6

After reading many reviews I decided to purchase the Zeikos grip but B&H discontinued it so I decided to go with the new Vello grip instead.

I think I might have made a mistake. The grip seems to drain power from my batteries VERY fast. I had the grip on camera with fully charged batteries and they were completely dead in a matter of days just sitting in my bag. I then charged the batteries (genuine Canon) to 100% and turned the camera off. I turned it on every hour or so and took a picture of the battery status menu. In 4 hours the battery power has gone down to 88% with power off and without taking a single picture.

What is going on? Is this thing defective or is there some setting I am missing?

I removed the grip and performed a similar test and the battery power has not gone down at all in 4 hours. The battery normally lasts a very long time so I was quite surprised to loose all the juice in a few days.

Unless there is a setting I can tweak I will return this grip and get a genuine Canon. Do people out there have any similar complaints about the Canon unit?

|improve this question|||||
  • I have the same problem with mine, but I think it's the LCD on the back that causes problems. Why when it has it's own lil battery for that I don't know, but it still draws from the main :/ – Dreamager Mar 4 '12 at 11:13
9

I haven't used it, but I know that battery drain with aftermarket grips is a common complaint on photography forums. And people with genuine Canon and Nikon units always reply that they have no such issues.

I would say it's a defect with that particular unit. You could try a 2nd Vello grip and you may find it works well. It shouldn't drain the batteries in a matter of days with everything switched off.

|improve this answer|||||
  • oh no. thanks. no more aftermarket anything for me. – Jakub Sisak GeoGraphics Mar 4 '12 at 3:36
  • 3
    Some aftermarket stuff is good, including (probably) camera grips. I think the quality control is an issue. If you swap for another one, it may be fine. B&H wouldn't stock it for long if they got nothing but returns. – MikeW♦ Mar 4 '12 at 4:13
  • I have a different 3rd party grip (can't remember the make), and I have a similar problem. I take the batteries out when I'm not using the camera. :-( – AJ Finch Mar 6 '12 at 14:23
  • Thanks guys. I will just return it and get the Canon. Besides, this grip stinks so bad of rubber and plastic I can smell my camera bag from across the room. – Jakub Sisak GeoGraphics Mar 6 '12 at 15:59

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.