End all to 40D grip questions..hopefuly..

I've been away from my computer for about a week and I wanted to chime in on one thing about the 3rd party knockoff concept. I work for an international company and I can say definitively that the Chinese are INCREDIBLE at knocking off a product. You could hardly tell that it wasn't the original until you look very closely. However, I also know that sometimes you don't get a knockoff, you get the original rebadged. I have a friend who's company made a part under contract for one of the big 3 US automakers. When the contract finished, they asked them to renew the contract and they did at a bigger price and as part of the contract the lawyers changed it slightly so that they could produce it under their own name. So the same EXACT part is available under two names and guess which one is cheaper?

China is known for doing this, and customers (read between the lines - Canon) contract the manufacturers to make their product because it can be made cheaper usually with a non-compete clause for a number of years. My company makes electrical contacts and does plastic overmolding. I bet that the grip has less than $10 in parts in it and probably $30 in assembly labor maximum. In this particular case, as far as I know there is no grip that is made in North American to be purchased so I don't see the point in buying the Canon version (except warranty). I would love to borrow a real Canon version from someone once I get the knockoff and do a comparison for everyone.

Great post!!! ^^^^

Well, the Opteka is not the same as the Canon OEM. The batteries don't even go in the same way. I haven't seen a grip that the batteries are inserted the same way as the Canon grip.

I have the Opteka grip for my XT and it's pretty nice. When I saw the Opteka grip for the 40D I refused to buy it. I looked at many different grips and was almost ready to buy the OEM Canon grip when I spotted this:

http://www.dealextreme​.com/details.dx/sku.12​487

If this isn't the same as the Canon grip, I'd be surprised. I should be getting it within the next few days as it shipped from China. One thing to note is that I have an off-shoe cord from the same manufacturer as this grip and it is a spot on knockoff of the OC-E3 cord. It leads me to believe that YongNuo is the manufacturer or is somehow able to get the original Canon components and rebadge them.

x2x3x4x5x wrote in post #5989299
I plan on getting the BG-E2N in the near future.

My only gripes are how poorly designed the backs of the grips are. Have you ever seen Nikon's battery grips?! They completely destroy Canon's. Im hoping Canon can see this, and decide to do a slight redesign in the near future.

vs.

And before you say it, I'd gladly pay the Nikon price for the Nikon grip quality.

what is so bad about the canon grip?

tomdlgns wrote in post #6124746
what is so bad about the canon grip?

Yeah, what's the gripe about the grip?

DDCSD wrote in post #6124406
... I haven't seen a grip that the batteries are inserted the same way as the Canon grip.

My Phottix grip on my 30D is built identically to my Canon grip on my 40D. The batteries insert the same way.

I'm not familiar at all with the non-Canon grips, so how much are people saving by buying one of these instead of the OEM?

kevinmcdade wrote in post #6124829
My Phottix grip on my 30D is built identically to my Canon grip on my 40D. The batteries insert the same way.

Hmmm... Well, now I've seen one! The Phottix certainly looks to be the best copy. I'd be interested in seeing one, I know my Cleon remote is very nice.

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canonloader wrote in post #6092536
Ya know, not that I have any great love for a Japanese company that dumps products onto the market at exorbitant prices before they are ready, but by buying "knockoffs" of a patented product, you are just making things worse than they already are, probably contributing to higher prices for the real deal and showing your true colors as someone who would knowingly buy a stolen item to save a buck.

If some no-name manufacturer can sell a copy for 75% less and still make money, Canon can sell theirs for 60% less and still make MORE money. Not many people would bother with generic grips if there was only a $20-30 difference. A quick look at the OEM grips will tell you there's not much R&D going into them.

cdifoto wrote in post #6124938
If some no-name manufacturer can sell a copy for 75% less and still make money, Canon can sell theirs for 60% less and still make MORE money. Not many people would bother with generic grips if there was only a $20-30 difference. A quick look at the OEM grips will tell you there's not much R&D going into them.

I was always kinda impressed with the little hidden battery door holder!

Noname can sell cheap because companies like Canon do all the R&D work and they copy with pride... or they take a version and build it so cheap. Cheaper processing etc. Canon charges more because they need to recover the R&D costs.

Or The group that manufactures for Canon over produces and does not label them as so and they sell off excess production. This is the downside of producing in other countries where they don't follow trademark laws and patents...etc...

A quick look at the knockoffs will tell you there is no R&D work going into them.

I am in the same dillema. I had the generic on for my xti and it worked and still works great. The brand on the grip though does not have all the featurs for the 40d. Not sure which way to go.

The people that ordered off brands i read earlier in this thread. have you received them? What do you think?