b-grip camera holder review

My initial reaction to receiving the package was one of a bit of excitement, quickly followed by worry. The packaging had not survived the trip very well. It was ripped and crushed, with bits falling off and out. My worry soon abated however as I took the package to pieces and found that the contents proper were all safely intact and accounted for. There was the b-grip itself, made up of the belt attachment and the plate, a handy looking rain cover and a string tie.

My first impressions of the b-grip were positive. Although it’s all plastic, except for the lever spring and tripod-hole screw, it felt solid enough and the plastic thick enough. It’s amazing how tough “plastic” can be, despite its negative connotations. As I didn’t have my camera with me I starting playing with the release lever and plate. It all fits together nicely, and there’s no way the plate can fall out of its “home”, not without massively excessive force anyway. The plate that fits onto the bottom of the camera or lens is rubberised on the top, so it shouldn’t mark the camera or lens it’s attached to, this will also prevent the camera from rotating when attached to the plate, a nice touch. The whole thing is black with red lettering “b-grip”. It’s nice, understated almost.

The actual waist attachment has a couple of belt loops that a belt is threaded through, so even if one of these does break, which seems unlikely, the other will still be attached. So it’s better than one that may simply hook over a belt or trouser waist. Once fitted it is comfortable whether standing, walking, or even sitting. It’s easy to forget you have it on, this is without a lens or camera on it of course.

The plate that fits on the bottom of your camera (or lens for those with tripod collars) screws on easily, as you’d expect it’s not rocket science. With the rubber pad against the bottom of the camera it all feels firm and solid.

So enough playing. My first “assignment” with the b-grip was covering a local club rugby match.
In winter it can get quite dark by the end of a rugby game with a 3pm kick-off time. It’s 40 minutes each way with a 5 minute break, so it’s about 4:30 by fulltime. I can be down to f2.8, 1/500s, ISO3200 by then, so I use a monopod to help steady the shots, sometimes I change to 1/350s and ISO1600 to help reduce image noise. I use a 70-200/f2.8 lens, usually with a 1.4x teleconvertor on it, effectively making it a 100-280/f4. Thus I sometimes use a monopod to help steady my rig.

The b-grip is compatible with my Manfrotto 234RC (quick release) head that I have on my monopod, it clicks into the head no problem, though as it is plastic it doesn’t quite have that same reassuring “click” that the original Manfrotto plate has. Also of note is that the b-grip plate will mean that the camera is at 90° to the head as it would be with the original plate, but that’s not a problem for me. The b-grip plate is screwed onto the lens’s tripod collar.

When I first mounted that 70-200 lens and camera combination onto the Manfrotto head with the b-grip plate on the lens’s tripod collar I was very happy that the makers had put such thought into the product to allow it to fit into the head, as well as their own hip carrier. However my happiness was soon tempered by the fact that it didn’t quite fit properly, there was some play between the head and b-grip plate. But a snugish fit nevertheless. While exploring this fit, and wobbling the lens/camera about I found that I could in fact pull the b-grip out of the Manfrotto head without releasing the lock. This seems to be the result of not quite exact fit, plus the very slight malleability of the plastic b-grip plate. However I did have to use a reasonable amount of force, more force, I thought, than would typically be administered in day-to-day use.

When photographing rugby for the club I wander up and down the sidelines following the action. When using a monopod, walking along the sideline usually involves rotating the monopod to a horizontal position and walking quickly from one spot to the next. With my Manfrotto head and plate this isn’t a problem, even with this biggish lens plus TC I am happy to hold onto the monopod only, fully confident that the head and plate attachment can handle the weight, even horizontally. With the b-grip plate attached to the Manfrotto head I had a nagging doubt in my mind whether it would handle this situation with the same aplomb, given that I could force the combination out of the head previously. So I kept my hand around both the top of the monopod and the tripod collar when moving around the sideline, just in case.

After a while I gained confidence in the setup and was holding the collar less when moving shooting position. However one time, when moving to another spot, I had the monopod nearly horizontal, my hand was at the top of the monopod at the balancing point, when suddenly the camera and lens with the attached b-grip plate, parted company with the monopod and Manfrotto head! Luckily I had my hand near camera, and luckily I had wound the camera strap into the head (to stop it flapping in the wind), and luckily I have cat-like reflexes! I caught the camera before it went very far. But my heart skipped a beat, and then I quickly dug the Manfrotto plate out of my bag and replaced the b-grip plate with that. I clipped it onto the head with a satisfying click! All was well.

So the b-grip plate is no good on a Manfrotto 234RC head with a large lens. I’m guessing it would be okay with something like an 18-55, and maybe a 55-300 (though not having a collar a lens like that may exert quite a bit of force on the plate when attached to the camera).

Another use, and probably the originally intended one, for the b-grip is to hold your camera when walking/cycling or just on the move. As I said above, it’s comfortable to wear, as it attached to your belt the weight is distributed around your waist a bit, so a nice wide belt is best I think.
Of course walking around with a largish camera on your waist is fraught with dangers, both physical and mental. The physical danger may come from someone seeing your nice expensive camera there and wanting it for themselves. The mental danger, depending upon what culture you live in, may come from looking too geeky/nerdy. Not a real problem if you are a Geek or Nerd I suppose. But personally I would be a bit embarrassed by using it in public spaces, maybe in winter a coat could be thrown over it to hide it!

Despite these ever-present dangers I bravely went for a walk with the b-grip holding my Pentax K-7 with the 18-55 weather resistant lens attached. The advantage of the K-7 is its weight of course, compared to other cameras of equal specifications it’s lighter and smaller, but I believe my findings would translate to larger cameras. And these findings are positive. The b-grip is comfortable, and although you don’t actually forget it’s there (which is probably a good thing) it does stay out of the way and not bounce around too much. The extended arm keeping the lens off your leg is great and stops lots of banging about.

The camera locks firmly into the b-grip on your hip, and I cannot see a problem with it parting company with the belt-holder while locked in there. These parts are made to fit well together and that they do.
My only “complaint” is that it always takes two hands to put the camera back into the base plate on your hip. I’m happy it takes two hands to get it out for the extra security that provides (though some kind of option to be able to take it out with only one may be worth exploring), but putting it in with one hand would be a great improvement, in my opinion. Could be handy for the busy wedding photographer for example.

Conclusion
So overall this is a great item for carrying the camera around, with a lens attached, on your hip. It’s quicker than getting the camera out of a bag each time and easier to put away. It’s well constructed and you can tell quite a bit of thought has gone into it. It’s a shame its fit with my Manfotto 234RC wasn’t better, but nothing’s perfect. So out of 10 I’d give it an 8.

I see b-grip are making their own belt now too. I’ve read some users find it more comfortable to use a second belt to hold the attachment so it sits slightly lower down on the hip.

Available on Amazon here- Adorama B-Grip, Easy Access Belt Mounted Holder for Cameras and Camcorders


B-grip on youtube-