[rawr]

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knoxploration said:


But, perhaps some clever person will develop a 3rd-party K-x battery grip using a similar design - just different measurements, to fit the K-x's dimensions....

Greg

Someone like these guys perhaps:

Celltech Electronic Co., Ltd. - Battery grip, digital camera battery, video camcorder battery

I think it's just a matter of time before someone does one, since 3rd party grips are available for practically every camera. Perhaps manufacturers like CellTech aren't aware of how big the K-x user base is nowadays.

In the meantime, I think the Travor K100D could be made to work on the K-x - eg I found this a while ago on some blog (I forget exactly where), and this looks like it may be the Travor battery grip:

[redeleon]

Someone like these guys perhaps:

Celltech Electronic Co., Ltd. - Battery grip, digital camera battery, video camcorder battery

I think it's just a matter of time before someone does one, since 3rd party grips are available for practically every camera. Perhaps manufacturers like CellTech aren't aware of how big the K-x user base is nowadays.

In the meantime, I think the Travor K100D could be made to work on the K-x - eg I found this a while ago on some blog (I forget exactly where), and this looks like it may be the Travor battery grip:

so how does this thing work?
does the grip have the shutter button?.. if so, how will it work?

[rawr]

so how does this thing work?
does the grip have the shutter button?.. if so, how will it work?

All it is is a battery grip - ie in the case of the Travor unit, what you get is a rechargable Lithium battery pack, that's all, that plugs into the base of the camera and is attached via the camera tripod socket. Shipped in the packet is also an AC adapter and a car cigarette lighter plug too, it seems.

There are no extra shutter buttons, Green buttons etc on the grip. All it gives you is a [big] Lithium battery boost. Which could certainly be very handy in some circumstances.

[redeleon]

All it is is a battery grip - ie in the case of the Travor unit, what you get is a rechargable Lithium battery pack, that's all, that plugs into the base of the camera and is attached via the camera tripod socket. Shipped in the packet is also an AC adapter and a car cigarette lighter plug too, it seems.

There are no extra shutter buttons, Green buttons etc on the grip. All it gives you is a [big] Lithium battery boost. Which could certainly be very handy in some circumstances.

oh i see oh well,
i thought it might come in handy in shooting in portrait orientation just like some battery grip do..

[flippedgazelle]

The K-x is so small that if it had a battery grip, I could hold it by the grip in portrait orientation with my right hand, and with the left keep 2 fingers on the lens and press the shutter button with my thumb. As long as there's no flash attached.

[knoxploration]

oh i see oh well,
i thought it might come in handy in shooting in portrait orientation just like some battery grip do..

Problem is, there's no way for the grip to connect to the camera to control buttons. Hence the only way it could trigger the shutter is the same way an infrared remote does it. That'd mean an unsightly bulge on the back of the grip with an IR transmitter in it, and would bring two disadvantages. One, if you blocked (accidentally covered) the IR transmitter, your shutter button would stop working. Two, more importantly, is that the K-x automatically disables shake reduction when using the IR remote, on the basis that you're most likely using a tripod. Hence, shake reduction couldn't be used with a grip that had this style of shutter button.

This has already been discussed previously in this thread.

[livertoon]

My friend (artwork,he is professional pentax in thailand.) use nikon f75 grip for made it. see in picture.

http://pentax.niceeyeshot.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=11764&p...er=asc&start=0

Attached Images

         

[rawr]

Very interesting, livertoon. But how does the power get into the camera? I can't see any connections in those photos. I can see the base of a grip, but no way for the battery power to connect into the K-x.

[knoxploration]

One presumes it doesn't supply power to the camera, as the original N75 grip's battery dummy has been hacked off:

Nikon USA: MB-18 Grip for N75/N75QD

It looks to be just a portrait grip, with no power or control capability.

[livertoon]

Yes,it is not power connect,but my friend,he think to connect a printed circuit of china remote for vertical shutter. comming soon

[SMC-man]

Hi everybody. I'm a new boy, & I'd thought I would give people some of my thoughts re the K-x, and how I get over the size issue. I have large hands, but wanted the K-x over the other, larger, Pentax DSLRs because of its fantastic sensor ability in low light.
There's no doubt that if you have average-to-large hands the camera can be 'awkward' to hold, or use. This is primarily because the hand grip size precludes the little finger, which then will fall underneath.
Unlike a good p & s camera, which is light-weight and easy to hold, the K-x is quite heavy for its size with its 4 batteries. I have tried a number of adaptations (though not the above-mentioned battery-grip which seems to me rather a silly idea) to make life a bit easier from the point of view of handling, and now have permanently attached a bog-standard nylon hand grip strap. The kind of thing you can pick up online for very little. I think my one is made by Kood, but really anyone having difficulty handling - especially when using portrait format - should consider it. They are fully adjustable - I have mine very loose, so I can withdraw my hand at any moment, but it still gives me peace of mind about not dropping the camera + lens. And get one with a screwed thread on its underside - that way it can be used on a tripod without removing it. Anyways, just my 2-pennies worth....

