Well the Canon BG-E11 battery grip for my 5D Mark3 camera body arrived today, one day later than promised. Together inside the package are 4 units of Phottix Titan LP-E6 battery i ordered to be used with the battery grip in the field. All in all the whole package cost me a total of RM1222(USD340). Quite a lot actually, but like i said in the previous post i just have to bite the bullet.
Inside the box there are a few items: a warranty card, a manual, a soft pouch to keep the extra tray meant for the six AA size pencil batteries, and the BG-E11 battery grip. The battery grip also has a tray inside which can accommodate two LP-E6 batteries even though it only takes one to make it operable with the camera.
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| The content inside the box: The grip, a battery tray for LP-E6, a soft pouch, a manual & a warranty card |
The grip feels heavy and solid which is not surprising as it was made using a magnesium shell, finished with a coating and a layer of textured rubber to match the 5D Mark3 body. Its tough shell is reassuring especially when used outdoor in the field or forest and subjected to some degree of abuse. The contact points were gold plated for good conductivity of electrical current from the batteries.
The bottom of the grip has a tough metal plate for secure mounting when used with a tripod. However, it is better to secure your camera using the lens collar ring which is more stable as i am not sure whether the lock screw is tough enough to take the weight of the camera and lens attached to it. The lock screw is tightened using a large dial located in front of the grip. My test shows that the lock is quite firm on the camera body.
A quick look inside the grip shows the metal plate, and a kind of honeycomb chassis that makes the grip feels rigid. This kind of construction and rigidity is absence in a few of cheaper China-made equivalent models which i managed to lay my hands on before i decided to go for this Canon BG-E11 grip. The access door to this compartment is lined with a rubber gasket which is similar to the one on the 5D Mark 3 battery compartment to seal it against water penetration which is a good thing,because i do a lot of outdoor shoot. In Malaysia when it rains it pours, and in the hilly and mountainous areas the mist can be quite thick, it can be quite damp, you will get some water on your equipment. The seal is the last line of defense for your camera.
A quick look inside the grip shows the metal plate, and a kind of honeycomb chassis that makes the grip feels rigid. This kind of construction and rigidity is absence in a few of cheaper China-made equivalent models which i managed to lay my hands on before i decided to go for this Canon BG-E11 grip. The access door to this compartment is lined with a rubber gasket which is similar to the one on the 5D Mark 3 battery compartment to seal it against water penetration which is a good thing,because i do a lot of outdoor shoot. In Malaysia when it rains it pours, and in the hilly and mountainous areas the mist can be quite thick, it can be quite damp, you will get some water on your equipment. The seal is the last line of defense for your camera.
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| The inside of the grip. |
In order to retrieve the battery tray inside you have to turn the little latch at the end of the tray counter clockwise,and pull out the tray as shown in the photo below. You can use one LP-E6 battery or two, either way it will work. However, what is the point of buying a grip if you just going to use one battery?
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| Sliding battery tray with a twist latch lock |
Canon provided the second tray designed to be used with six AA size pencil batteries in case you ran out of LP-E6 batteries. How many shot can you get using this type of battery? Well, i am not sure because i have never tried before. I have ten rechargeable Mi-Ah AA batteries with 2050mAh rating for each one, six number should give me a total of 12,300mAh, i will give it a shot and get back to you on this one. Theoretically they should last longer than 2 x LP-E6 of 1600mAh each, almost four times longer.
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| AA battery tray in case you ran out of LP-E6. It can hold six AA batteries. Four on top & two at the bottom. |
The BG-E11 grip provides enough control buttons to be used in the portrait mode like you use the camera in the landscape mode. Thus you do not have to twist your wrist awkwardly to compose and press the shutter button in the portrait mode. There is a multi-controller button like the one on the camera body to select AF points, AF-On, AE/AF lock button, Mfn button, dial button and the shutter button. If you do not want to use all these duplicate buttons on your grip and just want to use it as a storage for two LP-E6 batteries there is a switch to turn them off. It is advised by Canon to switch off the grip when the camera is turned off to avoid accidental battery drain.
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| Next to the tripod plate is where you can install a wrist strap |
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| The place where you can store your battery door is indicated by the recessed icon. |
This grip has a neat feature where you can store the camera battery compartment door that you have to take out in order to slot in the battery grip into the camera, on the grip itself. This will help prevent the battery door from getting lost or misplaced.
