Battery grip and heavy lens on a tripod at DVinfo.net

Peter Rush · November 7th, 2015, 07:10 AM

I use a Meike battery grip and am finding that when using this with the metabones/canon 24-105 on a tripod I get an unnaceptible amount of play between the battery grip and camera. This i not apparent when I'm hand holding as I always have one hand on the lens but on a tripod - there is a little 'bounce' that becomes apparent with any tilts - would the Sony battery grip be any better? I would imagine the mounting would be the same.

The 24-105 is heavier than my Zeiss 24-70 but still not classed as a 'heavy' lens as it has no tripod mount on the barrel.

Pete

Chris Harding · November 7th, 2015, 07:53 AM

Hi Pete

The aftermarket grips are usually a copy of the genuine ones so I would doubt whether a Sony would work any better .. the problem is that you are raising the centre of balance of the actual camera by including a grip so a small amount of play between the camera and tripod plate doesn't affect the bounce much. Lift it up the height of a grip and the same play is almost doubled so you get more bounce. Much the same as bumping the camera when wide (no issue) compared to bumping the camera on a full zoom (big issue)

Can you not figure a way to have maybe an external battery pack when on a tripod ..that would solve the problem. I had a huge amount of bounce on my FZ1000's on tripod cos I had a 25mm piece of square aluminium under the camera ..I took that off and solved the problem!

Peter Rush · November 7th, 2015, 08:47 AM

I'm trying to work out my options Chris - battery life for the A7s is pretty dire <1hr so I get up to 2 hours with the battery grip which is OK (not as OK as my all day NP-F790 on the EA50) but gives this little 'bounce' issue. I could loose the battery grip for establishing shots/ceremony/speeches where it's noticeable but, especially for the ceremony, time is tight and each time I have to faff with gear it's costly, especially If I have to remove and replace tripod QR plates. Also I'm back to one battery and worries about when to change etc. I do have a NP adapter which will let me run for hours on end but it's another bit of kit and a trailing wire (potential for coming out) at a time when I'm trying to simplify my gear - not add to it.

One option is to ditch the battery grip and use my NP adapter for the whole wedding shoot - I have some down time now so I'm going to give it a try, I just need to get it secured nicely to my mini rig

Pete

Chris Harding · November 7th, 2015, 10:57 PM

I used to shoot stills with Konica Minolta Hi7 cameras many years ago and they used to eat up rechargeable batteries .. so I went to the local electronics shop and bought a diecast aluminium box and had batteries mounted inside ....Because the diecast box doesn't flex like a flimsy plastic grip it really worked well for me ..I just had 1/4 screw on the top to mount under the camera and a tripod plate bolted underneath ... it was certainly a much better a more stable option than a grip .. I have already tossed out two of my Nikon grips cos they fell to bits!!

Beachtek use a similar method to attach their XLR adapters between the tripod and the camera and they are solid as a rock simply because they are rigid diecast aluminium

Maybe something like that would work for you???

John Wiley · November 10th, 2015, 07:25 AM

Can you use the tripod threads on the Metabones adapter rather than mounting the camera itself to the tripod?

Peter Rush · November 11th, 2015, 02:33 AM

I tried that John but during a wedding shoot I switch between the canon lenses and native sony FE so it means attaching and reataching the tripod plate which is a real faff when you're up against it.

John Wiley · November 12th, 2015, 10:26 PM

Tripod plates are cheap... it never hurts to have a couple of extras!

When I shot with 5D's I used to have plates permanently attached to each body as well as the lens feet on all the bigger lenses.

Richard D. George · November 13th, 2015, 10:28 AM

Really Right Stuff has a new QR plate for Metabones adapter.

