Why Should I buy a BG-E3 dual battery holder

[mwt]

I have read and read and I am not seeing any reason to buy the BG-E3 two battery holder for my Rebel-XT other than it will allow you to take twice as many pictures as a single battery.

Since it only takes a couple of seconds to change batteries what is the advantage.

At first I assumed it would allow the camera to recover from flashes faster but I havent read anything that would confirm that.

Thanks

Mike

[SmartWombat]

> Since it only takes a couple of seconds to change batteries what is the advantage.
You don't have to change the batteries.

> allow the camera to recover from flashes faster but I havent read anything
That's because it doesn't.

It comes with an AA battery cradle that lets you run the camera off normal alkaline (or rechargeable) batteries.
What you get in addition is the extra buttons on the battery grip for the shutter release and control wheel for use in portrait format.
The weight also makes it differently balanced with longer lenses, since the body is so light a telephoto with the normal tripod adapter will be front heavy.

[livin4lax09]

plus it helps to balance the camera more for pans, because like SW said, the lenses are heavy. I find the best part about it is the portrait orientation. Sometimes, that couple seconds to change batteries can mean all the difference. I personally would not own a camera without one, but to each his own.

[mjs1973]

Hey Mike,

Here is a thread where battery grips were discussed a while back.

Pros & Cons to Having A Battery Grip?

[mwt]

Thanks everyone.
I am a newb to all of this stuff and I am still trying to figure out what is good and bad and all that.

There is one heck of an aftermarket for these cameras and I am a bit overwhelmed about what works well and what doesnt.

Mike.