ShiftCam ProGrip Review: A DSLR Emulator

POSITIVES

✓ Pro Additions

USB-C and hot shoe mount add lots of value

✓ Stable Grip

Right groove locations and heft for a solid handle

✓ Qi Charging

Wirelessly charges phone while taking photos

Negatives

✓ Size

Would be nice if it were slightly thicker

✓ Price

Triple digit price tag will remove casual buyers

✓ Shutter Button

A larger and rounder shutter would work better than an oval

Purchase Price: $149.99

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For many people in the world, their smartphone is all the camera they need to navigate their daily life. Mobile camera sensors have gotten so advanced with so much technology crammed in now that great image quality is easily accessible for regular folks. While the image quality is nearly there, the photo taking experience still leaves a lot to be desired. Holding a candy bar shaped mobile phone in landscape mode to take a photo or video isn’t too ergonomically friendly to the human hand. This is where third-party accessory makers like ShiftCam come in. I’ve owned a product called the ProGrip for three months now and this is one of my favorite phone camera grips I’ve used to date.

Joining the Top Tier

There are few brands of tech accessory makers that stand above the rest of the field. Some of that can be attributed to marketing, but presentation and quality do play a part in creating a quality product. To me, brands like Peak Design and Moment have mastered these traits and produce high end accessories for smartphones. After a few months with the ShiftCam ProGrip, I can honestly say that I see them on the same tier as those other two now. When you first place your hands on the grip, a sense of quality evokes your sensations. It’s the right amount of heft for your palm to engulf in for enough support to be comfortable to hold. Made from plastic, it isn’t necessarily a premium feeling product, but there definitely is quality behind the construction and design. 

As not only a grip, but a smartphone stand as well, the ProGrip has a swivel mount that the phone slides into. There’s four levels of adjustment that click into place with each progressive rotation. This is great for versatility as you can use it for not only horizontal shots, but in portrait orientation for your TikTok things. The great thing about the ProGrip is that this function applies both while holding it in your hand and while set onto a surface as a stand. The stand aspect is what helps distinguish the ProGrip over some of the other grip competitors on the market. The design is actually quite logical if you think about it. The physical grip portion is where the majority of weight is allocated thanks to the big battery. Housed in there is a gigantic 5,200 mAh that powers a Qi charging zone. Yes, not only does this charge your phone as you take photos with it, it does it wirelessly. However, if it isn’t being used as a battery bank, the Bluetooth connection will last as long as your phone does thanks to that giant battery inside. These are highly premium functions that you just don’t see in mobile hand grip products too often. Add in a USB-C port and a cold shoe mount and the ProGrip literally lives up to its pro name moniker. While I don’t think smartphone photography is quite there yet for a professional use case, there are various social media opportunities I can see something like this improving the quality of work.

Quality Details

While $150 is quite a sum of money for a phone accessory, I do want to give credit to the finer details that ShiftCam emulated over from DSLR grips. This is advertised to be a DSLR styled mobile battery grip and it actually molds itself to that reputation. The grip which your right hand surrounds is angled ever so slightly towards 11 o’clock. This may not seem like a big deal at first, but any DSLR or mirrorless camera user can attest that this slight angling of orientation improves grip strength and lowers long term usage fatigue. The grooves and indentations cut into the ProGrip are also quite distinctively placed. I particularly appreciated the indentation where your right thumb rests. It’s such a large space that accommodates for readjusting your grip on the fly. An accumulation of these little details add up into a premium experience that I actually can argue is worth the price tag. While many of the cheaper competitors on Amazon do hold your camera in place for a better grip as intended, they can’t afford to emulate the DSLR grip-feeling. ShiftCam impressively accomplishes this. I’ve had my hands on dozens of DSLR camera grips over the years for professional uses and while this doesn’t reach that level of sophistication, on a mobile photography level, it excels beyond anything I’ve seen to this point.

The built-in shutter button can be programmed through Bluetooth to control the native camera app on the phone. This allows the index finger to rest on an extended ridge. This is one aspect that I was hoping would be slightly bulkier. The extension as it is right now is just enough to rest your middle finger under for weight support. My finger doesn’t fully immerse itself under the ridge and while that isn’t a problem per se, a little more surface area would greatly allow that finger to add more support to my grip. It would also allow for the shutter button to occupy a slightly larger and rounder shape instead of the oval one it currently sits at. I’m more used to flatter shutter buttons on the cameras I own, so this may very well be a personal preference, but I have found that form factor to be more comfortable for my hands. I also would have liked to see a more versatile way to mount the phone. The plastic extends to grip the edges of a device, but like many mobile phone holders on the market, they get trickier to mesh together as phones grow in size. Factor in a case and many phones that are considered even average sized now might be a tight fit in between.

Rounding out the rest of the expansive features on the ProGrip, the included hand strap is quite solid and surprisingly useful. I normally remove any type of strap on my camera grips as they interfere with my videography motions, but this particular strap in its location is unobtrusive to those motions. ShiftCam sells accessories that can be shoe mounted on steadily. You can actually use any accessory with a shoe mount like a lavalier receiver or a mini-LED light. Speaking of LED’s, the battery indicator LED’s are located along the inside handle of the grip. You can toggle the on and off power for the Qi capabilities by pressing a button on the inside of the grip. It’s directly below the Bluetooth control button. 

When I combine the ProGrip with the iPhone’s cinematic video mode, I legitimately am satisfied with the outcome of a first take 90% of the time.

Who is it for?

Ultimately, the ShiftCam ProGrip is a luxury item that is unnecessary for a majority of smartphone users. Will it improve your photos and videos to justify the price of purchase? Probably not for the people out there who see this as an expensive product already. On the flip side, if you’re someone who sees the $150 price tag as a normal day in the realm of photography equipment, then you might appreciate the added benefits the ProGrip provides. I’ve come to rely on my iPhone 13 Pro these last few months for B-roll shots for tech gadgets as it’s just so convenient to pull out with minimal setup required. When I combine the ProGrip with the iPhone’s cinematic video mode, I legitimately am satisfied with the outcome of a first take 90% of the time. This is terrific as time is money. Memories are time sensitive as well! We’ve all been in a situation where we wished we could have captured something more cleanly. This grip will go with me on any trip going forward and it may even allow me to leave my mirrorless back home for certain non-working trips. The fact that it can add that much flexibility to my life makes this a product worthy of a spot in my tech bag.       

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