15Jan Pixel E11 Canon 5d mark III Battery Grip – Review

The Pixel E11 is one of many generic battery grips for the Canon 5d mark III. The Canon branded BG-E11 battery grip will set you back around $275 while the Pixel E11 will run you between $70 and $100 depending on the number of decoded LP-E6 batteries that are included in the kit. Although the Canon branded battery grips are usually of high quality for most people it makes a lot more sense to save a few hundred dollars and pick up a 3rd party battery grip.

In this case I put in a best offer and ended up with 2 decoded LP-E6 batteries and a Pixel E11 battery grip for $90. Considering generic batteries are around $12 a peace that puts the price of the battery grip at somewhere around $65, not bad when compared to Canon’s $275 offering.

The two major things I look out for on generic battery grips are the quality of rubber used on the grip and the usability of the buttons. In this case the joystick, on/off switch, and click wheel all feel nice and solid, menu’s and adjustments work as expected with all of the controls. The rubber used is slightly more “grippy” then the rubber used on the Canon 5d mark III but it feels good in my hand.

On most battery grips there is a place used to store the battery door of the camera while using the battery grip. In this case there is actually a clip in connector that utilizes the battery door’s latch and springs to hold it in place. It’s a nice improvement over the older rubber slide into place models I’ve used in the past.

Over all the Pixel E11 battery grip feels like a nice build for the price and the added battery capacity means I wont be changing out batteries as much during filming. I’ll give it a few months of use and report back on how well it stands up.

Tags: Battery Grip, Canon BG E11, decoded LP-E6, Pixel E11