As of June 25, 2022, all new Mercury camera bundles and custom cameras (i.e., all complete cameras) will include a Mercury grip if they are capable of mounting one.
The Mercury Grip is a separate plastic part that mounts onto the standard handle found on most Mercury camera configurations. Thus it can be added to older cameras that lack one, and removed from newer cameras if you have a need to do so.
The Mercury Grip is ergonomically designed to give you a significantly more stable grip when hand-holding the camera. It is also designed to make holding the camera much more comfortable. Finally, it greatly enhances the aesthetics of the camera.
The Grip system enhances your camera and still allows standard cable releases to be threaded through the camera handle for use as trigger buttons.
The Grip comes in several versions:
Medium Format Universal: This model is compatible with nearly all Mercury cameras. It is designed to enhance your grip with not only a front ergonomic finger grip, but also a rear palm grip. When you slide the grip onto your camera, the bottom slides both around the camera handle and into the bottom of it, locking it firmly in place. It makes use of no hardware, so if you want to lock it permanently, you must add a bit of glue inside to bond to the camera.
Medium Format Bolted: This model utilizes one or two bolts and nuts to bolt onto your camera. It is more difficult to install and not quite as clean aesthetically. It is only compatible with Mercury camera fronts that are rounded above and below the handle, and contain two holes through the front. Besides containing mounting hole geometry, this model is the same as the Universal. In most cases we recommend using the Universal, but for users who want the hardware option, this is available.
Large Format Standard: This model is designed for 4×5 or 5×7 cameras that have flared backs (our most common large format configurations, pictured below). Because these cameras offer less room for your hand behind their handles, we’ve designed the grip to be wider, extended further off the camera to give you far more to grip than the camera’s standard handle. Unlike the Medium Format grips, the back of this does not contain a palm grip, but rather a thin back to maximize the room for your hand. This grip provides a remarkably enhanced handholding experience for our large format cameras.
Large Format RS-0: This model is for cameras whose front panel does not extend significantly past the back adapter. This is the case for our large format RS-0 cameras (i.e., our “pancake” cameras). These are rare configurations usually built for instant film photography. Beginning with the launch of the Mercury Grip system, we have engineered a slightly different front panel for pancake cameras that protrudes off the side of the back adapter just enough to mount this grip. This grip is similar to the medium format grips in design, since it is designed to increase finger hold. With pancake cameras, the user’s hand wraps around the entire camera, squeezing the back against the front. This helps form a better grip. Pancake cameras sold before the Grip system will need to upgrade their front panel if they wish to become compatible with this grip model.
Incompatible cameras: Some cameras don’t have handles built in, and thus aren’t compatible (such as the Mini Front and the Mamiya Universal Press body). Our Instax Wide Motorized Universal Camera body is also not compatible with any grip (though our 6×9 and 4×5 Instax Wide camera configurations are). Camera configurations that mount an XL or XL-S focus unit without any front spacers may not have room for a grip in that configuration. This is also true of some cameras that make use of the Mercury Shift Module mounted on a standard front panel. To become compatible, these configurations must be upgraded to an XL front panel.
Configurations using an XL front panel built before the release of the Grip system are compatible with the Medium Format Universal and Large Format Standard grips, but they will not cover 100% of the built-in handle, leaving a bit protruding above the grip. This does not impair function at all; it is merely a question of aesthetics. We have slightly redesigned the XL front panel, so all new builds are compatible with the Medium Format Bolted grip as well, and do not protrude above the grip.
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