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I bought this handle to extend the batter power on my OMD EM-5 and to make it a bit easier to grip. I find my battery is good for less than 100 photos most days and though I have small hands, I like a bigger grip - plus the vertical orientation controls are an enormous benefit. Unfortunately, though I did a ton of research on this, I did not realize that this is just a battery HOLDER, not a battery PACK. Willful ignorance perhaps; regardless, there's no battery in there folks. That'll cost you about an extra $50, which is dumb considering how expensive the HLD-6 is. And although there's a wonderful AC-in port, it doesn't charge anything. It's just a power source if you happen to want to shoot tethered to a plug, which I do sometimes. But… it's not included either, it'll cost another $100. Now the battery in this thing is easy to get to, but it's just one battery. You can set the camera to draw from it first, then the internal. However, if there's a way to determine which battery you're drawing power from it's escaped me so far. When the dreaded "low on power" notice flashes, it's not just the external battery. It's also the one you've just buried inside your camera, necessitating the removal of the handle, and now you get to charge both batteries. If you don't have 8 hours to spare, this means investing in a second battery charger. That's another $50. So, if you want to really use this holder to it's full potential, you're looking at an additional $200 on top of the price of this unit. Now the positives are, this holder is very, very well built. They thought of everything; it's tight, water resistant, has programmable buttons, Olympus even designed spaces in which to store the watertight connection protectors you'll be removing to connect the holder. It makes the camera feel more like a field camera, which I really appreciate. But with my camera, even doubling the battery does not seem to double my shooting capacity - I still drain both batteries most sessions I shoot. The HLD-6 is a great attempt at a professional level product which falls short of the target by a fair amount. For my needs I'm willing to accept the oversights - measure yours well before you purchase.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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