Third party grip for D700

Edward Bancroft

Edward Bancroft

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Has anyone had any experience with these third party grips for the Nikon D700/D300? They look very low cost compared to the Nikon MB-D10.

http://thatpixelgeek.com/2009/04/adorama-flashpoint-meike-grip-for-d300-d700/

http://www.ukbattery.net/battery-grip/wtenikd300a.html?gclid=CJOT7ovNpJ4CFaBb4wod2ElLmw

http://www.crazycameras.co.uk/product_63846.html?gclid=CLqV3_DIpJ4CFQdl4wodLUlCmg#customerreview

This subject has already come up on http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=144418&highlight=meike, but are there any others I should know about?

Thanks.

Ed
 
Although IMHO grips are the spawn of Satan himself, if you really want one the Link Delight Meike brand is about 99% identical to the Nikon one, and is actually very good.

On Ebay for around £70 last time I looked. Daft buying the Nikon one, as you can't tell them apart really.
 
I third PD apart from the bit about grips being evil :P

and the good news, they've dropped to £49 buy it now inc shipping :D
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....33891&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_2841wt_1165

great quality, and comes with the BL-3 piece of plastic that nikon charges you £30 for if you want to use a D3 battery in it to get 8fps...

put it this way, my second one for my second d300 is waiting for me at the post office :)
 
Why spend nearly £2k on a D700 and then save a few £ buying a 3rd party grip?
 
I have the Link Delight one for D300 and seems very good quality. Came with a battery and cant see how a Nikon one is around £150 better.
 
Well, I have now ordered one. With the Nikon grip variously quoted at ~£250, the third party one has to be good for what is only a battery holder and some buttons and knobs.

Ed
 
How similar is it to the official one? Do you still keep weather sealing?
 
Tempted by this Link Delight (Meike) one after reading some reviews and comparisons to the official one...
 
GlasgowGunner said:
Are the same make any good for the canon?
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yes, check down the left hand side here

Well, I have now ordered one. With the Nikon grip variously quoted at ~£250, the third party one has to be good for what is only a battery holder and some buttons and knobs.
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yep, and even the knobs are the same, and work great... even if you broke 4 of these, it'd still be cheaper...but I can't see that happening. End of the day, if a grip breaks, it's not the end of the day anyway...pull it off and keep shooting. Far rather spend money on glass and stuff that matters who made it...

Why spend nearly £2k on a D700 and then save a few £ buying a 3rd party grip?
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£200 saving is quite a decent percentage of £2k...

How similar is it to the official one? Do you still keep weather sealing?
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It's hard to make out... but I certainly won't have any qualms about using it in the rain. I actually prefer the 'grippiness' of the rubber on the grip to that on the cameras themselves. I haven't used the official D300 grip, but the MBD200 was certainly identical to the meike imitation.

Only thing I will say, there are some cheaper versions of the grips out there that either have a built in battery + charger, or don't have af-on or aperture/shutter wheels - avoid these and get the 'pro' version for a few quid more.

Oh, and AA eneloops or D3 batteries (oem/unofficial) work great in it (with the supplied BL-3 - again exactly the same as the nikon except you don't get the utterly pointless fabric case...and free instead of £30) to give you 8fps of sweet, sweet shooting.
 
itsdavedotnet said:
I haven't used the official D300 grip
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Then surely the comparison is meaningless? The MB-D10 is magnesium alloy and weathersealed, the plastic copy is just that, a plastic copy.

As for spending £2k on a camera and then baulking at an extra £100 or so for the proper grip for it, that's a bit like buying a Porsche and then sticking £30 Hankook tyres on it because they're black and round, just like the ones that Porsche recommend....;)
 
Flash In The Pan said:
As for spending £2k on a camera and then baulking at an extra £100 or so for the proper grip for it, that's a bit like buying a Porsche and then sticking £30 Hankook tyres on it because they're black and round, just like the ones that Porsche recommend....;)
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the porsche wouldn't work as well as porsche would with the proper accessory in that instance...the only thing that a D700 doesn't work as well at with the ebay grip as opposed to the nikon grip is being used as a hammer :P
 
itsdavedotnet said:
the porsche wouldn't work as well as porsche would with the proper accessory in that instance...the only thing that a D700 doesn't work as well at with the ebay grip as opposed to the nikon grip is being used as a hammer :P
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How do you know, you said above that you've no experience of the Nikon product.......;)
 
sorry if im hijacking but i wanted to get a battery grip for my a300, does the grip have a wheel and if so does that mean i can use it in manual and control aperture on one wheel and shutter on another.
 
