Get A Grip & TRANSFORM OM-D E-M5!

Get A Grip means "it seems like you've lost it, so go get it!!"

Before I start my rant I wanted to say "GET A GRIP Olympus Australia!!!"

Why?

In New Zealand, you have to go through Olympus Australia to order anything Olympus!  And it take A LONG TIME!

My HLD-6 grip for the OM-D E-M5 took FIVE WEEKS to arrive! It is as bad, if not worst than getting my passport renewed at the Malaysian Embassy here!  ;)

Why do I need extra grip and support for a most reviewed compact camera?  Because this retro-centric super compact is just TOO BLEEDING SMALL for my huge palms!

To hold the E-M5 without my palm pressing on the rear dial, I have to use this "my thumb under the camera base" method; hardly a great way to steady a small camera!

As I thought, the HLD-6 is the answer!

As you can see from the photo above, the HLD-6 come in TWO parts.

According to Olympus...

The most remarkable thing about this supporting battery grip is its innovative two-part design with two different types of grips for landscape (HLD-6G) and portrait (HLD-6P) shots.

Attach to your camera only the HLD-6G and the bigger landscape grip offers much more grip.

Adding the lower HLD-6 part (the HLD-6P) also difficult portrait shootings will be easy to handle with further dials and buttons.

The lower grip also includes an additional shutter release for greater comfort and speed when the camera is vertically upturned, and 2 additional dials and fn buttons for easy and fast adjustments are available in this position too.

Both parts are also ergonomically designed for a firm natural grip, greatly improving the overall stability of the camera in your hand and the button lock switch prevents pushing any buttons unintentionally.

An additional battery (not included) can also be slotted into the lower grip, extending overall battery life for longer shooting times.

From the top, the E-M5 as is, middle; with only the 6G landscape grip and bottom, with the full grip.

Appearance is deceiving, the HLD-6 equipped E-5M look bulky here but believe me it is NOT!  The TRANSFORMATION is incredible!

Now I am able to hold the small camera the way I like!

Correct and STEADY way to hold the OM-D in a landscape shoot!

The ONLY correct and stable way to shoot vertical format with the E-M5, the extra B-fn1 button allowed me to focus assist when using my manual focus prime! Pure bliss!!

You get two extra programmable Fn button on the HLD-6 grip.  The lock level is to deactivate the bottom vertical grip.

I have a feeling my HLD-6 grip actually make my camera holding more stable, so I took the E-M5/HLD-6 combo to Te Papa to find out.

Light and shadow play at the foyer, shot at 1/60 sec; not to test the steadiness of my set up yet.

This is where I can test the steadiness of my setup! Believe you me, it is REALLY DARK inside!

This was shot at ISO 1,600 @ f4.5 and 1/5 sec!  Look how sharp it is! The lens was my favorite Panasonic Lumix 7-14 ultra-wide zoom.

Rowan Tan, our visiting nephew from Penang standing beside the Colossal squid at the Mountains to Sea room at Te Papa museum.

The marvelous undersea display at the Forests to Sea room at Te Papa. This was shot handheld, 1/4 sec f4; same lens as above.

Mean creatures captured by a mean photographer with a mean camera with a mean lens... oh, and a mean grip ;)

Famous Last Words...

If after reading this post and you yearn for a HLD-6, FORGET about ordering one from Oly Oz; get it on-line from an Australian reseller, much faster.

If you are going on an Asian holiday, better still; buy it oversea!

If you are like me who decided to leave the full grip attached to the camera, relocate your camera battery to the battery compartment in the bottom grip; this will allow you to remove your battery for charging without detaching and reattaching your grip if the battery is in camera.