Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Considering the purchase of Vello Battery grips for my 2 Canon bodies instead of Canon. The savings is substantial and as far as I can tell there is little to no difference in performance.

I am hoping to get some feed back from folks who have a bit of experience with both.

Dun1 Loc: Atlanta, GA

I have used a Vello grip of my Canon 7D for several years and have found no problems, if you use Canon OEM batteries you should not have a problem.

Lenf Loc: Strasburg,PA

I have Vello for both of my cameras and they work just fine, why pay more just for the name. I have found no difference at all . I would also suggest ordering an additional battery's so you always have one charged and ready to go .. I do a lot of shooting and love having the extra reserve.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

I have a Vello on my old 7D and purchased one for the 5DmkIII. The 7D works flawlessly, but the 5D has some issues that bug me. One is that the batteries drain faster and the preview in magnified pushes to the right. Even when you use the multi-controller to move the the view, it swings back to the right as soon as you release the controller.

Both of those issues happen only while the grip is in the on position. I complained about this and got a replacement unit, but the issues remain. So I only turn on the grip when actively shooting.. and since I use the 5D mostly for interior architectural shooting, I don't have the grip on anyway because I power it from the AC adapter and tether to my laptop.

I purchased a Pixxel grip for the 7DmkII, mainly because I want the multi-controller button replication on the grip like the 5DmkIII Vello. But unlike the Vello version, the Pixxel version works without any issues. And it also includes the programmable switch that surrounds the body's multi-controller button.

I don't know if the Vello version has the replicated controller button, because the 5D version turned me off considering it as an option. (I saw some aftermarket grips that don't include the multi-controller button for the 7DmkII)

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I've had a Vello grip for my T1i for a couple of years and love it. I also have the Vello leather hand grip strap which lets me carry it with little or no hand fatigue.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

The on switch on mine (Vello) only turns on the portrait mode buttons. Mine is off most of the time since I'm so used to just turning the camera with my hand on top. (been doing that for YEARS and YEARS.) With the hand grip it's faster to just turn.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

I agree, the on button only activates or deactivates the grip buttons. Unfortunately, on my camera, turning it on also affects the magnified preview on the back lcd by moving the view to the far right of the frame. If the preview is full frame, it just shows as full frame. It only happens when I zoom in the preview with the grip turned on.
I can't begin to explain it, and it took a while to figure what the heck was happening to my camera. I thought the body itself had a software preview error, until I isolated it to having the grip on and off and the wonky preview only doing it when the grip was turned on.

Otherwise, the grip is fine, except the batteries drain with the grip turned on faster than when the grip is turned off. Like I said, I live with it in the field and turn the grip on while shooting. Otherwise, I dispense with it when tethered, on a tripod and using a shutter release remote.

I personally like the portrait mode with the grip buttons, it's the main reason I have grips on my cameras.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Actually the Vello is not yet out for my 7D Mark II so I went with the Canon after reading several reviews. For my 6D I will probably go with the Vello, the Pixel which was recommended in this thread is manufactured and shipped from China which can take sometimes 6 to 8 weeks.

Anyway, thanks for the input.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Hmmm. I'll have to go look at mine to see if it does the same thing.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

Yes, it is strange. Only on the 5DmkIII. The Vello on my 7D is great. I always wondered if it was a glitch with the multi-controller button on the 5D grip... a bad batch of them possibly, since I exchanged it but made no difference.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

I got my Pixxel ordered and received in 6 days from a us distributor on Ebay. But OEM is a good way to go too.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Have you written to Vello? I wonder if they are aware of the anomaly, and possibly working on a fix?

Elliott Design Loc: West Tennessee

The Meike brand for the 7DmkII works good and comes with a remote controller. Around $120 on eBay last I saw. (Edited) Just looked, $80 now, I bought mine several months ago.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

The 5DmkIII is too old I think for any aftermarket resources development. I have made good use of the grip in spite of those anomalies and it doesn't slow down my shooting to any appreciable degree, so I am good at this point.

If a grip ever dies on me, I would probably look around for a used OEM replacement first.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Just make sure you test them quickly and thoroughly and can return them. Some grips drain the battery.