Reviewing the Meike Professional BG-E9 Battery Grip for the Canon EOS 60D

When I started getting serious about shooting sports I knew that I needed a battery grip for my camera. The battery grip allows you to easily shoot in portrait mode without contorting your body. The extra battery life also increases the time that you have before changing batteries as well as helping drive your lens faster. With the small battery of the 60D this extra battery really helps. When I went out looking for the grip I found the Canon OEM version on Amazon for $122. That is marked down from $220. That seemed a bit steep to me so I took a chance and ordered the Meike Grip for my camera. It was only $30, and with the Amazon guarantee I knew that I could not really go wrong. From day one I have been very impressed with the grip. It may be made a litter cheaper than the Canon version, but that just makes it lighter. When you have the grip on the camera with two batteries you are starting to pile the weight on. Any subtraction is a plus. Since I purchased the grip it has been rebranded as a Neewer grip. The model number is still the same though.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Low price
• Light weight
• Eases shooting in portrait mode
• Rubber grip makes holding camera easy
• Doubles battery life
• Comes with a battery tray so that you can power your camera with AA Batteries
• Increases power to drive lens

Cons

• Build quality
• Increases size of the camera
• Increases weight of camera

Final Verdict

I really have to recommend this grip. If you are going to beat your camera you should spend more for the Canon grip. For normal use though this is a great grip. From what I have read online the Neewer version has a lot of bad reviews saying that there is a gap between the grip and the camera. I can only speak to the Meike version that I own, but it works great. If you can find the Meike version grab it and only pay 25% of what you would for the OEM version.