50$ knock off BMPCC4k/6k battery grip

Hey guys, so i stumbled upon this battery grip on ebay that seems to be a knock off of the original BM one, only it uses Canon lp-e6 batteries instead of the sony npf.

Description says it takes 2 batteries, pictures show it takes 3, sent a message to the seller for clarification on the number of batteries. i'm a little skeptical about the quality, but at 50 bucks i think im willing to give it a shot. what do you think, has anyone tried it yet?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vertical-Multi ... SwY4Ner-6U

Got a response from the seller, he said it works with either 1 , 2 or 3 batteries

Interesting find! Like how it doubles as a charger as well. Let us know how it performs in case you decide to make the purchase.

Would be interesting to know whether the USB-C provides power out as well or is only for charging. And what the bottom of the grip looks like for attaching to a baseplate/tripod.

Would be interesting to know whether the USB-C provides power out as well or is only for charging. And what the bottom of the grip looks like for attaching to a baseplate/tripod.

I was wondering the exact same things, placed an order today, but will probably arrive in about a month, i will keep you posted.

I just got an email from Vello, who makes battery grips for numerous DSLR with very good quality since I have bought them for my GH5, Nikon, and Canon cameras in the past. They told me that they are in development of the BMPCC 4/6K battery grip but no ETA yet. I'm going to wait for what they will come up with. I will assume that their grip will be in the price range of $60 and $120 dollars, but it will be legit.

Someone received their's before me, so here's a few thoughts

I'm still waiting to see what Vello will come out with.

SmallRig has a cage for the P4/6K with battery grip.
https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-camer ... -2765.html

This may only work with the original BMD battery grip, and not any 3rd party battery grip that is out or coming.

cage looks cool, i'm sure they designed it based off of the original grip specs (mounting screws, dimensions, etc) so, yeah, probably won't fit with other battery grips.

i'm curios what vello and other manufacturers will do with the grips, i kind of like the ideea that the one i bought off of ebay has 3 canon batteries, i already own 9 of them.

we'll see

cage looks cool, i'm sure they designed it based off of the original grip specs (mounting screws, dimensions, etc) so, yeah, probably won't fit with other battery grips.

i'm curios what vello and other manufacturers will do with the grips, i kind of like the ideea that the one i bought off of ebay has 3 canon batteries, i already own 9 of them.

we'll see

I'm waiting to see what Vello will come out with. It's probably going to be in that price point (around $70-100). I got my Vello grip for the GH5 for $65 and it is as good, if not better, than the original Panny grip costing $350.

I like the idea of the one in ebay too, with 3 LP-E6 batts. I too own a lot of knock-offs LP-E6 from old mini-light sets. I could use them. Let me know how long the camera will run on them and how satisfied are you with this grip. I might just get one while waiting for Vello. BTW, which ebay seller did you buy yours from?

i'll surely make a battery test with all 3. I'm curios to see how they are wired together and how the grip discharges them, (separate, or all at once). I will also be opening it up to check how the solders are made (had bad experience in the past with some cheap products)

User i bought it from is photo_mall, but i see he doesn't have it in stock anymore, there are other sellers that do (one is foto_mall, not sure if its the same guy or just coincidence) i got it for 58$, shipping included.

Mine is currently at customs, i should be getting it shortly

My battery grip arrived and im very happy with it.

The not so good:
It does indeed feel cheap, the plastic is not the highest of quality, but its not the worst either.
The tripod screw is not allined with the one on the camera, it is more to the right side, i fixed the allignament with a cheeseplate.
No rubber on in ar any grippy material.

The good:
I opened it up and it looks great, solders are solid, electronics look to be of good quality (ill post some pics tomorrow)
Has a battery door holder, so you dont lose your battery camera door.
Has usb-c charging (have not tested it, and im probably not going to use it anyway)

The awesome:
Tested with 3 batteries fully charged (patona premium) recorded in braw 12:1 @24fps for 2 hours and 48 minutes, i will be doing another test with a set of different batteries to test for consistency.

I think its a great grip and great value

My battery grip arrived and im very happy with it.

The not so good:
It does indeed feel cheap, the plastic is not the highest of quality, but its not the worst either.
The tripod screw is not allined with the one on the camera, it is more to the right side, i fixed the allignament with a cheeseplate.
No rubber on in ar any grippy material.

The good:
I opened it up and it looks great, solders are solid, electronics look to be of good quality (ill post some pics tomorrow)
Has a battery door holder, so you dont lose your battery camera door.
Has usb-c charging (have not tested it, and im probably not going to use it anyway)

The awesome:
Tested with 3 batteries fully charged (patona premium) recorded in braw 12:1 @24fps for 2 hours and 48 minutes, i will be doing another test with a set of different batteries to test for consistency.

I think its a great grip and great value

Good to know. I'm still waiting to see what Vello comes out. For now I'm still using the Core SX EDGE power source.

The awesome:
Tested with 3 batteries fully charged (patona premium) recorded in braw 12:1 @24fps for 2 hours and 48 minutes, i will be doing another test with a set of different batteries to test for consistency.

