Which eBay grip?

Im gonna order a battery grip for my 500D, not a canon one though as I've heard the cheap third party ones are identical and work fine. But which cheap third party one should i go for?

There seems to be quite a few on ebay with some very slight differences, so can anyone recommend certain brands and maybe ever certain sellers.

I have the Opteka one and it works great. Matches the T1i very well. I also have 3 Opteka batteries and they work about as well as the Canon one.

Link to Just Grip: http://www.amazon.com …ics&qid=1265620​402&sr=8-4

Link to Grip + 2 batteries: http://www.amazon.com …ics&qid=1265620​443&sr=8-1

Stick with canon. cant go wrong.

i have the Phottix brand, doesn't come with free batteries though... its really nice

Another Opteka vote, not only does it do the job for a lot less cash, the batteries are also high capacity, poss more than my Canon original.

I have the Travor brand one. It is the style with the attaching wheel that does not stick out the front of the grip. Nicely made and comfortable to hold.

i wouldn't say the 3rd party ones are identical but i have one canon and one 3rd party and there isnt a massive difference but you can definitely tell the canon one is made much better

I too was doing the research on whether or not to get a canon grip for my XSi, which will fit your T1i, and I eventually settled for the Canon brand, basically because of some of the horror stories about "Grips-Gone-Bad". And after a while I kept hearing about the wheel on third party grips feeling a little weird compared to the wheel on the camera. So on a whim I hit order on my Amazon page and the new Canon grip was at my door in a couple of days. I am not able to critique the third party grips, but as far as my Canon grip, there are NO REGRETS from me. Yes I may have paid about $100 US Dollars for mine, but that was only about 30 more than the Opteka grip I would have spent. The one story that got me hooked on the original Canon Grip, was the on with the battery traces on the third party grips shorting, there is a pic on the web about that, the words SHORTING and my XSI are two words I rather not hear in the same sentence.

I have a Zeikos for my 5DMII.. 1/3 of the price of the Canon and it has the same functionality as the original. Got it 2 months ago and no issues so far. I shot 1400's pics in 5 hours and it still had some juice left. I'm happy with this grip.

manauta wrote in post #9566710
I too was doing the research on whether or not to get a canon grip for my XSi, which will fit your T1i, and I eventually settled for the Canon brand, basically because of some of the horror stories about "Grips-Gone-Bad". And after a while I kept hearing about the wheel on third party grips feeling a little weird compared to the wheel on the camera. So on a whim I hit order on my Amazon page and the new Canon grip was at my door in a couple of days. I am not able to critique the third party grips, but as far as my Canon grip, there are NO REGRETS from me. Yes I may have paid about $100 US Dollars for mine, but that was only about 30 more than the Opteka grip I would have spent. The one story that got me hooked on the original Canon Grip, was the on with the battery traces on the third party grips shorting, there is a pic on the web about that, the words SHORTING and my XSI are two words I rather not hear in the same sentence.

wow... your original batt grip is cheap, they retail here for around $150 thats why i opted for the 3rd party... with no regrets either, very sturdy Phottix brand

my grip is only $125 for a canon brand from amazon and the 3rd parties run from $50 to $110

I went with one that is labeled as Meike for my Xs... Which is identical to the Opteka branded one... Probably the same company... Works like a charm... Looks aggressive atop my new Manfrotto Legs and Head!!!

I had a Phottix when I had a 40D and ran about 8k shots with it. Had a Canon one on a 5D and when I got a 5DII I bought a Phottix, again, based on my 40D experience.

Beachcomber Joe wrote in post #9565583
I have the Travor brand one. It is the style with the attaching wheel that does not stick out the front of the grip. Nicely made and comfortable to hold.

i have no experience with that brand. however, as that may look better aesthetically, i can't see how they'd do that without using a series of gears. if the gears are made of plastic, they can break/strip and your grip would be stuck on the camera.

I'll bump the Phottix grip, have one for my XSi and it's great. Batteries that came with it also work wonderfully. No problems on the 2 batteries or the grip after a year+ of use.