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08-15-2019, 01:19 PM   #1
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Pentax Battery Grip

I Currently have a K3II with a battery grip. I am very disappointed that it only holds one OEM battery & the second OEM battery is in the body. Thus forcing you to remove grip from camera when charging is required. Is this a standard design for Pentax or do other Pentax body's allow you to keep grip on full time???

I'm not saying Canon is a better camera but in this situation I prefers the Canon Battery grips design, both battery's are in the grip making it posable to access them without removing the grip. When charging the OEM batteries I insert the 6 AA battery tray and off I go.

Is the design of the battery grip for the K-1 I & II the same as the K3II?

Is it just me or do others find this a little annoying?

08-15-2019, 01:26 PM - 1 Like   #2
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I only use the grip for the ergonomics - I never have a battery in the camera....
08-15-2019, 01:27 PM - 1 Like   #3
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All modern Pentax battery grips are similar in design. Never found it annoying. Like the fact that they also hold a spare SD card in them too.
08-15-2019, 01:29 PM   #4
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I don't find the design annoying

I like the fact I have the option of the AA tray

and the regular battery tray has room for the spare SD card

as far as changing batteries:

this what I do

take a spare battery

switch out the one in the grip when it gets low

replace the one in the body at home

besides it takes only a few seconds to remove the grip so you can access the one in the body

08-15-2019, 01:29 PM   #5
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I have had a battery grip in my K-7, K-5, K-3 and K-1. All of them have basically the same design. Hasn’t really bothered me.
08-15-2019, 02:30 PM   #6
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Same design for Nikon (D7200, D750 for instance). Only one working with both batteries in the battery grip instead is aftermarket for Nikon's D5300 (no choice here, Nikon does not make/sell a battery grip for this model).

I follow same routine aslyfox does when it comes to my K3-ii and my Nikons.
08-15-2019, 02:52 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Photobill Quote
I Currently have a K3II with a battery grip. I am very disappointed that it only holds one OEM battery & the second OEM battery is in the body. Thus forcing you to remove grip from camera when charging is required. Is this a standard design for Pentax or do other Pentax body's allow you to keep grip on full time???

I'm not saying Canon is a better camera but in this situation I prefers the Canon Battery grips design, both battery's are in the grip making it posable to access them without removing the grip. When charging the OEM batteries I insert the 6 AA battery tray and off I go.

Is the design of the battery grip for the K-1 I & II the same as the K3II?

Is it just me or do others find this a little annoying?
Perhaps you should have checked the specs first, but all Pentax grips work this way. In fact why have Canon introduced that system? Surely makes more sense to have two in the grip and one in the body..ie 3 batteries. I would be disappointed with the Canon implementation. Very disappointed

ps ..not bought the K1 grip. Dont need the extra weight for what is essentially a battery holder.

08-15-2019, 03:42 PM - 1 Like   #8
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The Canon design is so much better. After using both Pentax and Canon I found pulling the tray out on the Canon and swapping in two fresh batteries so much quicker.

But what’s even better is just having one big battery like the 1DX2, until you have to buy replacements.
08-15-2019, 04:14 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by KiloHotelphoto Quote
The Canon design is so much better. After using both Pentax and Canon I found pulling the tray out on the Canon and swapping in two fresh batteries so much quicker.
I can understand this if you are a pro. As an amateur I dont ever recall getting through more that one battery in a session.
08-15-2019, 04:15 PM   #10
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Early Pentax Battery grips on Film SLR's did actually replace the cameras internal battery with a stem, and all batteries were in the grip. That was the case with my MZ-5 and grip. I think the system changed on the DSLRs to make it cheaper to produce, also, it certainly maintains the WR of the body. It could be a point of ingress if the grip did not seal correctly when attaching the grip to the camera.

