GX7 aftermarket grips?

wsalopek wrote:

jeffharris wrote:

chasfox wrote:

The lack of any accessores such as a grip for the GX7 sort of illustrates the difference between true enthusiast/pro camera companies (Fuji & Olympus) and consumer electronics companies (Panasonic).

Oh please. That "electronics companies can't possibly make a real camera" thing is just utter nonsense and pure BS.

Jeff,

Your point is valid...most any electronics company can make a competent camera.

But for many serious photographers, it's the aftermarket support, the extra accessories, that are very important. Photographers buy into an "ecosystem" for a given camera system...the lenses...the flashes...and all the rest of it.

I find it surprising that Panasonic does not offer a grip (after all, grips are pretty basic). It really is like they are saying they are a "lesser" camera company than Olympus, Fuji, etc, or, they think their customer base are less serious photographers. In not offering a grip, they seem less "invested" in the GX7 and the possible needs of their photographer-customers.

A "real" camera company (whatever that is), makes all sorts of support and accessories available to the photographer (even considering they might lose money on this or that accessory), knowing that the more serious a photographer is, the more they will be comfortable buying into a COMPLETE camera ecosystem, even if they might not use 80% of that support and accessories...it's just good to know it's there, and that they won't have to abandom their entire system based on some missing support or accessories.

So in that way, in not offering a grip (yes, I know I am making a big deal out of this, perhaps wrongly), they show themselves less committed, and therefore less of a CAMERA company, and more of an ELECTRONICS company.

I'm not saying this is necc good or bad, it just means that certain photographers will choose another company...it's a good thing we all have lots of choices.

Still, for those of us who really like Panasonic cameras, it's sad to see a camera not fully supported...I mean, again, grips are pretty basic...and many folks, as we all know, choose a camera based in very large part, on how the camera feels...it's ergonomics

I wonder how many sales could be saved, if when a person picks up the GX7, and doesn't like the small grip, and is ready to walk away or buy the better-gripped A6000 or whatever, would have bought the camera anyway knowing there was a larger accessory grip available if need be?

"Camera" companies understand this.

On a final note, with battery endurance in a given camera always an issue to some extent, I'm surprised that grips aren't frequently almost TOO big, to accommodate bigger batteries. Seems to be a win/win of a bigger grip...better handling, and longer battery life.

Thanks for backing up my post - at least someone understood what I meant rather than just being rude. The GH2 for example would have really benefited from an OEM battery grip but Panasonic just left it to Own User to produce a second rate one which I have.  I am seriously considering an EM5II as I love the idea of a modular camera (small for pancakes, large for 100-300 etc.) which is not possible with the GX7, G6 GH4 etc.