos to replace it, after seeing that the reviews described an improved plate design and better reliability. It survived heavy use for years, and is still working fine.

I've had a Vello for a while and no problems with it so far. I had an Adorama brand "Flashpoint" that didn't work well at all.

Silver-Halide wrote in post #17492358
I've had a Vello for a while and no problems with it so far. I had an Adorama brand "Flashpoint" that didn't work well at all.

I was sorry to see this - did you contact me re warranty repair?

My luck with grips has been variable. I had a 3rd party grip on my T1i and never had a problem. I currently have a different 3rd party grip on my 60D with nary a problem in four years. I tried 4 grips from 4 different mfrs before giving up and paying for a Canon grip for my 6D. I had a Canon on my 5Dc, and have always used Canon grips on my film bodies, with never a problem.

I just received a Neewer BG-1J (BG-E11) from Amazon. (sold by Eshopic). I actually ordered a Meike based on good reviews but they sent me a Neewer by mistake. When I contacted Eshopic about the "mistake" they told me that the Neewer is actually made by Meike and that it is the same unit.

It does look like a pretty good grip as it appears to be a direct copy of the Canon BG-E11 in every way. The major difference being the plastic body versus the Canon's Magnesium body.

The Neewer does have a metal plate on the top where it mounts to the camera body and also another metal plate on the base for the tripod mount.

My only two complaints would be the rubberized grip material which almost feels "sticky" and the fact that the Neewer grip does not properly display battery information. It does not show individual battery location, individual battery state, shutter count, or recharge performance like the Canon does.

I was going to keep the Neewer but I found a used Canon BG-E11 at a great price so I will be returning it instead for a full refund.

This is what the Neewer battery display looks like with two batteries installed: (note it says BGM-E6)
(it also looks the same with one battery installed)