[FattyMcJ]

Yes,it is not power connect,but my friend,he think to connect a printed circuit of china remote for vertical shutter. comming soon

I like that the grip he made just utilizes the tripod mount and nothing else, but still has a shutter button (presumably a dummy button)...

If he could get THAT to work (the shutter release)...I'd buy one in a heart beat. The 4 AA's in the body is plenty for most owners of the K-x, including me, so a hollow grip is fine.

A portrait grip with no shutter release is kind of pointless IMO, you still have to hold the camera normally, when shooting portraits.

[knoxploration]

If he could get THAT to work (the shutter release)...I'd buy one in a heart beat.

Would you still buy one, knowing that use of the portrait shutter release disabled shake reduction for all your lenses? The only way a second shutter button can be added without modifying the hardware of your camera itself is via IR remote, and use of the IR remote disables shake reduction since the camera believes you're using a tripod...

[FattyMcJ]

Would you still buy one, knowing that use of the portrait shutter release disabled shake reduction for all your lenses? The only way a second shutter button can be added without modifying the hardware of your camera itself is via IR remote, and use of the IR remote disables shake reduction since the camera believes you're using a tripod...

Indeed, it would disable SR. However, I think I still would buy one. If for nothing else than to use in great light situations where fast shutter speeds could potentially cover for camera shake to some degree.

It wouldn't be ideal, but it'd be a step in the right direction.

[spystyle]

OK I am modifying an extra battery grip I happened to have to fit my K-X, so I read through this entire thread.

It gave me a lot of ideas!

Here is my unfinished grip :

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-beginners-corner-q/129995-hey-i-or...ml#post1479953

Here are my replies to some of the posts :

maybe not, because there is nothing can connect with the grip on the body

The tripod mount

I have to say, this is keeping me from buying this camera. All the great reviews and it just lacks some of the things that I fell in love w/ on my K200D. The grip on the K200D makes it a beast! Also, the size of the KX seems way 2 small for me. I guess I'll keep saving up until I can get my hands on a K7.

The K-X has a lot more going for it than the 200D, see the snapsort comparison :

Pentax K-x vs K200D

...the battery compartment door can't be removed, which limits the options for using a dummy battery to pass power through from a grip.

You could use AA dummies to make contact with the (presumed) Lithium grip batteries, they sell AA dummiies on eBay :

dummy battery AA | eBay

But you'd have to drill a couple small holes in the K-X battery door to allow the wires to pass through ... But upon closer inspection, my KX has a hole on the side of the battery compartment for running wires through, it's covered by a removable peice of rubber. So you can run wires from dummy batteries without drilling any holes in the K-X battery door I guess Pentax did count on a 3rd party grip coming out ???

I think they could make it work if they wanted to. The battery door does open up to a 90 degree angle to the bottom of the camera, which means they could effectively make a grip for the camera and instead of removing the battery door they could have some way to secure it to the grip...possibly the same way it stays closed on the body of the camera.

That's a good idea

Pentax isn't unique in not giving the K-x a battery grip option. It's worth noting that in Nikon-land, entry level DSLR's like the D3000 and D5000 also do not have battery grip options.

3rd party grips are available for Nikon D40 D40x D60 D3000 D5000, now down to like $26 USD

They use 2 rechargeable lithium batteries and provide a vertical shutter release using a built in remote shutter release.

I used one by Targus back when I was shooting a D40, and it really transformed the camera, it was great. I later upgraded to a K-X and sold the D40.

The K-X trumps the D40 but I miss that grip LOL

Ah, didn't notice the slot. I'd say it's pretty unlikely it'll fit - it'd rely on the distance between the tripod mount and battery locations being identical *and* the battery door being the same size or smaller, and the same distance from the tripod mount, *and* the battery door and batteries having identical orientation with respect to each other.

That's a lot of ands - and they're not likely to pan out for you given that the K100D / K110D are bigger than the K-x in every dimension, and have a different battery door design.

You could modify the grip, dremmel to cut and JB Weld to "add plastic"

----------------------

Anyway, after reading this entire thread and seeing the K100D battery grip, the MB-18 modified grip, the AA dummy batteries, and my own progress - I think we can all make battery grips LOL

Cheers,
Craig