Customer Reviews

Sony VG-C70AM Alpha Vertical Grip (Retail Package)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I owned several grips from different brands (mainly Canon and Minolta). It was either to be able to shot more pictures, either to shot... vertically.
This one seems to be unbeatable.
First, all the functions you need are really under your (at least mines) fingers.
Second, it is the first time, while shooting vertically with my camera (here a Sony Alpha 700) that I feel so comfortable that I could forget that I am not shooting horizontally.

This grip has proven to be excellent in construction and with the extra battery, your shoot time is doubled. It does make it monstrous in size and when i brought it to a family gathering, everyone was blown away by its size. So in a world where size matters, this gives you a major boost. Seriously though, all the buttons and comfort are top notch and it gives you more grip on your expensive camera, especially if you have high dollar optics. The only thing that I don't care for is that with my old 80-200mm 2.8 G, without the adapter I was able to rest the whole camera and lens on the tripod mount, now with the grip, it has to tilt which can put undesired stress on the rotating front lens element, so have to rest it on books or in the bag. It is a bit pricey, but if you compare to other brand's grips, it basically gives you a second set of all the controls...a more realistic no-brainer price would be around $250...

This is a cool piece to have. If you take a lot of photos, especially lots of portraits, this can seriously make things easier on you. Of course, it takes some getting used to using the new shutter button for the portrait shots.

This grip allows you to hold two batteries in place of one, plus it gives you a bunch of the controls you'd use with your thumb were you shooting in landscape orientation. That's a great bonus and touch.

The only gripe comes from whether or not this unit drains the batteries even when the camera is off. It has its own power switch, which makes me wonder if that's the case. I haven't tested it thoroughly for that, however it seems to be the way things are turning out. Fortunately it isn't a major amount of drain (1%-3% from the meter) in the course of a day or so, but it really shouldn't be that way in the first place. A simple solution, mind you, is to turn off the power of the grip --- which won't affect the main body from being able to use the batteries.

Drain aside, this is an awesome addition to the A700 camera, and will prove invaluable to anyone that shoots a wide variety of image types and styles.

got this when i got the a700 body. is has not come off since. no other camera manufacturer has a grip that has the features of this one. this is an unbeatable system. you will not regret it.

This is my first grip. I like it. It is very light on its own. All the weight is the battery or batteries. It can run on just one battery or two.
Low price on this was $225. Recently $250 at Berger Bros. Now at $300 there.

The Sony VG-C70AM Vertical Grip is one helpful add-on for your A700.

Unlike other vertical grips, this one is LOADED with buttons and functions. Whereas the competitors make grips with just the shutter button and a dial to control shutter speed or aperture, this one replicates the back of the A700, providing you of all the buttons and controls youll need without having to take your eye off the viewfinder.

It has the Auto Focus/Manual Focus direct access button in it, the C and Fn button, the joystick, AEL Lock button and Exposure compensation, along of course the two dials to control shutter speed and aperture separately.

This grip is also built as the A700, has a magnesium alloy chasis, which makes it tough, durable and just as sturdy as the camera body.

If you dont shoot vertically, then probably you wont have much use for it, however, there are some details to consider:

1.- The grip can use two batteries, so if one runs out of charge, it switches automatically to the other one without you needing to intervene.

One thing to keep in mind is that it usually picks the battery with the less power left in order to exhaust it first.

2.- If you have big hands, the vertical grip expands the place available to get a grip (pun intended).

3.- If you use big and/or heavy lenses, the vertical grip provides balance in the camera body-lens weight ratio.

4.- If you shoot vertically, it eliminates the strain generated by twisting your wrists to hold the camera. Maybe you wont notice if you hold the camera for brief periods of time, but try it for an hour and youll be glad you got this item. The body with battery and memory card is heavy on its own (765 grams aprox.) so you do the math...

Few things to keep in mind about this product:

1.- It has a tripod screw to mount the camera with this item attached, BUT make sure that your tripod head can deal with this grip, some heads cant be screwed to the grip due to bigger screws on them.

2.- If you havent upgraded your A700 to firmware V4, you may experience problems between the grip and the camera which may end up with the camera locked and forcing you to remove the batteries and restart the camera. V4 fixes this.

3.- You can attach the Grip Belt to this vertical grip, the grip belt has a tripod screw which may solve the tripod head problem I mentioned in point #1.

4.- This grip has a hollow space in order to accomodate the body's battery door so you dont have to remove it (like when using a A200 with its correspondent VG).

5.- The only downside of this grip is that it doesnt increase the frames per second speed, some competitor grips allow you to shoot more frames per second when attaching a grip, but this one keeps it at 5 fps.

In my opinion, that doesnt outweight all the benefits this grip offers.

Some people dont like VGs because they dont really need them, so before you purchase it, analyze first if you actually need it and weigh in the info I gave you here. If you end up buying it, you wont be disappointed, it will expand your control over your A700 in a seamless manner.

Great comfortable grip. The grip fills larger in the hand than the camers body grip. Controls on grip are easy to reach. A must have item if you shoot a lot of portrait framed sports. Having 2 batteries is a plus when shooting a long day with the a700.

Everything advertised and more. Great for ensuring full control in familiar look and feel.

The grip is very easy to use and adds some great versitility to the camera. Anyone who shoots a lot of portrait shots would find this item worth the money.

Great product!! Its great that it will hold two batteries for those long photo sessions. Also, the ability to do vertical shots is a snap with this product. I recommend anyone who shoots vertical shots to get this item. Furthermore, it counter weights the body of the lens for those long lens (70-210mm). Cant say enough positive things about this product.