DIY Vertical grip

[bdp]

After shooting a whole day of handheld vertical shots on a job recently I really felt the pain of not having a vertical grip, particularly in my lats under my right arm. So I had a crazy idea to adapt an unused Canon vertical grip to work on my Hasselblad.

I found that the Canon BG-E4 from my old 5D (Mk I) would fit if the section that extends into the Canon battery compartment is removed, and it lines up on the Hasselblad amazingly neatly. The next trick was to get it to trigger the shutter, so a cheap no-name brand electronic cable release was sacrificed to create a link between the grip's shutter release button and the Hasselblad remote release socket. This required the help of someone who knows what they are doing with electronics and soldering, in this case my father.

For extra security a lug was screwed into the grip to fit into the Hasselblad base plate, to prevent the grip rotating if the locking screw came loose. This was in fact the hardest part due to the gears for the locking screw being located right under the spot for the lug. Luckily my father is an engineering whizz and devised a countersunk screw with a threaded sleeve on top that fits precisely inside the hole. He also removed all other unnecessary bits inside the Canon grip to make it as light as possible.

So basically this is just the shell of a Canon grip with the button adapted to plug into the Hasselblad remote release socket, so it only adds 245 grams to the weight of the whole camera. It works very well, although it is not as comfortable as it is when on a Canon. The button is a little high, so your elbows are not quite at the same height when holding the camera in the traditional manner of left hand supporting the lens, right hand on the grip. The grip is also a little large - a perfect example of a comfortable MF grip would be the Contax 645 version in my opinion, but there is no way this could be adapted to fit on a Hasselblad as far as I can see.

I have seen generic versions of this grip for less than $40, so with the right plug for the remote release socket a vertical grip could be made for under $50 in theory. There may be smaller versions for other cameras that could work as well and be more comfortable. I encourage anyone with the skills and motivation to experiment and come up with similar solutions - I'd love to see them.

Ben

[meshuggener]

genius !

[NickT]

Ben that's Awesome!

[bdp]

Thanks Nick! I'm surprised Hasselblad haven't ever made one - we know how much they like making wooden grips for their other cameras  and most other cameras have them. It's a little strange and disappointing.

[NickT]

Hi Ben
They certainly looked into it, I have seen prototypes.

The issue I think was cost versus the numbers they expected to sell. Apparently it isn't trivial to get the two thumb wheels working on the grip (Shutter/aperture).

I have sent a link to this thread toSweden to see what they think. I reckon they'll want you in the factory

[bdp]

  I told my father to expect a flood of orders... He is the engineer behind it. I think even without the scroll wheels it would still be useful. Just a shutter release. But I know they'd get flamed for it being too simple. But it would be cheap to create a shell with a built in battery and a button. Surely they would sell a few if they were simple and cheap enough. Say under $1000. It's just a comfort thing for me, I don't expect bells and whistles like the V-grip air for example. Anyway I'll keep dreaming!

Ben

[mauro risch]

It looks amazing.
Great call!!!