battery grip pack

hi can get a cheap battery grip pack from amazon delivered for under £20 and apparently they work with 3rd party batteries too, my question is there is a compartment to take 2 batteries am I right in thinking that when one dies it automatically switches to the second battery?.

Cant speak on the 3rd party batteries, but you are correct on the second battery in grips. If one dies the other takes over. For me I use the grip batter first and then it falls back to the camera body batter.

Vice versa for me, and I rotate them on each charge.

On my D7100 there is a menu setting that determines which battery is drawn on first. When (if) the primary battery dies, the second one takes over without me having to do anything. Most grips only accept one battery, though, the other stays in the body of the camera. This being the case I always draw juice from the battery in the grip first, since it's easier to remove for recharging. I do swap/rotate their respective locations from time to time, however, because I'm anal about things like that.

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Okay - just changed the order in which I use them!

The Bower battery grip I use have the batteries wired in parallel. So both batteries are drained at the same time. I get twice the length of time before recharging is required. I use third party batteries with no trouble. Just make sure the company claim they are coded for your camera.

weebee said:

The Bower battery grip I use have the batteries wired in parallel. So both batteries are drained at the same time. I get twice the length of time before recharging is required. I use third party batteries with no trouble. Just make sure the company claim they are coded for your camera.

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Whether you use the batteries together or use one and then it automatically switch to the other they should last the same I would think.

With mine if you use just one battery you have to put it in the right side (marked) slot or it won't work because of how it is constructed.

With mine if you use just one battery you have to put it in the right side (marked) slot or it won't work because of how it is constructed. I prefer it that way. Otherwise for it to switch automatically wouldn't there be a circuit and relay of some sort to do this? Wouldn't that eat at your battery life as well?

Well since the D3100 does not have a factory option for a battery grip... There is not battery switching option. The batteries are wired up in series/parallel circuit and are drained at the same time. This cuts down on unnecessary heat from the batteries and over powering the camera.

With that, you are also able to remove a battery (one at a time) to exchange drained batteries.

I have an inexpensive grip from Amazon myself, as well as a 3rd party battery and i can tell you it works just fine. The vertical grip is nice to have as is the responsive built in shutter.

The Bower XBGN5100 has a shutter release and a IR remote so you have a remote shutter release.