I’m sure you’ve seen a big professional camera before. They always look so heavy and have this big portruding grip at the bottom that lower end cameras don’t. That’s known as a battery grip. What it does is what I will talk about in this page.

First, and most obviously, it adds more space for batteries. Instead of just one, you now have two. This allows you to take photos for longer than normal. And in case you can’t tell, this is good. It doubles battery life and some even allow you to use AA batteries, so in an emergency you can run down to the store, pick some up, and use those. In fact, that has saved me so many times. It’s awesome.

The other use is evident by the duplicate buttons on them - vertical photography. It's way easier with a battery grip and the ergonomics are better.

Finally, it's in the name - battery grip, designed for a better grip. Your hand has a place to rest when correctly holding a lens.

But there is a hidden use - center of mass balancing. Battery grips are big and heavy. That's one of their downsides. But, because this mass is concentrated closer to you, it balances out the weight of the camera itself better. This leads to an easier control of heavy lenses as they don’t fall over as much.

But they do have downsides. The biggest one is their weight. With the weight of the grip itself + 2 batteries, it adds up. This means for longer shoots you might find it tiring to hold your camera.

The other is their price. If your camera doesn’t come with one, the OEM can charge up to 200€! That’s almost how much I paid for my used Canon EOS 700D! However, as with any camera gear - just get an offbrand. Not necessarily one of those cheap AliExpress ones that look like they are a bootleg of a bootleg of the original, but one from a more reputable company. I got mine for just under 50€ for my EOS 700D from Ayex, and despite some issues, I'm quite happy with it.

So, to answer the question: Are they worth it?

Depends.

Do you find yourself taking photos vertically, needing more grip to hold the camera with, or don’t like the Center of Mass balance on your current setup? Then get a battery grip. If not - no need. You might even end up disliking it.