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As the official MB-D16 grips from Nikon for the D750 are about as rare as hens teeth, and seem to be back-ordered everywhere, I thought for the very first time I would try and non-genuine Grip for my Nikon D750. There seems to be a multitude to choose from, back after a bit of research, the brand Meike seems to be recommended by most people that are using aftermarket grips. So it was found on EBay from a seller with a good feedback score for £55.90 delivered. The unit arrived within 3 days so here is my take.
The unit arrived in a small cardboard “Meike” branded box and contained the DR750 Grip, EN-EL15 battery holder, AA battery holder and a nifty wireless remote (more on that later). All items were well packaged in plenty of bubble wrap.
Upon examining the grip my first impressions was one of pleasant surprise. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but the unit is very solid, with little to no flexing of the engineering plastic (no magnesium chassis here), good tight seems and no moulding flashing and no creaks when assembled. The rubber texture of the coverings is an excellent match for those on the camera.
The supplied EN-EL15 battery holder takes the genuine Nikon battery very well with no sloppiness, and the included AA battery holder is a nice touch at this price point.
I attached it to my D750, and just like the genuine MB-D16, the Meike unit has a small recess to hold the contacts rubber cover on the base of the camera. The whole assembly screwed together very nicely and when done up tight, there was little to no flexing of the whole assembly. Sure not as secure as my D810 with the genuine Nikon Grip, but that a magnesium alloy chassis and this is plastic, but certainly much better than the Nikon grip I used to own many years ago for my D200, which back then was also made of plastic.
The shutter release, joystick and AE-L/AF-L buttons are a little more “clicky” than say a Nikon branded unit, and don’t have the nice dampened feel, but are far from poor and critically just as responsive and tactile. The shutter release in particular has a nice 2 stage action that I like.
Now to the bonus - the wireless remote. This little unit is supplied as standard and is pretty cool. It runs off 2 AAA batteries (not supplied) and in standby mode just show the current time (once set up). It has 99 selectable remote channels, in case it interferes with any other radio equipment (mine didn’t so I left it at the default channel 99).
The unit has a standard shutter release button and once paired with the grip doesn’t involve any additional settings on the camera. Just stick on a tripod (or whatever) and click the button, and the unit focuses and trips the shutter like any other remote. However, put the camera into bulb mode, and this little remote can handle 1) a delay before the first picture is - taken fully selectable 2) a timed release that goes to 99 hours, 99 minutes and 99 seconds and 3) a invalometer function which can trip the shutter up to 999 times at a user set interval.
One really nice trick is that pressing the backlight/lock button for about 3-4 seconds locks the remote so that it can be chucked in a bag and none of the buttons will operate. Pressing the same button again for 3-4 seconds unlocks it again. Oh and did I mention the remote is backlit for shooting at night.
So there you have it, not quite as well built as the Nikon unit (but then that’s metal this is plastic), but crucially this is only £55 whereas the Nikon unit is about 4 times that price, and this is available whereas the Nikon unit is not (or at least not easy to find). Will it stand up to a long term test, who knows, but for £55 if it only last a couple of years, I’ll have had my money’s worth. When you think that this includes the cracking little wireless remote function, you have to wonder if adding some metal in the construction for the genuine unit equates to four times the price. Some will of course say yes, but for me, as I won’t use the grip all the time, this will do me just fine.
So all in all, highly recommended. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading.
**edit**
Sorry, forgot this part. Whilst Meike (AFAIK) makes no claims for the weather sealing of the grip (unlike the Nikon unit), upon checking my grip for my D810, I can see there are 2 places where Nikon seals the grip. One is a rubber gasket surrounding the contacts array on the grip to seal them when the grip is assembled to the camera, and secondly a rubber gasket around the opening to the battery compartment to seal against the battery holder chamber. On checking the Meike grip, it certainly has the gasket around the contacts array, but doesn't around the battery compartment opening. So weather sealing might not be as good as the Nikon unit and this may well be show stopper for you. Myself, I rarely if ever shoot in the rain (more of a fair weather photographer), and if I do, usually cover the camera with a cape anyway, so this feature doesn't bother me but it might you.
