NIKON d500 - Third Party battery grips ( YES or NO )

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I’ve only had Nikon grips for my previous cameras D300/D700, D750, D800, D810. I don’t have a grip for the D850, but I am having a hard time justifying the $499 Cdn they are asking for it, particularly since the grip for my D750 was terrible. It never connected properly, green light blinking all the time and drew down the batteries super fast. The others were great, but it does make me hesitant given that the D850 grip feels similarly cheap compared to the MB-D10 and MB-D12.
 
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I use only Nikon grips, bitter that they cost 90% more than the generic items, but toss the cash anyway. OEM seem more solid than the others.
While many wont use, I have several generic batteries I will use,. Never had a problem in 20 years with them.
 
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I bought a refurbished D7200 in 2017, from Cameta Camera, and a few months ago a Nikon MB-D15 battery grip, from B&H, for it. The camera has operated normally with this grip and I've had no problems at all. The fit, finish, and function have been smooth enough to be un-noticeable. I read about several of the third party grips and the pro and con reviews and decided the Nikon was my choice, in spite of the cost, and I've been pleased with it. I don't have any experience with any of the third party grips.
 
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I've got four OEM Nikon battery grips. Two of them came as a premium (free of charge) when I purchased the respective camera, one I was given by an acquaintance who had no ues for it, and the last of them I just purchased used a bit over a month ago for a bit over US $150 after sales taxes were added. I had sworn off all battery grips a while ago, but found that the battery life with my D500 was always ending at a very inopportune time, so I opted to get the grip to try with the D500. The jury is still out since I haven't used it enough to exhaust one battery yet.

I have used a third party grip on my D90 earlier, and I don't remember having any operational issues with it, other than it looked and felt cheap. I don't recall that it even had a brand name on it, but just a "for Nikon D90" inscription, or something like that. I chose not to keep it because I was ill-at-ease with using it with my camera.

All-in-all, campared to the other expenses incurred with photography, an OEM grip is inexpensive; typically about how much a few nights at a hotel will cost you, at the most.

W
 
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Harry.G said:
Hi guys

I am looking for advice on whether I should OR should not purchase a third party battery grip for my Nikon d500 ....

Generally I always stick with the manufacturer when purchasing add on products for anything and the same goes for my Nikon d500 in respect to Batteries etc ,having said that, I`ve been doing some research regarding Battery grips and its came up on numerous occasions that the Nikon branded battery grip performs no better than the third party options available .....

I`ve read that on occasions the third party grip can malfunction/glitch although apparently the regular Nikon grip can and does malfunction/glitch just as much .. What this actually means in real terms I am not exactly sure....

So given that a Nikon grip is around the £350/£400 and a third party costs a fraction of that ie anything from as little as £60 I`m torn between sticking with an Original or buying a third party ..

has anyone here had any experiences good or indifferent with the above ^^^^

thanks in advance

PS .... If any of you guys use a third party grip are there any particular makes that you`d recommend

Harry.G
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When I had my Nikon D810 I bought a Pixel/Vertex grip and found it excellent. Nikon grip at the time 325 GBP, the pixel ome was 105GBP. Later I did get a Nikon grip but in use, feel and to look at, it was identical to the Pixel one. So when I got my D850 I went straight for the Pixel grip and it is as good as the other one. Only nit is that there is maybe 1mm overlap against the D850 body where with the D810 irt was flush. So I'd recommend Pixel/Vertex whatever they are called.

A friend recently bought a D500 and was impressed with the Pixel grip but he could not find one so IIRC he bought a Meike and seems to be happy with it.
 
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The first grip I ever bought was an OEM one for my first D300. When I added another D300 to my camera bag I bought a Meike grip to save some money and in the 7 years (and 100,000+ shutter actuations) I had those bodies neither grip gave any problems at all.

I like the feel of a gripped body so my two D600's, D610, D800 and current D750 have all had them fitted and all 3rd party ones. Happy to say none have given me any cause to regret saving the £££ :)
 
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