Battery/L-Grip for E510 by OwnUser

[Jaedon]

Well as stated in earlier threads I got a Portrait grip for my E-510 for Christmas. Now have used it for a week I decided to write up a review for those of you thinking about getting this additional tool for your kit.

First off I have to say that now that it is attached to my camera it will not be taken off lol.


The speed with which the AF works now is stunning. And the ability to be out all day and shoot 3 full 2G cards and still have battery left, even at -5C, is definitely not to be left unsaid.

Strapping the Sigma 50 - 500 on the camera no longer makes it look like a wee little camera with a big hunk of glass in front of it as it balances out the feel and weight of the camera quite nicely.

It also addressed an issue that has been bugging me with just about every camera I have ever owned. That would be the placement of the camera shoulder strap hooks on the body. So many times I have turned the camera to switch form landscape to portrait and ended up with the strap hanging across the view finder and in the amount of time it takes to remove the strap the subject has flown/run off on me. The OwnUser battery grip also has strap loops located on the bottom of it which changes the entire handling of the camera for the better.

The bad thing about the design of this portrait grip is the physical size of it. For those of you with smaller hands it would be a little bit cumbersome to handle due to the diameter of the handle itself. Designed for the larger handed among us I find it quite comfortable but I am sure those of us with smaller hands would not.

The design takes advantage of the USB port in the back of th camera to give you full shutter/AF control with the new trigger buttons on either side of the grip.

The OwnUser grip for the E500 has a built in wireless remote trigger which, according to the documentation, no longer allows for AF to be used. However form using my E500 with the remote I have noticed that if it is set to AF it will still auto focus when you depress the wireless remote button half way just like the shutter trigger does. But I have not used the Portrait grip on the E500 nor do I plan on purchasing one for it as it has been downgraded to my backup camera.

OwnUser also makes a grip for the E410 and I can only hope that with the 410 being designed for smaller handed shooters that they took this into consideration when building the grip for that model.

[Greg McCary]

Thanks for all of the great info. I know a grip has long been overdue and to know it is a good one helps. Thanks very much for posting and your review. Could you post a picture with it attached to the camera?

[Jaedon]

Here's the pictures as requested.

You can see in the images below what I was saying about the strap being relocated for me now. When slung over my should the lens hangs across the small of my back and stays snug.

The trigger buttons are located on either side so that the camera can be turned to either side in portrait mode. I am trying to figure out if I can disable one of the buttons (left side) as I am constantly hitting it by accident while trying to review my pictures and I never turn the camera that way.

Notice on the bottom image, in the bottom left corner there is a port for a DC plug in. This allows you to actually plug the camera into teh wall with a power supply if you were ever to run out of battery life but be near enough to a wall socket to use it. I do not believe that the grip can be used as a charger.

[grufh]

May I ask where you bought your grip.

[OlyOnly]

May I ask where you bought your grip.

Hi Jaedon, good posts... excellent information well presented. As a new member just getting started with an E510 and kit lenses (so far ), I too am interested to know where to find this item and about what it costs.
Thanks again for your help.

[Jaedon]

I purchased it form www.gadgetinfinity.com as they were the only company that came up in a Google search. They also have an Ebay store. The item on their Ebay store are priced slightly lower but the shipping through Ebay is slightly higher balancing it out.

[OlyOnly]

I purchased it form www.gadgetinfinity.com as they were the only company that came up in a Google search. They also have an Ebay store. The item on their Ebay store are priced slightly lower but the shipping through Ebay is slightly higher balancing it out.

Hi again... checked out that site following my earlier post and my grip ($129.95 US), plus one extra battery ($12.95 US), is on the way via FedEx. Total cost to Kelowna, $188.94 Cdn. Don't know exact shipping time yet.

Am hoping for delivery before Sunday when I have a shoot for a fund raiser.

BTW also found, and added to my wish list, AA Battery Holders for this grip... universal, sold in pairs and will hold six batteries each.

