Alright, as promised, I will get to some of the product reviews I've mentioned a few times already. Sorry though, I'm not ready to do my review of the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM just yet. So instead, we'll look at the Canon BG-E7 Battery Grip and the Satechi TR-A Timer Remote Control.

This is actually a little funny... on one hand, I was nervous and apprehensive about buying a non-Canon battery grip (there are plenty of third party options that sell for much cheaper), yet I did end up with a non-Canon timer remote. In both cases, the third party products were roughly half the price, but there was just something about the battery grip, with it being so integrally involved in the power system of the camera that I just couldn't bring myself to trust a non-Canon product. This is something you'll have to debate for yourself I guess.

Canon BG-E7 Pros: Obviously, you buy this if you want to double your shooting time, and this obviously does that with no question. The connection to the camera is very snug and sturdy (I've seen others - usually third party products - that are a little wobbly), and all functionality is maintained at both shutter triggers with the additional scroll wheel and other buttons. Additionally, once I recover a little camera budget, I'll be able to go pick up the Canon Hand Strap E1 which only works with the battery grip attached.

Canon BG-E7 Cons: Aside from the price, my biggest gripe with this grip is the fact that the button feels different than the main shutter button. Why not make them feel identical in your hand? My hand has gotten used to 7D's button placement, why would a Canon product not replicate that identically? Also, like other third party grips, it has a separate on/off switch to activate/deactivate the additional buttons - why not use the camera's orientation to do that? The camera can automatically rotate my photos based on camera orientation, why not this?

The grip adds a good deal of weight to the camera too, but I'm not going to complain about that - I knew it would before buying it. And except for the feel in my hand, the cons are pretty minor - if you have a need for a longer battery life, it is worth it (just make sure you have plenty of battery packs to fill it - it doesn't come with any extras).

The photo above was from my attempt to capture the recent total lunar eclipse for a timelapse video. Unfortunately, I was unable to properly predict where the moon's path would take it, so the best I got was some orange clouds. However, the exercise was worthwhile to practice the use of anintervalometer.

I purchased this Satechi TR-A Timer Remote Control back in May, and haven't really done much to use it to its fullest potential. Before this, I had just been using it as a remote shutter release (very very handy for detailed macro and long exposure work).

But this remote also has the timer function that is very powerful. I can set any combination of the following:

o Delay before starting exposures
o Bulb exposure time (useful for exposures over 30 seconds)
o Interval between exposures
o Number of exposures (including infinity or basically until the battery runs out on something)
o Audible countdown beep warning (for the last 3 seconds before exposure)

So for example, last night, I set the timer around 10:30PM. I set a 1.5 hour delay at the beginning so my exposures wouldn't start till midnight. Then I had the remote do 30 second exposures every 2 minutes, set to infinity so I manually stopped the cycle in the morning when I woke up. Had I properly pointed my camera, I would have had 210 exposures of the night's lunar eclipse. Instead, I got 210 exposures of clouds.

Satechi TR-A Pros: Obviously, the price is much nicer than Canon's TC-80N3 ($60 versus $150), and from what I have read it does every feature that the Canon trigger does. The interface is simple to use, and as long as you slow down and think about what you actually want to do, is very easy to setup (I read multiple reviews of people getting confused with the setup, but I think they just were getting confused and didn't understand the manual's instructions). Lastly, the trigger works perfectly as a wired remote without needing to have batteries installed - great for saving battery life and not keeping the batteries installed in the unit!

Satechi TR-A Cons: Honestly, I read every single review of this product I could before committing to buying it, and I can only agree with a couple of the cons people found with this product. First, the backlight really does turn off far too quickly. It would be nice if the backlight had a lock-on function to make programming the remote in the dark much easier. Also, there is a red light that flashes while the camera is making an exposure - honestly, I see two things wrong with this: (1) it uses battery life and (2) depending on where you set the remote, could get picked up in your exposure. I like the option to have the flashing light, but give me the option to turn it off too.

All in all, again, we're looking at very minor cons that are far outweighed by the pros of these products. Both products are items that you might normally overlook as valuable to your photography, but once you have them, I think you really see the value in them.

I can't stress enough the value of the remote shutter release - and I'll argue the debate with anyone who wants to claim that a timer delay function on the camera is good enough. I know the battery grip is more of a luxury item, but a remote shutter release really should be part of every serious photographer's kit (whether it is a intervalometer model or not).

Well, I hope you enjoyed the double product review today, I know it got a little long, but they linked together for this recent project (even if I didn't get my eclipse timelapse like I wanted!) so I thought it worked well to review both together.

Stay tuned. I still owe you folks the lens review, and I know folks are waiting for the Christmas TTV (you didn't think I'd pass up a chance to get some more TTV in, did you?).

- Bill