Upgrading to 40D… Would you add anything?

I would say that all the advice is good and I too would get the grip. I have the 40D and I found the grip to be VERY helpful. Especially with heavier lenses.

Thanks everyone for the great input. It was really helpful!

Madweasel wrote in post #4415405
I too would question the AC adaptor. You're looking at several batteries and each one will give you 1000 shots or more. Being tethered might be a bit of a nuisance.

The AC adapter will be for time-lapse photography (hours in one spot) and during club/school photo shoots where I will be stationary for most of the day. It isn't much and I believe I'll use it especially when I have portrait type work during the day and a football game at night and will need batteries.

braduardo wrote in post #4415450
Skip the BG until you feel the camera a bit. I had a grip with my 300D, and it felt great. The grip feels right on the XT and the 20D w/ grip is ok, but the grip just didn't feel right on my 40D

Personally, I'm hoping that someone releases a grip that feels a bit better and has an AF-ON button.

I have a Nikon D200 w/ grip and its a monster so I have experience with carrying big setups. Took it to the Animal Kingdom and was shooting all day and it didn't bother me. I've played around with the 40D w/ out grip and it just didn't quiet fit right in my hands but the Nikon does. I'll remove it if it becomes too much of an issue, but I doubt it will.

jemann wrote in post #4415509
If you're gonna use two batteries in a grip, it's probably a good idea for them to be the same capacity, whether they be both Canon or both Sterlingtek.

That's what I was thinking.

amfoto1 wrote in post #4416222
I'd definitely want the grip you are getting. Probably because I've been using winders, motors, boosters and grips on my cameras for so long. I'd feel naked without one!

You may want to consider one or the other of the accessory focus screens. I particularly like using a grid screen, it helps with composition and to keep horizon lines nice and level. Alternatively, there is the super precision screen to help with manual focusing (usable on lenses of f2.8 or larger aperture).

I might try to find a BG-E2, rather than an "N". Just out of spite. $40-50 more for a stupid little foam seal strip on the door seems a major rip-off to me. No other discernible difference between the original and the N, except for the price.

Are you getting a flash or have you already got one? (I never use the built-in "fire flies".) If so, I'd want some sort of L-bracket to mount it on and an Off Camera Shoe Cord. Here, again, the new OCSC3 is 50% more expensive than the OCSC2. Not sure it's worth it, but I haven't actually compared them side by side. From the descriptions, the new one has better "environmental sealing", which sounds to me like a molded in lip to cover the flash shoe on the camera a little better. Not sure that justifies the much higher price.

Happy to help you spend your money!

I feel the same way about the grip. I've been using them for years and just love'em.

Focus screen, never though about those. I'll look into them before I order this weekend. And yes, I have flashes (one is in sig) and two Vivitar's as well. An L-bracket is also worth looking into. I've seem them before but never really wanted to increase the bulk of a camera beyond my bag's ability to hold – with the flash bounce and the Luma-Quest Pro system I really never thought I needed one.

Doesn't the BG-E2N cost 1 dollar more than the original at some store?

MaxxuM wrote in post #4413216
I have the Cactus remotes and am not very impressed with them – they work, but I have a lot of misfires despite changing all the frequencies and one will not work with the battery cover on.

Tell me about the misfires? Are you saying it fails to fire or it fires more than you want it to?

I really like mine but if you are in high speed continuous mode it's almost impossible to take a single frame, so I put it to low speed. For $25.00 though, it's a must have for my gear.

If the batteries are at about 1/2 str in the Canon flash it will just go off randomly... Once fully charged batteries are in that doesn't happen anymore. Sometimes they will not fire at all (1:20) or one will flash right after the picture is taken. They haven't been very reliable. And it was more like $60 for two receivers + one transmitter and shipping.