November 7th, 2015, 07:10 AM	#1
Peter Rush Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: UK/Yorkshire Posts: 2,069	Battery grip and heavy lens on a tripod I use a Meike battery grip and am finding that when using this with the metabones/canon 24-105 on a tripod I get an unnaceptible amount of play between the battery grip and camera. This i not apparent when I'm hand holding as I always have one hand on the lens but on a tripod - there is a little 'bounce' that becomes apparent with any tilts - would the Sony battery grip be any better? I would imagine the mounting would be the same. The 24-105 is heavier than my Zeiss 24-70 but still not classed as a 'heavy' lens as it has no tripod mount on the barrel. Pete

November 7th, 2015, 07:53 AM	#2
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Battery grip and heavy lens on a tripod Hi Pete The aftermarket grips are usually a copy of the genuine ones so I would doubt whether a Sony would work any better .. the problem is that you are raising the centre of balance of the actual camera by including a grip so a small amount of play between the camera and tripod plate doesn't affect the bounce much. Lift it up the height of a grip and the same play is almost doubled so you get more bounce. Much the same as bumping the camera when wide (no issue) compared to bumping the camera on a full zoom (big issue) Can you not figure a way to have maybe an external battery pack when on a tripod ..that would solve the problem. I had a huge amount of bounce on my FZ1000's on tripod cos I had a 25mm piece of square aluminium under the camera ..I took that off and solved the problem!

November 7th, 2015, 08:47 AM	#3
Peter Rush Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: UK/Yorkshire Posts: 2,069	Re: Battery grip and heavy lens on a tripod I'm trying to work out my options Chris - battery life for the A7s is pretty dire <1hr so I get up to 2 hours with the battery grip which is OK (not as OK as my all day NP-F790 on the EA50) but gives this little 'bounce' issue. I could loose the battery grip for establishing shots/ceremony/speeches where it's noticeable but, especially for the ceremony, time is tight and each time I have to faff with gear it's costly, especially If I have to remove and replace tripod QR plates. Also I'm back to one battery and worries about when to change etc. I do have a NP adapter which will let me run for hours on end but it's another bit of kit and a trailing wire (potential for coming out) at a time when I'm trying to simplify my gear - not add to it. One option is to ditch the battery grip and use my NP adapter for the whole wedding shoot - I have some down time now so I'm going to give it a try, I just need to get it secured nicely to my mini rig Pete

November 7th, 2015, 10:57 PM	#4
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Battery grip and heavy lens on a tripod I used to shoot stills with Konica Minolta Hi7 cameras many years ago and they used to eat up rechargeable batteries .. so I went to the local electronics shop and bought a diecast aluminium box and had batteries mounted inside ....Because the diecast box doesn't flex like a flimsy plastic grip it really worked well for me ..I just had 1/4 screw on the top to mount under the camera and a tripod plate bolted underneath ... it was certainly a much better a more stable option than a grip .. I have already tossed out two of my Nikon grips cos they fell to bits!! Beachtek use a similar method to attach their XLR adapters between the tripod and the camera and they are solid as a rock simply because they are rigid diecast aluminium Maybe something like that would work for you???

November 10th, 2015, 07:25 AM	#5
John Wiley Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Byron Bay, Australia Posts: 1,155	Re: Battery grip and heavy lens on a tripod Can you use the tripod threads on the Metabones adapter rather than mounting the camera itself to the tripod?

November 11th, 2015, 02:33 AM	#6
Peter Rush Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: UK/Yorkshire Posts: 2,069	Re: Battery grip and heavy lens on a tripod I tried that John but during a wedding shoot I switch between the canon lenses and native sony FE so it means attaching and reataching the tripod plate which is a real faff when you're up against it.

November 12th, 2015, 10:26 PM	#7
John Wiley Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Byron Bay, Australia Posts: 1,155	Re: Battery grip and heavy lens on a tripod Tripod plates are cheap... it never hurts to have a couple of extras! When I shot with 5D's I used to have plates permanently attached to each body as well as the lens feet on all the bigger lenses.

November 13th, 2015, 10:28 AM	#8
Richard D. George Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 351	Re: Battery grip and heavy lens on a tripod Really Right Stuff has a new QR plate for Metabones adapter.