Meike battery grip

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bb40

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HI guys

Looking to see if anyone uses the meike battery grips, specifically for the Nikon d300. Apparently it has same features as the branded Nikon Mb-d10. Just looking for some feedback on how it performs and whether it's worth buying. Seen one on eBay for £50 where the nikons about 3 times more.

Thanks
 
Can't comment on NIKON ones, but I bought one off amazon for my canon 550d about 6 months ago and it works perfectly. It has exactly the same functionality as the original canon Canon grip, but at a fraction of the cost. Initially, I was apprehensive as I really wanted to stick with all canon stuff, but then again, its not like its critical kit... It only holds a couple of batteries after all! I paid £24 for it and never regretted it for a minute.

I am looking to change bodies to a 7d in the next few weeks and will get a meike grip for that too.
 
I also have one of the Canon fit models from Amazon. Works perfectly and the quality is much better than I expected. I am in the process of switching back to Nikon and can't see any reason not to buy a third-party grip.
 
I currently have one for my D700 which is the same as the D300 one. Works great, is built as well as the Nikon one, performs the same fucntions.

I paid £40 for mine brand new, with a BL-3
The same for a Nikon version would have been over £300. Its a no brainer.
 
TCR4x4 said:
I currently have one for my D700 which is the same as the D300 one. Works great, is built as well as the Nikon one, performs the same fucntions.

I paid £40 for mine brand new, with a BL-3
The same for a Nikon version would have been over £300. Its a no brainer.
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Where did you buy yours from.
 
The whole battery grip business probably has ludicrously high profit margins. And of course every other new camera model requires a somewhat different grip, just like the batteries.
 
Cistron said:
The whole battery grip business probably has ludicrously high profit margins. And of course every other new camera model requires a somewhat different grip, just like the batteries.
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AGREED!

Theres no doubt that the genuine ones are tougher built but they offer no difference in actual use compared to the meike variants, I paid £40 for my D700 grip and got the BL-3 adapter too!
 
TonyNI said:
AGREED!

Theres no doubt that the genuine ones are tougher built but they offer no difference in actual use compared to the meike variants, I paid £40 for my D700 grip and got the BL-3 adapter too!
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Did you get your grip from eBay tony. The one I've seen is £49 with 2 batteries included. Prob will not be gen Nikon batteries but should do a turn
 
Thanks for all comments guys. will defo be going for the meike grip and put the cash saved towards another lens:D ( as long as the wife don't find out i'll be fine)

bought so much stuff, still so much still to buy:help:
 
The only thing to be wary of with the third party grips on Nikon bodies is that they sometimes do not report the correct battery-level readings to the camera and there have been reports of D700s etc shutting down with the mirror either up or partially up, requiring a trip back to Nikon to sort.

But if you're happy enough risking a £1500 camera to save £100 then :thumbs:
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The only thing to be wary of with the third party grips on Nikon bodies is that they sometimes do not report the correct battery-level readings to the camera and there have been reports of D700s etc shutting down with the mirror either up or partially up, requiring a trip back to Nikon to sort.

But if you're happy enough risking a £1500 camera to save £100 then :thumbs:
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This is part of the reason I've got OEM on the 5D3
 
i take it this "shutting down" is due to incorrect battery readings leading the user to false sense of battery charge rather than a common fault with the grip.
 
bb40 said:
i take it this "shutting down" is due to incorrect battery readings leading the user to false sense of battery charge rather than a common fault with the grip.
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The incorrect readings are caused by a fault with the grip....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The incorrect readings are caused by a fault with the grip....
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I realise the incorrect readings are caused by a fault with the grip but what I was trying to say was that the grip doesn't just shut down the camera randomly it shuts down when the batteries are dead with the user thinking they still have charge.
 
bb40 said:
I realise the incorrect readings are caused by a fault with the grip but what I was trying to say was that the grip doesn't just shut down the camera randomly it shuts down when the batteries are dead with the user thinking they still have charge.
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The grip doesn't shut the camera down at all, the camera shuts itself down...
 
Gary Coyle said:
Yup, just get a blinking battery on the top screen, need to restart camera.
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So no damage to the camera then. Previous post said camera had to go to Nikon to fix?
 
Flash In The Pan said:
If it happens when the shutter is open......
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Thanks for your input on this graham. Would you know if this shut down has happened with the Nikon grip.
 
Meike grip on my D7000. The first one arrived faulty - the shutter button worked fine but the control dials both did nothing, and no power registered. Sent it back (props to the seller, great service) and got another one that has been a great addition to the camera, and at 1/6th the price of the OEM.
 
freecom2 said:
Meike grip on my D7000. The first one arrived faulty - the shutter button worked fine but the control dials both did nothing, and no power registered. Sent it back (props to the seller, great service) and got another one that has been a great addition to the camera, and at 1/6th the price of the OEM.
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How long have you had it on your camera and is it on it all the time?
 
bb40 said:
How long have you had it on your camera and is it on it all the time?
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Not that long - should've said that in my post, apologies. Not on all the time, I don't like heavy cameras so only when the task demands it.
 
I've had 3rd party grips and batteries in all 6 of the Canon bodies I either own or have owned. At least a couple have been Meike and they have all worked perfectly. All of them have reported the battery charge correctly and I have now put the grip I got for my 550D onto the wifes 650D and it's still going strong. I have a Vertex grip on my 5D3 and have taken thousands of photos with it without a problem. The 3rd party batteries have been just as good and charge as fast as the originals and last as long. I've also bought from Digigood off ebay and can highly recommend them also.
 
+1 for Meike, I've had one on my D300 for well over a year and haven't had any problems, it's a great value accessory that makes the camera so much better to handle.
 
Thanks comments Stuart & aled. Was kind of put off with going for the meike grip but guess its like every mass produced item you will always get the odd faulty one. One's on order so fingers crossed.
 
Karen said:
I use one on my 7D and never had any problem, sturdy and well made. Putting the batteries in is a bit more fiddly than my Canon one on the 5D but it also has a useful clock on the back lol
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Thanks Karen. It's good to know even the pro's use them. 👍
 
I have a meike grip on my d300, it reads B and then battery charge when its using the batteries in the grip (i use an extra nikon battery in mine) and then it uses the battery in the camera when the grip battery runs out. This should solve any potential just shutting down problems?
 
girl_with_camera said:
I have a meike grip on my d300, it reads B and then battery charge when its using the batteries in the grip (i use an extra nikon battery in mine) and then it uses the battery in the camera when the grip battery runs out. This should solve any potential just shutting down problems?
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Not really, the issue is that if faulty it doesn't transmit the correct data to the camera, so it doesn't know to change over to the in-camera battery as it is still being told the battery in the grip is fine....
 
I've got the Meike grip on a D300/700. It's perfect, for a fraction of the price. I've never tested to see if it increases the fps rate as the nikon version is supposed to do.
 
dandeakin said:
I've got the Meike grip on a D300/700. It's perfect, for a fraction of the price. I've never tested to see if it increases the fps rate as the nikon version is supposed to do.
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Just press the "Info" button on the camera and it will tell you....
 
dandeakin said:
I've got the Meike grip on a D300/700. It's perfect, for a fraction of the price. I've never tested to see if it increases the fps rate as the nikon version is supposed to do.
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Yes it does if you use the appropriate batteries.
 
I've had a Meike grip for my D300S for a few years and haven't had any problems. :) :thumbs:

I don't use it that often, but if I'm doing a lot of images in the portrait orientation, or I want the extra frame per second (from 7-8fps) by using 8x AA rechargeables, I blow the dust of it. ;) :lol:
 
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