7D/7D MkII grip comparison photos

My new 7D MkII kit has arrived in three separate deliveries throughout this week - the body only, an extra LP-E6N battery, and finally the grip arrived just today.  The are a number of differences between the BG-E7 grip for the 7D and the new BG-E16 grip for the 7D MkII.  Honestly, I was so excited to be able order the MkII that I just added the new grip to my shopping cart without looking at any of the specs or images of it.  I was somewhat surprised when I unboxed it today to see how much different it is than the BG-E7 that I've been using on my 7D for the past five years.  When holding the camera in the normal landscape orientation one doesn't really notice the difference, but once you flip the camera/grip pair into the vertical orientation it feels quite a bit different.  The BG-E7 grip is like a brick with rounded edges.  The front edge of the new BG-E16 grip has added an angle to the leading edge that, in my opinion, is easier to hold and provides a more secure feel.  I can see it being a bit easier to hold for those with smaller hands.  I've just used the new grip for a few minutes out in the yard this afternoon but will be using it paired with the new MkII during a trip to the Kingsbury Air Fair tomorrow and during our daughter's soccer game on Sunday afternoon.

Pardon the makeshift backdrop used in the images below.  I simply used two sheets of poster board on our kitchen table and took the images with my MkII mounted on my tripod and using my 580 EXII flash.

From the top view you can see that the BG-E16 on the left is slightly larger than the BG-E7 on the right.

From the bottom you can see the profile has changed a bit.

Here's a view from the right end with the controls for vertical, portrait orientation use.  Not the repositioning of the camera battery door.  Rather than sitting in a pocket in the BG-E7 grip the camera battery compartment cover actually uses the door hinge and latch to secure itself to the post that feeds into the camera body.

Here's a view of the two grips from the back right.

Here's a left end profile view of the two grips.  You can see how the front leading edge us much less block like on the BG-E16 on the left.

Here's an view from the front left.   You can clearly see how the leading edge is now angled.

Batteries in the BG-E16 no longer load from the back.  Instead they are installed in a carrier that slides out of the left side of the grip.  Pulling down on the latch and giving it a quarter turn releases the carrier and allows it to be pulled out of the grip.  The grip comes with carriers for both the LP-E6/E6N batteries as well as for AA batteries.  Oddly enough, the AA carrier was the one installed in the grip out of the box.

Here's a view showing how the batteries fit into the carrier.

Here's the left side view with the battery carrier removed.

Here's the back side view of the new BG-E16 grip showing the joystick and the flip switch for selection of autofocus areas.

Back right view of the BG-E16.  The labels for the buttons are all the same color on the new grip.

Here's a view of the camera communication pins on the post that fits inside the camera body.  There are 20 pins on the new grip compared to 13 on the BG-E7.

This shot shows the leading edge profile.

The leading edge of the new BG-E16 from front right.

Here's the battery compartment on the BG-E7 grip.  The LP-E6 batteries are inserted into the compartment just like they are inserted into the camera body itself.  The two latches on left and right sides match those seen within the camera body and allow for quick removal of either battery.  One can easily remove a battery with one hand on this grip.  That won't be possible with the carrier configuration in the new BG-E16.

Here's a view showing two batteries inserted into the compartment.  The BG-E7 also comes with a carrier for AA batteries - but I've never used it myself.  I believe it's still in the box back deep inside one of our closets.

Here's a view from back right of the BG-E7 grip.

And from front right.

Here's the view from the left end showing it's mostly block like configuration.

Here are the top pins on the BG-E7.  13 pins are seen here.