Back when I bought my Nikon D7000 I never really thought about buying the Nikon branded battery grip due to my use of that body as a travel body and the cost of the Nikon grip. However, the 1st time that I had to use it as a backup body when my D700 went into the shop for repair, I really wanted a battery grip for shooting portraits. Then I ran across this Meike 3rd party battery grip and decided to give it a try. It worked perfectly the entire time I had it. I sold it with my D7000 before upgrading to the D600. Once again I was in the same boat. I wanted a battery grip for the D600, but didn’t want to spend the money for the Nikon branded one.
What does it do?
Basically a battery grip does three things. 1) It gives you a way to grip your camera easily in portrait mode. 2) It allows you controls and shutter button access on the grip and lastly 3) it doubles your shooting time by allowing you to put in a second battery. In my opinion a battery grip either works or it doesn’t. Therefore, I have no problem buying a less expensive one as long as it works! Since I had good luck with the Meike knockoff for a fraction of the price, I tried one for my new Nikon D600 and it even works better than the 1st one! Better? Terry you just said “it either works or it doesn’t.” How can this one work better? There was one minor issue with the one for the D7000. The dials on the grip worked backwards. For example, if you wanted to go back one image during review you would have to dial to the right instead of the left. Weird, but I got used to it. I’m happy to report that this one works with the dials turning the right direction as you would expect them to work.
The Bottom Line
With any 3rd party accessory that accesses your camera’s electronics you are at some risk of it doing some damage. However, having used the previous one for over a year with no problems, I feel reasonably safe with this one on my D600. It comes with both trays for either a standard EN EL-15 battery or AA’s. You can get one here for about $68 or the Nikon branded one here for $273.
Years back when I bought my Canon 20D I debated getting a third party battery grip or the Canon grip. I decided to spend the extra for the Canon grip and I am so glad that I did. After only a couple of months use the threaded tripod mount on the bottom of the camera (to which the grip is attached to) came loose and would just spin freely in the body. No way to get the grip tightened, no way to get the grip off. I sent it to Canon and it was repaired and returned – no problem, no cost. I “shutter” to think what I would have had to pay for the repair if it was not a Canon battery grip. Buyer beware.
Terry, would you recommend the same for the D800?
I would, although I haven’t used that model.
I have a D800 and the Meike Grip it works fine and I am quite pleased. The first one I received was defective but it was promptly replaced at no cost. Hope this helps.
I’ve got the same grip for a Canon 550d. Works a charm. I too have had a few weird issues though. The battery remaining indicator changes about 10 minutes before the power dies and occasionally the dial on my camera wont work unless I turn the dial on grip. Just like you I got use to it and the savings are deffinitly worth it.
Do you have a review of the D600 that you’ve written Terry?
http://terrywhite.com/nikon-d600-first-impressions/
How responsive are the main dials? When I tested a Travor version of the D600 grip, I had to spin the main dial 22 times in order to change the shutter from 1″ to 1/4000s, while it took me only 10 turns of the main dial on the D600. Can you give your Meike grip a test like this and let us know how responsive the main dial performs?
It’s the same exact number of turns/clicks as the main dial of the camera.