Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

[dennisg]

Hi!

Has anyone purchased this grip? I just ordered it and should be getting it in ten days. I ordered it last night and it is enroute to me via airmail. Pretty quick service, but would like to know how comfortable it is to use and how it performs with the E520.

To all a very Merry Chritmas and Happy New Year!

Dennis G

[Barr1e]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

Wolf over on www.fourthirds-user.com has made a couple of videos on the grip. This might give you an insight.
[ame="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=85m1Sl-ddAU"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=85m1Sl-ddAU[/ame]

Regards. Barr1e

[jucca]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

Recentlz I got mine for E-510 'R' version. I'm pretty much satisfied with it, very well build, and now my 510 perfectly sits in my hands. Only thing I miss is ajdustment jog dial.

Here you have picture of mine E510 with Ownuser grip.

[dennisg]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

Hey thanks a lot for the inof! The pictures surely make the camera look more imnpressive, and the additional hieght will give my E520 a better palacment on the Olympus FL-BK01 flash bracket. When shooting in the vertical position, the lens is off center to the flash. So the extra height should correct this.

I really like the AA battery auxilaery battery holder. A sense of security if the camera's battery goes south on me. And the remote that comes with the grip ends my need to buy the Olympus remote as well.

What I did notice from your shots, is the plug that connects into the camera. I am just hoping it isn't a major interference to the control dial above it.

When I get it, I will let you know how it is working here.

Again thanks and a have a very Merry Christmas!

Dennis G

[DekHog]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

I've got one of these, also the 'R' version - the first one had to be returned as faulty as it constantly drained power from the batteries when the USB plug was left in the camera 2 x BLM batteries stone dead in less than 12 hours with everything turned off. They exchanged it no problem, just a pity it had to go all the way to HK and back again.

It's actually balances the E-5xx very well. The USB plug doesn't really interfere with the buttons on the back, but does impede on the down button very slightly. The thing I found more annoying was that when using the camera in portrait position the USB plug is right where your thumb wants to be - not a great inconvenience to me as I still tend to use original grip, even in the portrait position - I could see it seriously bugging some people though.

The remote is brilliant... almost worth the money on it's own. The instructions aren't brilliant, so if you need any help, just shout.

[dennisg]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

Thanks very much for more insight in the use of the grip. I hope I don't have a $129 item that fails on the first shot. As you said, going all the way back to HK is a drag and a lot of time. How long did it take to send it back and then get the replacement unit?

Just wanted to know just in case.

[DekHog]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

How long did it take to send it back and then get the replacement unit?

22 days in total to send it back and receive the replacement - not good, but better than sitting with a non-working $130 grip and some dodgy eBay seller who ignores your emails regarding it.

GadgetInfinity were nothing less than outstanding throughout - the only thing they advised was moving the battery switch to AA when the unit wasn't in use rather than the CRV3 setting - it was still the same, but I had no arguments about it being faulty from them, and was offered full refund or replacement the day after I contacted them even although it was well past the usual eBay 30-day warranty period.

[dennisg]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

Well I just got the vertical grip. It came in less that 6 days which reallly shocked me since this is the busiest time of the year to be sending items via the mail. The package was neat and not damaged and when I opened the box I was quite impressed with the quality level of a non OEM product.

The directions were straight forward and after hooking up the cable and installing the batteries, I was up and running. I did need to read the directions sevral times on how to set the switches on both sides of the grip, but navigated through them pretty quickly.

I did find that the camera was well balanced and when I attached my FL-50 flash, the camera remained strainght up and down on the camera strap rather than falling forward being top heavy with the flash.

I do have some questions. Does the grip switch from one BLM-1 battery to the other when one of them is exhasted? And I understand that you need to keep the switch in the off position to ensure that the batteries are not drained while the camera is not in use. Is this correct?

Now I just have to teach my fingers NOT to use the camera shutter button and use the other two on the grip. This is a very well built unit and I am so far very impressed!

Dennis G

[DekHog]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

I'm not sure about the battery thing, but I'd imagine it uses them simultaneously rather than individually and the circuits step the power down to the correct voltage if required.

You do need to have the switch set to the 'Off' postition to stop it from draining power; either that or unplug the USB from the back of the camera. The battery switch can be left on the CRV3 setting as it makes no difference to power consumption what position it's in.

It's a nice product, just a pity about the exchange rate at the moment if buying!

[dennisg]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

Yes the economy is another issue that can't be solved by this forum. Maybe someday they will get it right.

Thanks for the follow-up and if I am not on, a very Happy New Years to you!

Dennis G

[DekHog]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

.... I forgot to say, if you don't want to use the self-timer functions or the shutter release buttons on the grip, you can leave the grip switched to the 'off' position and the camera will still function using it's own shutter release button.

Actually quite useful, as you'll never need to worry about picking up a 'dead' camera due to forgetting to switch the grip off.

[dennisg]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

Got it! Thanks!

Oh by the way, you can go to this site where I have started to upload some gallery photos. Most were taken with the E520 and others were taken with E500;

http://goldeneye.zenfolio.com

You can goto the slide show and if you chose to shpw settings and captions, you woll know where and how the shots were done.

The site costs $40 a year and you can upload full files and not have to compress them. The storage space I think is unlimited.

www.zenfolio.com

Enjoy!

DG

[Yorkie]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

Hi,

I have the E510 grip and have been using it in anger for some time. The only problem I have is that if you leave it switched on you will drain the batteries. Appart from that it is great.

I did this report on the unit some time ago: http://www.alert-central.co.uk/UKPSG...s/E520Grip.pdf

Enjoy the grip

[rolfw]

[Garrie]

Re: Ownuser Vertical Battery Grip for E520.

I would love a grip for my E510 after enjoying my E1 with grip..

However and please forgive me I think this grip looks ugly and cumbersome. I wish Olympus would produce and OE grip for the e5xx series cameras.