I think its a great grip and great value

I must admit that is some mileage using just 3 LP-E6 batteries. That works out 56mins per battery.
I can only get 25mins from a single LP-E6 and that is both the supplied battery that came with the camera and Canon OEM.

3 of them last longer because in this particular case they are wired in paralel, acting as a larger battery, that way, the voltage drops more gradually and the camera doesn't shut down the power (this does have a disadvantage, you must use very similar batteries, with same age and discharge rate for best results and better number of battery cycles). In the BM grip they are wired separatly and the camera uses one battery at a time, and voltage drops faster. I believe that with canon type batteries that are rated at 7.4v (my patonas are 7.2) like the original bm battery ,the battery grip will last over 3 hours.

Did you get a cheese plate to take care of the off mounting hole yet? If so, what kind?

I had a few cheseplates around (from different rigs -ebay chinese stuff), unfortunately the smaller ones i had did not align well. I also uses some rig parts to mount to the speedboster to make the whole thing solid (there was some play in the viltrox adapter)

IMG_20200701_111224.jpg (619.69 KiB) Viewed 4306 times

IMG_20200701_111205.jpg (690.2 KiB) Viewed 4306 times

IMG_20200701_111143.jpg (591.69 KiB) Viewed 4306 times

Thanks all for the info and comments. I am only likely to find a battery grip useful in a few situations so the knock-off will do fine. My BMPCC4K isn't likely to see much action until I can get back to Italy. My plans for later in the year are not looking likely.

I had a few cheseplates around (from different rigs -ebay chinese stuff), unfortunately the smaller ones i had did not align well.

Thanks for sharing the pictures. It gave me some idea of what it will be like.

one more thing, for those who want to buy this grip, i would not recommend charging via the usb port. As far as i can see, the batteries are wired in parallel but at least 2 of them are not using a separate regulator on the motherboard, that means if you use 2 different batteries with different capacities, one will be overcharged and that will lead to damaging the battery. So just use a separate charger, and preferably use same kind of batteries with similar life cycles in sets of 3.

I'll post the pictures below with the electronics

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WhatsApp Image 2020-06-23 at 18.30.27 (1).jpeg (161.59 KiB) Viewed 4250 times

WhatsApp Image 2020-06-23 at 18.30.28 (1).jpeg (116.2 KiB) Viewed 4250 times

Did you get a cheese plate to take care of the off mounting hole yet? If so, what kind?

Hi,

I can recommend using the "lower part" of an cheap L-Plate instead of a cheese plate.
e.g. this one for 14 USD:
https://www.amazon.com/-/de/Harwerrel-V ... 5S3ZNTAHDP

I had a similar one in stock:

BMPCC_Plate.jpg (150.02 KiB) Viewed 4165 times

BMPCC_BG_Plate_front.jpg (126.93 KiB) Viewed 4165 times

BMPCC_BG_Plate_bottom.jpg (140.88 KiB) Viewed 4165 times

This a very easy, cheap and adjustable fix to the offset of the mounting hole.

Regards,
Chris

Chris, thanks for the suggestion. It makes sense.

Just as an update to the Vello brand battery grip for the BMPCC 4K and 6K, I got an email response from Vello that they will have a grip out this September. They didn't say how much but I will stipulate it will be between $50 and $85USD... so crossing my fingers and hoping they'll have it soon. I like their battery grips and used it on my Panasonic and Canon cameras.

The awesome:
Tested with 3 batteries fully charged (patona premium) recorded in braw 12:1 @24fps for 2 hours and 48 minutes, i will be doing another test with a set of different batteries to test for consistency.

I think its a great grip and great value

I must admit that is some mileage using just 3 LP-E6 batteries. That works out 56mins per battery.
I can only get 25mins from a single LP-E6 and that is both the supplied battery that came with the camera and Canon OEM.

Patona premium are 2048 mAh like Blackmagic Design original, most of lp-e6 that you can buy are 1000 mAh. Check the Value on your battery.


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Mmm just a small calculation

Battery grip + 3 patona premium = xxx $
Nfp-mount + 2 nfp 970 patona = less money for 2 hours for battery (tested).

Battery grip do camera higher, bad for gimbal and many other shooting grip.
Good if you shoot handheld only.
Most of cage not work well with battery grip.

I had and found useful battery grip on photo camera, but on video camera I prefer a battery more compact and that I can move, put in my belt if necessary.


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Battery grip do camera higher, bad for gimbal and many other shooting grip.
Good if you shoot handheld only.
Most of cage not work well with battery grip.

Carlo, I agree with your comments. However, I've been using the P6K for handheld mostly, especially with more discreet shots in public areas. I don't use gimbal because it gets to be too heavy and so I just rely on IS lenses instead. It's easier to bring the camera in public without getting a lot of notice because a rig camera always gets a lot of attention.
When I need the cage, I just reconfigure the camera when needed and won't use the battery grip. SmallRig has a cage that will work with the BMD Battery grip, but not sure if that will work with other manufacturer's grip - probably not.
So yes, there are considerations and compromise to be made.

Carlo, I agree with your comments. However, I've been using the P6K for handheld mostly, especially with more discreet shots in public areas.

i agree with you, if your needs is be invisible, less is better