Lesson learned?

[v8moneypit]

Decided I needed a second battery for the D7000. Then thought I might as well get a grip to go with it! Did plenty of research and decided the Hahnel came out with reasonable reviews, unlike cheaper ones. But it's still less than half the price of the Nikon offering.

Got home and plugged it in. All was well..... for 5 minutes. Then it stopped working and locked the camera. Taking it off restored the camera to normal function. This happened every time I attached it.

Took it back to the retailer who kindly replaced it. I tried the replacement in the shop and all seemed fine. I left it attached to the body. When I took it out of the bag later, it had locked up again!

Rang the retailer and arranged to take it back.... again! I did so this morning. We tried a Nikon one on that worked perfectly from the outset. And felt way better build quality. So bit the bullet at paid the extra after a little negotiation.

Lesson learned, me thinks.

Just like to add how helpful WEX were in this episode. Can't praise them enough.

 

[graphilly]

I've got nothing but good to say about Hahnel batteries. They are my aftermarket battery of choice.

 

[modchild]

We've had 7 Canon bodies between the wife and myself and every one has had a 3rd party grip and 3rd party batteries to go with it. The only problem I've had out of all of them is the Vertax grip for my 5D3 which drains the battery in about 4/5 days if I don't use it, and thats not really a problem as I've always got half a dozen charged batteries for it. The one I got for my 550D nearly 2 years ago has since been put on the 650D the wife uses and it's still going strong.

I've had Meike, Hahnel, Vertax and even un-named grips and the most I've ever paid is around £60 for a Meike grip with 4 batteries for a 7D.

 

[v8moneypit]

Well, I'd have agreed prior to this experience. I did a lot of internet research before going for the Hahnel grip. The chap who served me originally at WEX had one on his Canon for 2 years without any problems.

I still have the Hahnel battery, but now in the Nikon grip.

I must say, the fit and feel of the Nikon grip is far superior to the Hahnel one. Not sure it's worth more than double the money though. But two faulty aftermarket items was a fair trial before biting the bullet.

I wonder if it was a dodgy batch maybe?