I dont understand what you're talking about by "faster" aperture
are you talking about changing the aperture?
isn't that just the time it takes you to adjust your aperture?
that doesnt make any sense..

 

I hear you Mr. Fatbooy on the verticle grip. I guess since I shoot event photography, the verticle shutter comes in VERY handing. Our flashes are on brackets and we're swinging them up and down between 3/4 shots and group shots etc. When you're in a Tux, it's easier to keep the shutter in the "same" spot. For someone buying a pro SLR for casual use, it's not necessary. When we go on shoots, we're shooting 1000 shots a night. To each his own on what feels good when you're shooting. Sometimes we just have to let people go through the motions.

 

As you probably (or maybe don't) know, the aperture a diaphragm inside the lens, the diameter of which can be changed in order to adjust the amount of light going through the lens. The amount of light that goes through the lens is determined by both the focal length of the lens, and the diameter at which the aperture is set.



The settings for the aperture are called f-stops, and they are standardized across all different lens lengths. Divide the focal length by the aperture diameter, and you get a number which corresponds to an f-stop. So f/2.8 on a 50mm lens is a completely different diameter of the diaphragm as f/2.8 on a 300mm lens, but they both let the same amount of light hit the film or sensor. Since we're talking fractions, the smaller the number under the f/, the bigger the diaphragm opening, and the more light makes it to the film/sensor. Going from 1 f-stop to the next means you're dividing the previous aperture diameter by the square root of 2, which cuts the amount of light in half.

"Fast" just is a way to refer to a big aperture, like a zoom lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.8, or a prime lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.4. A larger maximum aperture means more light is hitting the film/sensor which means you can use a faster shutter speed than if you were stuck with a smaller maximum aperture.

Make sense?
Ya if you're rocking the Stroboframe then a vertical grip is a definite plus. Let's just say for the entry level user, once they figure out that they are going to need a Stroboframe for whatever particular situation, then the vertical grip becomes a whole lot more useful.