Digital Concepts PG-100/EOSXT Deluxe Power Grip for Canon Rebet XT and XTI Cameras

It's a great product for the price, but if you are looking for a high end or professional use battery grip this will not cut it. This grip will best suit someone who is looking for extended battery life and not the features of a high end battery grip.

I received the item and after some experiments with the Canon Rebel XTi, my initial concerns are gone.

Here is a summary of my observations. I plan to follow up with a more detailed summary/analysis on various BG-E3 battery grips in a few days because misinformation are abundant on the web due to the lack of electronics/battery knowledges and egos. Please stay tuned.

1. The build quality is mediocre. It's hard plastic so it gives you a brittle feeling. Not rubberized anywhere. Assembly is okay, minor irregular protrusion in one place.

2. Canon NB-2LH battery does fit the tray, albeit very tightly. A minor sanding solves the problem. I suspect the reviewer who said NB-2LH could not fit had the same/similar issue.

3. The grip also fits the Rebel XT body I borrowed from a friend, unlike reported by one reviewer.

4. No vertical shutter button/dial etc., as described by the production specification. Anyone who reads carefully should not be surprised by this.

4. 6 AA NiMH batteries work okay with the battery grip. However, battery life is iffy, depending on several factors. I did find a set of NiMH batteries that works well - my objective is met. All NiMH batteries with BG-E3 battery grips (Canon or 3rd parties) have the same battery life issue due to the lower rated voltage than what's expected. That is why Canon states AA batteries should be used in the BG-E3 in emergency. My conclusion is using AA NiMH batteries as the primary source is feasible, if the right NiMH batteries are chosen. Using alkaline or non-rechargeable lithium batteries, while solving the low voltage problem, is not economical. They should be used only in an emergency.

My average 6xAA NiMH batteries last 300-400 shots. Even though the NiMH batteries are rated 2000mAH, 3 times higher than the NB-2LH battery. They could not deliver the entire 2000mAH energy at the voltage expected by the camera. The camera shuts off way before the batteries are fully drained. I measured the used batteries had at least 2/3 of unused energy.

When buying NiMH batteries for this purpose - the rated capacity (mAH) does matter but not exclusively so. The real question is, can the batteries maintain a high voltage long enough to deliver the stored energy. That question, unfortunately, can not be answered easily. There are some battery discharge charts on the net, as measured by the battery enthusiasts. They can be of guide, though not so reliably as each batch of batteries from the same brand can vary.


7. When an NB-2LH is used in the battery grip (even in Canon BG-E3), the camera may show a lower battery level. This is due to the grip supports two NB-2LH in parallel. It contains a circuit for voltage regulation that results in about 0.05volt voltage drop (measured from the NB-2LH contact vs on the battery grip contact). Thus the battery grip causes a slightly earlier shut off by the camera. However, my test shows that once the camera deems the NB-2LH needs charge with the grip, removing the battery and put it into the camera only gives you not too many more shots. In other words, there is little unused capacity left anyway.

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Finally, I give this product a 4 star because for 30 dollars, I expect better plastic/build qualities. This is after all, nothing but a battery holder. I will give it a 5 star if it's no more than 15 dollars.

I would recommend this product to anyone except those who are into brand names. Brand name satisfaction is not this product can deliver.

When deciding which battery grip to buy, consider which features you really care:

1. better ergonomics for big hands
2. vertical buttons & dials (and all the associated pains/bugs/problems that come with them)
3. two NB-2LH batteries for longer lives (a single will actually have shorter life, as stated earlier)
4. using AA NiMH batteries (iffy battery life, but definitely works when the right batteries are used)

I cared about 1, 3, and 4, and got them in this product.

This item is high quality and well-built. It arrived very quickly from the dealer. However, I don't recommend it! The main problem is that it doesn't fit the Rebel XT Camera, so it is completely useless to me.

Also, it comes from an associate Amazon dealer, not directly from Amazon. I will not order any more Canon, non-proprietary items from Amazon.com. Buyer beware!

Refused to work upon arrival. Drains fully charged canon battery in seconds. Probably I got a bad copy. Anyway it is cheaply built, with not even a shutter release button.

This battery pack was very flimsy and did not seem to hold the 2 canon batterys, although it did hold AA battteries.