honestly i am so fed up with how small this rebel t7 is in my hands it feels like a toy and my pinky finger just hangs off the bottom which is making my shots shaky. so i was thinking maybe a battery grip would solve it because my logic was that it adds that extra height i need for a better hold plus the vertical shutter would be nice. i looked at the official canon ones but they dont seem to make one for the t7 specifically? or am i just blind? i have a shoot for a friends small wedding in chicago next weekend and i need to find something under 50 bucks that wont fry my camera. are the third party ones like neewer or vivitar actually worth it or am i gonna regret it?
late to the party but honestly you absolutely need to look at the Vello BG-C10 Battery Grip for Canon Rebel T5 T6 T7 or even the DSTE Pro Battery Grip for Canon EOS Rebel T7 because they are fantastic for the price! I used the DSTE one for a whole summer of street photography and the build quality is actually insane for how cheap it is. I was shocked! You have to realize the T7 is super stripped down compared to the T7i, so that little 2.5mm sync cable connecting the grip to the side of the camera is mandatory for that vertical shutter to fire. Without it, the grip is basically just a plastic brick that holds extra batteries. I love how it balances the weight tho! If you are shooting with a heavier lens it keeps the center of gravity way more stable which helps with that shakiness you mentioned. Just a technical heads up, make sure you are using high quality cells like the Canon LP-E10 Lithium-Ion Battery or decent clones because some cheap grips have weird internal resistance and might drain your power faster than usual. Seriously, that extra inch of grip space for your pinky makes the camera feel like a pro body! It is such a game changer for long shoots like weddings... just tuck that sync cable away so it doesnt snag on your strap and you are totally golden!
Like someone mentioned, the T7 is just tiny. You might want to consider that it lacks internal pins, so you'll need a 2.5mm sync cable for the shutter button to work. I tried the Neewer Battery Grip for Canon EOS Rebel T7 and it fixed the pinky hang, but the Vivitar Pro Series Multi-Power Battery Grip for T7 felt a bit more secure for a long day. Just be careful with that cable snagging during your shoot...
i totally agree with your logic there, that tiny body is basically impossible to hold for more than twenty minutes without your hand cramping up. I felt the same way and eventually grabbed a third party grip just to save my sanity. Honestly i am super satisfied with how it changed the handling, it actually feels like a real dslr now instead of a point and shoot. One small thing i noticed though is that because the t7 is a budget body, those grips usually need a little external cable to make the vertical shutter button work. It looks a bit goofy but it functions perfectly and i havent had any weird power issues at all. For under fifty bucks its a total game changer for weddings since you wont be struggling to keep a grip on it while you're moving around.