Battery Grip BG-E14 (80D)

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Does anybody know if they updated the gearing used in these grips to metal? I know older iterations of these were often stuck on the camera either by being stuck and not able to be turned (almost locked on) or by the plastic gears shearing inside leaving the thumb screw on the grip useless and needing tools to remove it. I was just wondering if the newer battery grips had been redesigned to be more durable. I don't think i'll be taking it on and off but if i so choose to, i don't want to worry about issues.

 

[TCampbell]

There are no gears. It's not a motor-winder (like film cameras). The battery grip offers two major features.

#1 it holds two batteries instead of one (only one battery need to be present to operate the camera).

#2 it's MUCH nicer when operating the camera vertically because it has a natural "grip" in that orientation and it replicates all the buttons that you'd have on the camera when operating in normal horizontal orientation.

When you install the grip, you'll actually remove the battery door from the camera body then eject the battery from the body. The grip threads onto the bottom of the camera using the tripod socket. A large post/tower with electronic contacts mates into the battery compartment (that's where they hide the electronic interface between grip & body). There's a storage spot on the side of that tower to store the battery door when you are using the grip. When the grip is used there is no battery in the camera.

I picked up a grip years ago for a camera body several years ago and liked it so much that I never went back. I've ordered a grip with every camera body since then.

One other side note... the batteries plug into a battery "magazine" (a tray that holds two batteries) and slides into the grip. The grip ALSO includes a second magazine (tray) designed to hold 6x AA size batteries. The idea here is that if for some reason you find all of your rechargeable batteries are dead but you need to keep shooting you can always insert AA batteries and keep going. Maybe you're on an extended trip with no opportunity for power to recharge your main batteries. I've never used the AA battery magazine with the grip, but you'll find it comes with one that you can use "just in case".

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I did get the grip actually. I'm wondering if the large wheel that screws it into the tripod socket is made with metal gearing, the older ones I know were plastic and would get broke and stuck on the Camera

 

[TCampbell]

I've been using them for years. I've never had one break or get stuck. I do have the genuine Canon grips -- and there are lots of 3rd party grips available. So it's possibly that a 3rd party might using some cheaper grade of plastic.

Although I've checked out side-by-side images of a genuine Canon grip next to a 3rd party and other than the missing "Canon" logo, I couldn't tell the difference... every part, every screw, every bit of metal, every place they put a bend, grove, every seam... down the last detail was absolutely identical. It was so perfectly identical that it was almost inconceivable to believe that someone built a grip to "fit" but wasn't actually a true clone. It made me wonder if a supplier makes these for Canon and some 3rd party vendor isn't just running off a few extras when they make the batches and sells those directly (without the Canon logo).