Now, it would be interesting to see whether the Canon BG-E11 grip is compatible with third parties batteries like the Phottix Titan LP-E6. Will it communicate and report the correct status of the batteries and their performance. I know for a fact that the two third party batteries that i bought under the SunPak brand do not communicate with the 5D Mark3 body and also the LP-E6 original Canon charger. I placed the Phottix Titan LP-E6 batteries inside the tray, slotted into the battery grip and switched on the camera. The LCD screen came on with "sensor cleaning" message and after 2 seconds the camera is ready for use. I went to the Menu and selected the Battery Info and the camera correctly reported the status of the batteries as shown below:
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| No issues with reporting on the batteries status |
I read on the net that some third party brands had a battery drain problem even when the camera and the battery grip were switched off. I switched off my 5D Mark 3 and the grip overnight to see whether the BG-E11 too has this problem. A check in the morning showed that the batteries remained 100%, i am glad Canon. However, i have one issue with the AA pencil battery tray. I slotted in 6 nos of rechargeable NiMh AA battery with 2050mAh capacity each and slotted into the battery grip. The batteries were fully charged the night before. A check in the Battery Info showed that the battery capacity from the tray was only 2 bars(50%)! Is this right? Does the camera reports the total battery capacity, or one of the batteries inside the tray as a representative of the whole tray? I am not sure, maybe i should send an inquiry to Canon. What i am sure is that i am not going to use this AA battery tray as my main power source if the reporting is not accurate, i just stick to the LP-E6 battery tray.
UPDATE:
Battery drain:
There is a battery drain issue with Phottix Titan LP-E6 and Canon original LP-E6. The two Phottix batteries i put in the grip lost their capacity down to 37% within one week, while the Canon LP-E6 dropped from 96% down to 27% within 18days with zero shots taken. The Canon batteries seem to retain charge twice longer than third party batteries. The question is did the grip cause the batteries to lose their charge(leaks) even when idling or does the camera use the batteries continuosly even minute amount to retain the memory,data and time that slowly drain the fully charged batteries? It cannot be the Phottix Titan LP-E6 battery issue because i left four of them fully charged outside the grip and after two weeks their charge remained 100%. That is very good for a third party brand especially when i only paid RM80(USD22.00) each. I do not have any answer to this question but i will inquire from Canon whether the battery drain is within their normal design specifications for the BG-E11. If not, then i have a defective product which needs to be returned. If it is, then i think Canon over charged the customers for this grip which can drain batteries.
Battery drain:
There is a battery drain issue with Phottix Titan LP-E6 and Canon original LP-E6. The two Phottix batteries i put in the grip lost their capacity down to 37% within one week, while the Canon LP-E6 dropped from 96% down to 27% within 18days with zero shots taken. The Canon batteries seem to retain charge twice longer than third party batteries. The question is did the grip cause the batteries to lose their charge(leaks) even when idling or does the camera use the batteries continuosly even minute amount to retain the memory,data and time that slowly drain the fully charged batteries? It cannot be the Phottix Titan LP-E6 battery issue because i left four of them fully charged outside the grip and after two weeks their charge remained 100%. That is very good for a third party brand especially when i only paid RM80(USD22.00) each. I do not have any answer to this question but i will inquire from Canon whether the battery drain is within their normal design specifications for the BG-E11. If not, then i have a defective product which needs to be returned. If it is, then i think Canon over charged the customers for this grip which can drain batteries.
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| 5D Mark 3 + BG-E11 grip + EF400mm f5.6 lens on a Manfrotto gimbal head |
The camera body feels a bit more substantial with the BG-E11 grip attached to it, it does not weigh that much more, surprisingly negligible even when paired with the Canon EF400mm f5.6 prime lens and hand carried. It provides balance with a front heavy Canon EF400mm lens. On the tripod the weight issue disappeared. With smaller lens like the canon EF24-105mm f4 the total weight when hand carried is very manageable.
I am very excited and looking forward to test the BG-E11 grip together with the Phottix Titan LP-E6 batteries in my next birding outing,and will report back to you with any issues in the Part 2 review.
Thanks for reading and happy birding.