Thanks again for the info. Enjoyed your gallery

[Jaedon]

My only regret is that I did not order a pair of extra battery holders. It will make things so much fast for battery swaps if I had a pair of those as well. The batteries fit into holders which then in turn fit into the grip. Right now when I change batteries I need to pull out the holders, take them apart, swap batteries and then replace the holders into the grip one at a time. About a 3 min process which in the field is a lifetime. I generally check the battery light before I head into a shooting environment and if the light has turned red then I change batteries before I head in. I have ordered a pair of them in hopes that they arrive before my trip to Florida on Feb 13th.

[tmcelveen]

Hi, just wanted to add that I purchased one of these also from gadget infinity and I love it. Shipping was 3 days via FedEx from Hong Kong. I absolutely love this grip! It's very sturdy and makes shooting vertical a breeze. Also, I have noticed a positive effect on the speed of the autofocus. Also, having two batteries is great! I've yet to run out of juice while on a shoot. Like the previous guy said, I should've ordered the extra battery housings but I will later. Since then, I've ordered a right angle viewfinder ($49) and a car charger and have no complaints whatsoever.

[Greg McCary]

I am glad you like iy. Thanks again Jaedon for the pictures and review. You are helping many others out.

[dumpy]

Stupid Noob question here:

How does a grip affect AF speed?

Does it have something to do with extra current being available?

Sorry I'm an inquisitive noob!!

[Greg McCary]

I am sure that it's the extra amps the battery supplies. I am not 100% sure on that but it would stand to reason. If you are using a flash I am sure the pre flash for focus would have a little more power to work with as well. That's good question...

[Jaedon]

It's more consistent power. It is still the same voltage because of the set up but the power supply is constant for a longer period of time without the low spikes you would get with one battery.

The easiest way to describe it would be to compare it to a garden hose. You turn the tap on all the way and you have a nozzle on the end. When you squeeze the nozzle you get an initial blast and then a constant flow. If someone were to slowly turn the tap off while you held the nozzle open (like a slowly draining battery) you get less power flow. With 2 batteries it's like having 2 hoses connected to one nozzle. As the person turns the one tap slowly off the other hose stays at full and kicks in the extra little bit you need to keep the flow constant. (Sorry for my noob explanation but I am not an electronic engineer but that's sort of how my brother who IS an electronic engineer explained it to me lol)

[Prz9]

What lens do you have on your camera in the pictures?

[Atomic2]

What lens do you have on your camera in the pictures?

sigma 50-500

[rubeel]

What about this one, is this any good, it is definately cheaper


http://www.overstock.com/Electronics...=18-31105198-2

[Jaedon]

And that one has a remote for it too. 2 for 1 deal if you do not already have the remote trigger from Olympus. Glad to read that it will fit both the 510 and the 520. I may be upgrading my E500 soon if I can get it to fail one more time before the warranty runs out. Since it is no longer in production I get upgraded to the next comparable model.

[Atomic2]

And that one has a remote for it too. 2 for 1 deal if you do not already have the remote trigger from Olympus. Glad to read that it will fit both the 510 and the 520. I may be upgrading my E500 soon if I can get it to fail one more time before the warranty runs out. Since it is no longer in production I get upgraded to the next comparable model.

Is there an actuation limit on the warranty?

[Jaedon]

nope =) It's an extended bumper to bumper warranty from the store where I bought the camera. I have 2 years left on the 510 and about 6 months (October this year) left on the 500. Now that the 510 is in the shop for the 2nd time.. the 500 is back in use again so I am sure it's going to develop some coughs or sniffles soon lol.

[Atomic2]

nope =) It's an extended bumper to bumper warranty from the store where I bought the camera. I have 2 years left on the 510 and about 6 months (October this year) left on the 500. Now that the 510 is in the shop for the 2nd time.. the 500 is back in use again so I am sure it's going to develop some coughs or sniffles soon lol.

Just keep it on continuous shutter and hold for a while. Over and Over. wait till something dies.