I agree, on a camera like the K-1, two batteries in the grip would have been preferable. And also, still only having one SD spare card holder in a camera that has 2 SD cards, seems like not the smartest thing. In my K-5 I used a small elastic sleeve on the spare SD card holder to attach extra cards, as the K-5 only has one SD card, having a few extra was always a necessity for me. I do the same with my K-1.
08-15-2019, 05:34 PM   #11
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I only find the battery locations a little annoying as battery changes are fairly infrequent. What I find really annoying is that the control positions on the grip do not match those of the camera. Yes, the positions are similar, but if you are really well accustomed to the exact locations of the body controls it's frustrating to have to adapt to slightly different locations. More than once I've established perfect settings only to accidentally hit the green button on the grip when I'm trying to use BBF and I've lost my settings. For that reason, my streak of buying grips ended with the K-1.
08-15-2019, 05:53 PM - 1 Like   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by Photobill Quote
I Currently have a K3II with a battery grip. I am very disappointed that it only holds one OEM battery & the second OEM battery is in the body. Thus forcing you to remove grip from camera when charging is required. Is this a standard design for Pentax or do other Pentax body's allow you to keep grip on full time???

I'm not saying Canon is a better camera but in this situation I prefers the Canon Battery grips design, both battery's are in the grip making it posable to access them without removing the grip. When charging the OEM batteries I insert the 6 AA battery tray and off I go.

Is the design of the battery grip for the K-1 I & II the same as the K3II?

Is it just me or do others find this a little annoying?
All Pentax battery grips work this way. But, you can set the camera to use the grip battery first. So, that means the one in the camera body stays (mostly) full and you just swap out the grip battery as needed.
I keep the battery grip mounted to my K-1II all the time.
08-15-2019, 06:04 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by dave2k Quote
I only find the battery locations a little annoying as battery changes are fairly infrequent. What I find really annoying is that the control positions on the grip do not match those of the camera. Yes, the positions are similar, but if you are really well accustomed to the exact locations of the body controls it's frustrating to have to adapt to slightly different locations. More than once I've established perfect settings only to accidentally hit the green button on the grip when I'm trying to use BBF and I've lost my settings. For that reason, my streak of buying grips ended with the K-1.
my problem is when the control on the grip gets turned on accidentally and all of the sudden, I am taking photos without meaning to.

I just have to be aware of the potential
08-15-2019, 06:12 PM - 3 Likes   #14
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What I do is set the camera to prioritize the battery in the grip. That way, you rarely have to charge the battery in the body, since you can just replace the one in the grip when it gets low.

Adam
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08-15-2019, 11:17 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by KiloHotelphoto Quote
The Canon design is so much better. After using both Pentax and Canon I found pulling the tray out on the Canon and swapping in two fresh batteries so much quicker.

But what’s even better is just having one big battery like the 1DX2, until you have to buy replacements.
Yes I agree with you about Canons design, much more convenient. No it does not take a lot of time removing the grip but my experience when you take things off & on continually eventually you'll have things wear out.
I do not have the 1DX2 but I do have the much older 1DIII and love its battery life!!!

As an older man with my kids, grandkids, nephews & nieces very active in sports there are times I'll be @ 4/5 events in a single day (10-12 hours of shooting). I would say I put a larger demand on my batteries than most and that might be why I find it inconvenient removing the grip to put two fresh batteries in

Thanks everyone for your feedback!!!

---------- Post added 08-15-19 at 11:18 PM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by Adam Quote
What I do is set the camera to prioritize the battery in the grip. That way, you rarely have to charge the battery in the body, since you can just replace the one in the grip when it gets low.
Thanks Adam
Yes I do have my camera set up this way

---------- Post added 08-15-19 at 11:19 PM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by aslyfox Quote
my problem is when the control on the grip gets turned on accidentally and all of the sudden, I am taking photos without meaning to.

I just have to be aware of the potential
😁 Yes I have done this many times.

Last edited by Photobill; 08-15-2019 at 11:32 PM.
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