The unit arrived in a small cardboard “Meike” branded box and contained the DR750 Grip, EN-EL15 battery holder, AA battery holder and a nifty wireless remote (more on that later). All items were well packaged in plenty of bubble wrap.
Upon examining the grip my first impressions was one of pleasant surprise. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but the unit is very solid, with little to no flexing of the engineering plastic (no magnesium chassis here), good tight seems and no moulding flashing and no creaks when assembled. The rubber texture of the coverings is an excellent match for those on the camera.
The supplied EN-EL15 battery holder takes the genuine Nikon battery very well with no sloppiness, and the included AA battery holder is a nice touch at this price point.
I attached it to my D750, and just like the genuine MB-D16, the Meike unit has a small recess to hold the contacts rubber cover on the base of the camera. The whole assembly screwed together very nicely and when done up tight, there was little to no flexing of the whole assembly. Sure not as secure as my D810 with the genuine Nikon Grip, but that a magnesium alloy chassis and this is plastic, but certainly much better than the Nikon grip I used to own many years ago for my D200, which back then was also made of plastic.
The shutter release, joystick and AE-L/AF-L buttons are a little more “clicky” than say a Nikon branded unit, and don’t have the nice dampened feel, but are far from poor and critically just as responsive and tactile. The shutter release in particular has a nice 2 stage action that I like.
Now to the bonus - the wireless remote. This little unit is supplied as standard and is pretty cool. It runs off 2 AAA batteries (not supplied) and in standby mode just show the current time (once set up). It has 99 selectable remote channels, in case it interferes with any other radio equipment (mine didn’t so I left it at the default channel 99).
The unit has a standard shutter release button and once paired with the grip doesn’t involve any additional settings on the camera. Just stick on a tripod (or whatever) and click the button, and the unit focuses and trips the shutter like any other remote. However, put the camera into bulb mode, and this little remote can handle 1) a delay before the first picture is - taken fully selectable 2) a timed release that goes to 99 hours, 99 minutes and 99 seconds and 3) a invalometer function which can trip the shutter up to 999 times at a user set interval.
One really nice trick is that pressing the backlight/lock button for about 3-4 seconds locks the remote so that it can be chucked in a bag and none of the buttons will operate. Pressing the same button again for 3-4 seconds unlocks it again. Oh and did I mention the remote is backlit for shooting at night.
So there you have it, not quite as well built as the Nikon unit (but then that’s metal this is plastic), but crucially this is only £55 whereas the Nikon unit is about 4 times that price, and this is available whereas the Nikon unit is not (or at least not easy to find). Will it stand up to a long term test, who knows, but for £55 if it only last a couple of years, I’ll have had my money’s worth. When you think that this includes the cracking little wireless remote function, you have to wonder if adding some metal in the construction for the genuine unit equates to four times the price. Some will of course say yes, but for me, as I won’t use the grip all the time, this will do me just fine.
So all in all, highly recommended. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading.
**edit**
Sorry, forgot this part. Whilst Meike (AFAIK) makes no claims for the weather sealing of the grip (unlike the Nikon unit), upon checking my grip for my D810, I can see there are 2 places where Nikon seals the grip. One is a rubber gasket surrounding the contacts array on the grip to seal them when the grip is assembled to the camera, and secondly a rubber gasket around the opening to the battery compartment to seal against the battery holder chamber. On checking the Meike grip, it certainly has the gasket around the contacts array, but doesn't around the battery compartment opening. So weather sealing might not be as good as the Nikon unit and this may well be show stopper for you. Myself, I rarely if ever shoot in the rain (more of a fair weather photographer), and if I do, usually cover the camera with a cape anyway, so this feature doesn't bother me but it might you.
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