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08-12-2008, 10:57 AM   #1
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K200d - Vertical grip and magnifying eyecup

Hi everyone,

I am thinking of getting the vertical grip and/or the o-me53 magnifying eyecup for my k200d. Reason being I like shooting portrait so I often hold the camera vertically and found its not easy to do in a prolonged basis; also I just picked up some cheap MF lens and they are fun to use.

Anyone care to share their opinion/experience on the grip and the eyecup?


My main concern for the grip is how much heavier the rig will be with the grip attached (with and without the extra batteries). Is it possible to hang the whole thing around your neck and do photo shoot for a whole day? Also how much does it improve on the ergonomics? The heaviest lens I have is weighted approx. 680g; it’s a all-metal 70-200mm f4 MF with the “A” setting. On the lighter side I have the 18-250mm which is about 450g.


For the eyecup, I read that the eyecup will make you look around the VF to see everything; and vignetting in VF will be worse especially if you wear glasses (yes I wear glasses). Assuming NO split focus screen installed, does the eyecup alone improve your manual focusing? My clumsy fingers tell me not to mess with the focus screen.


Thanks in advance,
Kei

08-12-2008, 12:33 PM   #2
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Please correct me if we are misinformed here. I believe you are talking about the vertical shooting handle/battery holder/extra SDHC card holder. This is the one we use on our K20D.

We only take ours off to charge the batteries (double the life with two batteries instead of one). All the duplicate controls shut off if the main power is shut off (as in oppps, we forgot to power up/off). Having the controls were you need them is a very nice touch. I do 99% of my shooting manually.

It does improve handling in both horizontal and vertical, without adding much weight. We can still hand hold down to 1/30 sec on a short telephoto without too much shake and get away without a tripod during a portrait shoot if need be (and we shake a lot at my age).

The downside is that some rotating flash handles may not overcome the extra height. Shooting vertically with an eye level veiwfinder on a tripod has always been a less then satisfactory experience on a fast shoot anyways. Pentax needs to come out with a waist level viewfinder to slip on that will work vertically and horizontally.

regards,

Morgan
08-13-2008, 05:56 AM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by kilolani Quote
Please correct me if we are misinformed here. I believe you are talking about the vertical shooting handle/battery holder/extra SDHC card holder. This is the one we use on our K20D.

We only take ours off to charge the batteries (double the life with two batteries instead of one). All the duplicate controls shut off if the main power is shut off (as in oppps, we forgot to power up/off). Having the controls were you need them is a very nice touch. I do 99% of my shooting manually.

It does improve handling in both horizontal and vertical, without adding much weight. We can still hand hold down to 1/30 sec on a short telephoto without too much shake and get away without a tripod during a portrait shoot if need be (and we shake a lot at my age).

The downside is that some rotating flash handles may not overcome the extra height. Shooting vertically with an eye level veiwfinder on a tripod has always been a less then satisfactory experience on a fast shoot anyways. Pentax needs to come out with a waist level viewfinder to slip on that will work vertically and horizontally.

regards,

Morgan

Thanks for the info, this is exactly what I mean. Knowing the grip can double the battery life and improve ergonomics; I am a bit worried about the total weight of the whole setup. What's the point of getting all the accessories if it gets too heavy and I ended up leaving the camera at home?
08-13-2008, 07:18 AM   #4
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I only have the grip, the extra weight is all but the extra 4 batteries. I had it hanging around my neck for a whole day but i had my windbreaker on so i had the OEM strap around my cushy collar...you may want to shop around for a comfy neckstrap.

08-13-2008, 09:15 AM   #5
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I have both on mine and love them both. You don't have to put batteries in the grip if you want to roll lighter, or vise versa not in the camera. And I love having the 2nd shutter and AE lock. Eye Cup works well too.
08-17-2008, 07:39 AM   #6
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Thanks for the info guys, now it seems I need to get both but will get the eyecup first when I'm buying.
08-18-2008, 05:39 PM   #7
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I posted this in the DSLR forum and didn't get too many replies (perhaps I should have posted it here instead).

If any K200D owners are considering this (BG3 battery grip), I highly recommend it. The grip combined with the additional 4 AA batteries does add some weight, but the weight really helps to stabilize the camera. Now, an already solid feeling camera feels even more solid.

You have the option of choosing which batteries the camera uses first. I chose the grip batteries, but both sets of batteries are easily accessible without having to remove the grip. Fit and contruction on this piece are outstanding. I've used it for exactly 2 days now and don't know how I got by without it. It makes that much of a difference in the feel of the camera in my hands.

For $105 shipped from Buydig.com, this is easily my best purchase this year.....outside of the body itself.


A few images:







08-18-2008, 06:45 PM   #8
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just my .02: I've got both the eyecup and the grip, and I love them both. But because I "grew up" on cameras lacking a vertical grip I have had a tough time retraining myself to actually use the shutter button on it.. LOL

(except when I was wondering why my autofocus was going wonky one day - because I left the button on and was holding the camera horizontal, and every now and then my right wrist would rub the vertical release button.)