Argh, I'd resolved myself to keeping my D300s ungripped for financial reasons...you guys owe me £50!
 
that's a bit like buying a Porsche and then sticking £30 Hankook tyres on it because they're black and round, just like the ones that Porsche recommend..
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It's actually the difference between what is essential, and what is needed, but not critical. I would not use anything other than BMW recommended tyres on my five series, but I have recently bought a set of floormats from Halfords for £14 when the official BMW ones are ~£60.

As for Nikon quality and cost, the only problem that I have with the D700 is that it comes with a somewhat flimsy neckstrap, and I have replaced that with a more expensive, but better, third party strap.

Ed
 
I thought I would revive this thread as i'm looking at buying a grip for my D700.

I have been seriously considering just paying the full whack for the MB-D10, but when I searched and came up with this thread I became interest in this Link Delight Meike version.

Does the use of a grip affect the battery life of the EN-EL3e?

I didn't actually know that it's possible to use the EN-EL3e battery in the grips, I thought you had to buy the EN-EL4a batteries...
 
I didn't actually know that it's possible to use the EN-EL3e battery in the grips, I thought you had to buy the EN-EL4a batteries...
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On the third party one that I got recently, it came with battery holders for the EN-EL3e and one for 8xAA cells.

Also included were an infrared remote control, IRC strap, and car charger adapter lead.
DSC_0072_800.jpg


The controls and switches are well placed for vertical format pictures, which is my main reason for a grip. The multi-function control has a miniature joystick which I find better than the push button on the D700. All other controls are the same.
DSC_0076_800.jpg


Ed
 
jayeshpp said:
Does the use of a grip affect the battery life of the EN-EL3e?
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Read somewhere that with the camera just left on (not taking shots), the unofficial grip uses the batteries quicker than the official one, although I think this was with AA rechargeables? Anyone whos had both able to comment please?
 
can't really see why... I always thought that grips were pretty much just expensive wires in a case...no circuitry whatsoever really.

only annoying thing with the EN-EL3e's in the mb-d10 is that to put the second one in, you've got to unscrew the grip and put the second one in the body.

EN-EL4's is the way to go ;) 8fps is real nice :P A seller on ebay has just popped up claiming to have a charger and a battery for £20.99 shipped... will order one and report back, I need another charger :P
 
I planned to get the link delight grip in a few weeks and was looking at the option that includes 2 extra batteries but it also comes with an adapter to use the EN-EL4. Now if I was to buy it without the extra batteries and just the adapter I could then pick up an EN-EL4 but nowhere on ebay seems to sell chargers. Anyone seen them. Is it worth bothering or better to just get the 2 EN-EL3 batteries. Does the faster fps work with EITHER option?
 
cowasaki said:
I planned to get the link delight grip in a few weeks and was looking at the option that includes 2 extra batteries but it also comes with an adapter to use the EN-EL4. Now if I was to buy it without the extra batteries and just the adapter I could then pick up an EN-EL4 but nowhere on ebay seems to sell chargers. Anyone seen them. Is it worth bothering or better to just get the 2 EN-EL3 batteries. Does the faster fps work with EITHER option?
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Link Delight sell the chargers Darren and 7day do the batteries........:thumbs:
 
cowasaki said:
I planned to get the link delight grip in a few weeks and was looking at the option that includes 2 extra batteries but it also comes with an adapter to use the EN-EL4. Now if I was to buy it without the extra batteries and just the adapter I could then pick up an EN-EL4 but nowhere on ebay seems to sell chargers. Anyone seen them. Is it worth bothering or better to just get the 2 EN-EL3 batteries. Does the faster fps work with EITHER option?
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this charger works fine

this is the £20.99 setup I mentioned a couple mins ago... dunno if it's just an error in the listing or something, but probably worth a shot...

you don't get the faster fps just with 2* EN-EL3e's, you need either EN-EL4, or AAs.

linkdelight do a charger that's awesome for the D300, charges both the D3 battery or the EN-EL3e, however it's £50 :<
 
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