Customer Reviews

Opteka Battery Pack Grip / Vertical Shutter Release for Canon EOS 20D, 30D, 40D & 50D Digital SLR Camera

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The grip I received form 47th St. Photo was not the same as pictured and described in the listing. The design looks nothing like the original Canon grip. It has two shutter buttons in front on either side. A slide switch to turn the shutter buttons on/off. A power/battery type on/off button. There was also a input port to plug in a power supply and a remote. It was an Opteka grip but sadly it had no buttons for the AE lock, AF point selector, shutter, or a dial. The grip did not come with a battery tray for AA batteries. It provided only two separate trays that held a single BP-511 battery each which insert into the back of the grip. Build quality was okay and the shutter buttons and switches worked. I was disappointed in the design and lack of features and decided to return the grip. Dealing with the people (Robbie) at 47th St. Photo was pleasent. They gave me an RMA# without any problems. I had to pay the shipping back ($8+) though. They also gave the option to have them send the AA battery trays or to upgrade to the original Canon grip (~$200). I wish the desciption was correct. I would not have ordered this grip if I knew what I know now. P.S. 47th St. said that photos posted of product are from other people and not them. I'm not sure if is true about the main product picture but that is what they said.

The mold is the same one used by Canon; however, it's missing a feature that I loved with the grip for the XSi series, and that's the dial that allows you to change the aperture in AV mode or the auto-focus point.

My hands need a grip of some sort on the bottom of almost any camera I've owned, so I got this for my 20D and it worked just fine. It feels a tad cheap, but I had no trouble with it maintaining contact or staying on the camera.

The controls have a similar feel to those on the camera (although the finger wheel is a bit stiffer turning) and it was comfortable to use.

When I moved up to a 30D, however, I had a lot of trouble getting it to recognize that the grip was on it. It turned out that there's a tiny latch on the camera that the grip must depress, but the grip's button was too wide to do it. I ended up using a screwdriver to hold the latch down until the grip was on. All told, it took almost an hour. Once it was on, it worked great...but I can't take it off. Ever.

Not sure why I never had this problem with the 20D. Slight design change by Canon perhaps?

Overall, though, it does the job just fine. I'd recommend the one that comes with the two extra batteries just because the cost/benefit is better, and the batteries I got were fantastic.

The unit I received was not what was described on the page (it had no main dial as specifically mentioned, which was the reason I chose this grip). After it arrived I called, and was given the run around by the customer service agent. Only after I insisted that they look at the actual web page did I receive an RMA because they admitted they did not have an item that matched the description online. Afterall, all I wanted was a unit that had the main dial (regardless of the brand, or 'quality'). The agent also told me they would refund the shipping cost too.
I shipped it back (at an additional $7 of course), and two weeks after it arrived at their facility, I finally received my refund... guess what, they didn't refund the shipping they told me they would. Well I guess I've learned my lesson, I won't shop with 47st Photo again. As well, I'll think twice about shopping on Amazon next time because, while I understand that their vendors are third party, I would think that they would mandate a certain level of accountability from those vendors.
Final tally, I'm out $15, and four weeks. However I did learn that the only 'off' brand unit that I could find that has the main dial for the xxD is made by Merkury/Targus... Now that I FINALLY have (some of) my money back, I can order one from B&H.

After a year of using this battery pack with my 50D it began to begin to loose connection with the camera body. Initially this happened infrequently but now it happens every time I use it. This necessitates pulling removing the battery pack, removing and re-inserting the batteries, and then re-attaching the battery pack. This is clearly unacceptable. Knowing what I do now, I would just pay the extra money for a Canon battery pack.

The vertical shutter button on the side of the pack stopped working after two months- would not reccommend this to anyone.