Today’s Post by Joe Farace
If you Ifread this blog regularly, you know that I like using battery grips for their convenient vertical grip and shutter release. When I reviewed Canon’s EOS 80D, I noticed that it not only uses the same Canon BG-E14 battery grip ($149) as the EOS 70D and as it turns out the EOS 90D as well. This grip, provides improved handling and accepts two LP-E6 lithium-ion batteries that essentially doubles battery life for all-day shoot.
As an alternative to Canon’s BG-14($169,) thrifty Christmas shoppers might want to consider Neewer’s version that sells for less than $35 (not a typo) on Amazon. I’ve not personally tried this specific grip but use a Neewer non-battery grip for my Panasonic GH4. It’s quite nicely made, especially for the price, looks like the Panasonic version and works exactly the same.
Let’s talk about Lens hoods. These are simple devices, nowadays they are mostly made from plastic although some manufacturers will try to add some fancy name or adjective buy hey, they’re plastic.
The lens hood for Canons EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens, to pick an example, is the EW-73D that sells for $34.95, while a Vello, sold by the same retailer is $16.95. Now there is a real possibility that the Canon version is slightly better made, maybe a lot. But there’s just as likely a possibility that’s it’s not
Whenever I get an e-mail from a reader asking about what kind of gear they should buy, I always say—and I mean it—that I am not comfortable spending your money. It’s all about your photography budget and you know what that is better than me.
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