Why caren't Canon's battery grips more ergonomic?

The grip for my 40D is just one wide rectangular block, which is just about the most un-ergonomic way one could design a battery grip. My hands are quite big, and the grip still feels way too wide in my hands.

I just saw one of Sony's battery grips, and...wow. Those things have a vertical grip that is almost an exact duplicate of the camera's horizontal grip. In addition, they have a full duplicate set of controls, including the joystick.

How come Canon hasn't made their battery grips any more ergonomic?

Front:

wow that's a nice grip.

I've wondered the same too...

Canon has actually gotten WORSE with their on-camera grips (I know, not the same as a removable grip, but along the same lines)...my old 10D was WAY more comfortable than my old 20D or my current 30Ds.

In fact, if you look at it, the grip on the 10D is very similar to the Alpha you posted:

Sure, Canon could make a more ergonomic grip for their cameras, IF they wanted to almost double the price...

The Canon BG-E2N for the 40D retails at $133.95 and that grip for the Sony Alpha 900 sells for $252.79 (both prices B&H...) With the number of people here looking for less expensive alternatives to the current Canon grips, I really don't think they'd sell a lot of them at that price point.

I couldn't agree more about the shape, especially the grip for the xxD series. The grip for the 7D is a little better, but only a very little. Feels like they used a 2x4 as the model for the grip.

The reason for the shape is so that it can hold the batteries. Why they didn't change things around so that it holds the 2 batteries on the long axis or just use the battery from the 1D series is beyond me.

While I like the shape of the Sony grip, that thing is huge.

JWright wrote in post #9951887
Sure, Canon could make a more ergonomic grip for their cameras, IF they wanted to almost double the price...

The Canon BG-E2N for the 40D retails at $133.95 and that grip for the Sony Alpha 900 sells for $252.79 (both prices B&H...)

Eh, all of Canon's grips are about the same, and when you look at the 5D Mark II's grip (since the 5D Mark II is more comparable to the A900), Canon's grip still sucks in comparison.

And the 5D's grip costs $236 at Amazon so it's not like there is a big price difference between that and the Sony A900's grip.

JWright wrote in post #9951887
Sure, Canon could make a more ergonomic grip for their cameras, IF they wanted to almost double the price...

The Canon BG-E2N for the 40D retails at $133.95 and that grip for the Sony Alpha 900 sells for $252.79 (both prices B&H...)

The grips for the 7D and 5D mkII are not much cheaper than the Sony grip and not much better ergonomically than the xxD grips.

the very least canon could so is have it so the grip and body line up without that awkward bend on the right:

jcarp618 wrote in post #9951940
the very least canon could so is have it so the grip and body line up without that awkward bend on the right:

i dont see why that wasnt changed in the design stages...

They finally fixed that on the 7D grip. And added the AF-On button. Functionally and aesthetically the 7D grip is better than the xxD grip, but ergonomically it's still a squared off brick that is designed around having two batteries slide in from the door on the back.

lol i noticed, at least for the xsi, that a lot of third party grips are better shaped and more comfortable...specific​ally the travor version

996gt2 wrote in post #9951904
Eh, all of Canon's grips are about the same, and when you look at the 5D Mark II's grip (since the 5D Mark II is more comparable to the A900), Canon's grip still sucks in comparison.

And the 5D's grip costs $236 at Amazon so it's not like there is a big price difference between that and the Sony A900's grip.

krb wrote in post #9951906
The grips for the 7D and 5D mkII are not much cheaper than the Sony grip and not much better ergonomically than the xxD grips.

I made the comparison between the 40D grip and the Sony grip because that was what was mentioned in the OP.

jcarp618 wrote in post #9951940
the very least canon could so is have it so the grip and body line up without that awkward bend on the right:

i dont see why that wasnt changed in the design stages...

I think it's that way because the BG-E2/E2N is designed to fit four different models of camera...

You guys 'd **** if you had her nuts in a gold vice, er, vise

I really doubt making the Canon grip as smooth and sleek as the Sony grip would double the price. Design and making a casting is simple and adding a few buttons might make a change of a few bucks but not double.

The BG-E7 is GREAT.

I hate SONY's grips, they leave my tiny finger hanging off the bottom end like if I had no grip! The only thing I like about them is the duplicate wheel, but the thing I hate the most about SONY Alpha is both the way they look and their ergonomics...

JWright wrote in post #9953670
I think it's that way because the BG-E2/E2N is designed to fit four different models of camera...

but interestingly it was like that with 20D (the 1st fit) too:

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Canon's grips are probably the most useless out of all the manufacturers. Crappy design and it adds nothing to the standard functionality of the camera (more like takes away from it, really, if you actually use the grip for portrait holding). The least they could do is reorient the battery so the grips aren't sticking out in the back, but obviously that's too much to ask since the design hasn't changed in what, 7 years?

Except for 1-series cameras, of course. Anything worth having is basically reserved for those cameras...but they're missing a second joystick, too.