has anyone ever used the AA tray with their battery grip?

My friend uses his (XSi/450D) with AA batteries. Alkaline at that... He claims that it lasts longer then the regular battery (ONE battery, he doesn't have 2 Lithium Ion). I think that he thinks the buying additional Lith Ion batts are expensive, meanwhile he is throwing his money away buying Costco AAs in bulk.

I think it's silly (especially using alkaline) does anyone else use the AA tray? How many shots can you get vs. 2 reg batts?

I've never used the AA tray with my 5dmk2 grip, I would imagine it would be heavier too. The $100 for the additional battery is definately worth it.

It's nice to have a backup, but no... don't use it. With the battery life on the new LP-E6s it's pretty much a moot point. You can shoot for days with just two batteries. I guess if I was on an expedition, and didn't want to buy more LPs, I could use the tray with a bunch of eneloops which I always carry with me anyways.

on extended road trips, it is nice to be able to charge up some AA's with the cigarette lighter outlet. I use my grip less and less, but always take it on camping trips and extended road trips just for the AA feature.
I find it much easier to just carry a spare battery in my pocket at events, and rarely shoot through a fresh one. I just don't use the grip that much anymore.

Is that a fully-charged battery in your pocket, or are you just happy to see us?

Glad to see ya, AND I'm packing electrons.

birdfromboat wrote in post #9084293
Glad to see ya, AND I'm packing electrons.

Put it away - we dont want to see your electrons!:o

On the grip/battery issue, I never used AAs once. i bought 2 extra Sterlingtek batteries at the same time as my grip and thats all i ever needed.

If your friend is talking about an additional Canon battery, then he is probably right but Sterlingtek batteries are so much cheaper (probably the price of the AAs hes using) and they are as good or better than the Canon battery (certainly on the 400D they were).