-Dan
08-18-2008, 09:11 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by khardur Quote
just my .02: I've got both the eyecup and the grip, and I love them both. But because I "grew up" on cameras lacking a vertical grip I have had a tough time retraining myself to actually use the shutter button on it.. LOL

(except when I was wondering why my autofocus was going wonky one day - because I left the button on and was holding the camera horizontal, and every now and then my right wrist would rub the vertical release button.)

-Dan
Same here....on both accounts. I thought something was wrong with the camera.
08-18-2008, 10:42 PM   #10
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Here's another point of view on the grip issue as I have a K200+grip and a Canon 30D+grip as the basis for comparison. On both the K200 and 30D I have the cameras set to use the OK button (or on the Canon, the * button) to activate the autofocus. I find this much more convenient when shooting sports.

In the vertical (portrait) orientation on the K200+grip, for me, its a bit of an odd angle to press the OK button with my thumb. On the 30D, the * button is much closer to the shutter release button so your thumb doesn't have to stretch at all (it's in a position similar to where the AE-L button is on the Pentax grip). So, when I'm using the Pentax and know that I'll be shooting a lot in the portrait position, I switch back to the default half press on the shutter button to activate AF.

The Pentax grip is light compared to the Canon. The thumb wheel to attach the grip to the body is on the bottom of the grip and I find this a much better design than the Canon because it is easier to tighten and loosen. It also balances the camera out with longer and heavier lenses
08-20-2008, 11:49 AM   #11
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I cannot comment on the BG-3. I use the battery grips on every camera I have (or motor drives in old days...) and sorely miss it, if I have to use another camera without grip. A hand grip improves ergonomics considerably, because modern cameras are simply so small, that they don't fit comfortably into my (average sized) hands. I never know where to place my small finger. Also, doubled battery live and ofcourse the shutter release and additional control wheels (on the BG-2), are very convenient, once you have yourself acustomed to actually use them.

Also, I personally find, it helps stabilizing the camera, when using bigger lenses.

There are drawbacks though: a full day with the camera+grip+ heavy lens around your neck, leaves marks around your neck and you may get sore skin, especially when it is hot... Many camera bags cannot accomodate a camera+grip easily - which is the most annoying thing for me.

Ben
08-27-2008, 05:07 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ben_Edict Quote
I cannot comment on the BG-3. I use the battery grips on every camera I have (or motor drives in old days...) and sorely miss it, if I have to use another camera without grip. A hand grip improves ergonomics considerably, because modern cameras are simply so small, that they don't fit comfortably into my (average sized) hands. I never know where to place my small finger. Also, doubled battery live and ofcourse the shutter release and additional control wheels (on the BG-2), are very convenient, once you have yourself acustomed to actually use them.

Also, I personally find, it helps stabilizing the camera, when using bigger lenses.

There are drawbacks though: a full day with the camera+grip+ heavy lens around your neck, leaves marks around your neck and you may get sore skin, especially when it is hot... Many camera bags cannot accomodate a camera+grip easily - which is the most annoying thing for me.

Ben
Sorry it takes me so long to get back to all the comments.

I finally have a chance to take the camera out for a whole day and the setup (k200d +18-250) did leave a clear mark on my neck at the end of the day (and that is without the grip).

Currently my bag is a crumpler 5MDH which will not fit the camera+grip unless I take one of the dividers out.

The grip and eyecup is still a very tempting idea for me, I think I will get them both eventually but the question is which to get first
08-27-2008, 12:35 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by Kei Quote
The grip and eyecup is still a very tempting idea for me, I think I will get them both eventually but the question is which to get first
Go for the magnifying eye-cup. It really is great and it is cheap, so shouldn't make you think it over and over again. I bet you will never remove it again.

Ben
08-27-2008, 07:52 PM   #14
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Do these eyecups mount easily? And do they improve the ability to manually focus? I was just thinking about this today. I am getting the Takumar bug, and would like something to help improve my focusing. ( my eyes ain't what they used to be ) I don't want to go with a different focus screen, as I heard this will mess with exposure on the fully auto lenses.
08-28-2008, 03:12 AM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by Stratman Quote
Do these eyecups mount easily? And do they improve the ability to manually focus? I was just thinking about this today. I am getting the Takumar bug, and would like something to help improve my focusing. ( my eyes ain't what they used to be ) I don't want to go with a different focus screen, as I heard this will mess with exposure on the fully auto lenses.
The magnifying eyecup simply slides of the viewfinder eyepiece, instead of the original rubber eyecup. It takes 20 seconds to make the change. It magnifyes the viewfoinder image by the factor of 1.2 times, which may not sound or read impressive, but is very noticeable. And a bigger viewfinder image makes manual focusing easier, no doubt about that.

Ben
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