OLYMPUS HLD 7 for EM1

A good accessory to have for long days when lots of pictures are to be taken. Good supplementary grip for portrait-orientation. Be careful not to lose the small protective caps that cover sensitive connectors when installing (replacement may be surprisingly expensive for these tiny plastic bits). One may reasonably doubt whether the camera remains splash-proof once the HLD-7 is attached to the camera body. The camera-to-grip connection is not as snug as it might be (and is certainly far from hermetic) to give confidence that Olympus's claims of weather protection are not compromised. Typically, Olympus's booklet tries to cover all the languages on the planet and, in so doing, offers information of the functions and controls that is so inadequate as to be derisory. (Just what is that lock-lever for? What does it lock?) Good luck trying to find something more to guide a purchaser on the random chaos that is Olympus's webpage. Olympus's premium prices are warranted by its engineering, fabrication and performance -- you just wish Olympus would go that extra mile to help purchasers get better insight into operations.

Quick shipping, grip is perfect.

Let's get price out of the way: As with most vertical grip options, it's at a price we'd rather not have to fork over. However, when you consider that the E-M1 is actually over-priced in some ways this accessory is actually competitively priced for the most part. I happened to have credit points built up with Amazon that were automatically applied to this item when I ordered it so I got it for about $35 less. However, when I added it to my cart I thought I was paying full price and would have. The price is also relatively good when you consider that Nikons, for example, (yes it's a larger camera, but the teach is the same) average $260 or so for OEM grips in their higher line. And the D800's grip is still an absurd $350! Even Fuji's featureless metal grip for the X-E1/2 that also happens to block the battery/SD door is nearly $100. It's just a piece of metal with a screw into the camera. Now we come to a WEATHER SEALED vertical grip that's lightweight, has a storage space for the rubber stopper that you remove from the bottom of the camera, holds an extra battery, gives you both command dials from the standard orientation and a pair of customizable function buttons. Many OEM grips don't offer this much, esp. weathersealing. I've had several grips over the years with Canon and Nikon (Fuji doesn't offer them as of now) and this is the most feature-rich, namely because of the incorporated dials. Size and Build: The size is rather small for a grip, as you'd expect paired with a smallish m43 body. The construction is good as well. Not heavy duty feeling like a magnesium Nikon grip, etc., but it's is a lot smaller and competently solid feeling. The contact points and connection are solid and I feel, at least as of now, that this will hold up well. Features: It's loaded. You get all the stuff I mentioned above - two function buttons, two control dials, shutter release, vertical lock switch, extra battery and weather sealing. Some mention wanting an SD card slot area and honestly, this is a feature that the $1400 camera should have. Most grips with an extra SD slot (Pentax for example) serves only as storage and doesn't actually communicate with the body. A communication SD slot would be nice for sure, but it should really have been built into the E-M1. The only "feature" I wish it had was a double-sided locking screw. The dial to "screw" the grip to the camera is on the back only. On other brands, like Nikon, the wheel goes through the grip to the front side as well. This really helps in locking it down as you can grip the wheel from both sides - like tightening the lid on a jar. The back-only orientation isn't bad, but I do prefer the through wheel design offered by other vendors - despite it being somewhat unsightly. Performance: Very good and usable without adding too much bulk to the camera. You buy m43 because it's small and transforming it into a D4 kind of defeats the purpose. This is right where it should be in size and it works very well. My only quibble is that the function buttons, though properly located, are a bit low for my thumb reach. This ONLY stands out to me because it's the only thing I've noticed not being completely fluid. And, obviously, hands are all different so this won't bother many. It's certainly not a reason for me to ding the rating as Fn buttons aren't used on EVERY shot. Hint: I find setting the B-Fn 1 button to "zoom in" so you can check focus is very quick and handy. I set the top Fn on the camera to this as well. Conclusion: If you spent $1400 on the E-M1 then $200 for a fully-featured, weather sealed grip really shouldn't be that big of a deal. You'll get more function out of it than you'll likely miss that $200. At least that's the case for me. It's actually somewhat of a value in an over-priced OEM grip market and if you're someone who shoots a lot of portraits - or any vertical orientation - you can consider it a luxury item as it greatly increases extended shooting comfort. Pick up some Wasabi batteries off Amazon and throw one in the grip for double the run time and you're good to go. The tight function buttons and non-thru wheel locking mechanism that I mentioned earlier are simply personal preferences and really don't inhibit true functionality all that much. It's a 5 star in my book. A solid accessory that will make you shooting life easier. If you are a grip-type shooter, go for it.

really did not help me due to i carry two batteries around with me and this grip makes the camera much heavier/

The extra battery in this grip means I've never run out of power when on vacation. The grip provides a sure-handed place to put my hands while shooting in portrait mode, but I haven't adjusted to actually using the shutter button to trip the shutter for a picture yet. My hand still looks for the shutter button on the camera itself. I have an E-M5 and an E-M1 with the extra grip made for each camera. This grip for the E-M1 is a little bit easier to attach to the camera body, I really like that, and it is because the locating pin on the mating surface of the grip is just a little bit larger/longer than the one on the E-M5 grip. It goes into a small hole on the bottom of the camera and assists in alignment of the grip to the camera, and the larger size means this grip is easier and therefore quicker to attach.