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I have a Nikon D5200, problem is the body of the cam is very small to my hands. I want to purchase a battery grip, that i suppose will give me more space to grip properly.Nikon does not produce grips for entry level (d3100,3200,5100,5200,5300) cams. My question is: are the third party battery grips (meike/neewer/vello/digitek) good enough? Does they create any problem to the camera body itself in long run?

p.s. I would buy an OEM version if it was available.

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    \$\begingroup\$ At the moment, this question is verging on opinion; what criteria do you want to use to determine "good enough"? \$\endgroup\$
    – Philip Kendall ♦
    Commented Dec 17, 2013 at 9:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ By a good battery grip I expect it to be fully compatible with my camera in terms of battery status, usage etc.(I have two original nikon batteries), The secondary release button usage is not important to me because I am not into portrait that much. I dont want it to drain the batteries attached to it while not in use (as I learned from other threads). and the most important part is I dont want this to damage the camera body. \$\endgroup\$
    – Avik B.
    Commented Dec 17, 2013 at 11:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ Apparently a recent Nikon firmware update stops the camera from working with third party batteries. nikonrumors.com/2013/12/08/… \$\endgroup\$
    – vclaw
    Commented Dec 17, 2013 at 12:52
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    \$\begingroup\$ This would be a better question if you made it specific to a particular third party battery grip. It's hard to answer a question like "is it good enough?" with respect to a group of products from different manufacturers. \$\endgroup\$
    – Caleb
    Commented Dec 17, 2013 at 18:31

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It's funny you should ask because I have just sent a second grip back from my D7000 and ordered a third by Meike. The first two I had were unbranded but I have a suspicion that they're all the same anyway with a different sticker. I certainly can't tell the difference.

The problem is that if you have no choice other than to get a third party one you may not have the choice.

I have decided to try the Meike one out and if this one fails also then I will buy the genuine one.

If you are interested the first one had issues with the dials jumping the numbers all over the place and then the battery stopped communicating. Then the second one just had the battery issue.

Update Nov 14 In the end the Meike grip started playing up. It would be like the contacts weren't working and the camera kept powering down as you moved it. I removed the battery from the grip and placed it in the camera, that improved things but it's not convenient.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ thanks for the prompt reply, If I had option I would definitely buy the original one. Can you say if there is any threat to the camera body by those generic grips? \$\endgroup\$
    – Avik B.
    Commented Dec 17, 2013 at 9:24
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    \$\begingroup\$ Well I've seen that debated several times before. I expect some people will say so but I haven't't heard of it happening. The best thing is to try and hunt down as many reviews about the one you are looking at in particular. \$\endgroup\$
    – connersz
    Commented Dec 17, 2013 at 9:29
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My Meike one for the Canon 6d is satisfactory. There are a few quibbles but I accept them.

Quibbles:

  1. Sometimes the camera only picks up one of the two batteries.
  2. Sometimes the camera does not report the charge of the batteries correctly (they're both canon batteries). Sometimes it says one is at 100% when its not, or its not even on the camera.
  3. Sometimes the top scrollywheel stops working, and won't start working (even after a reset) until I move the grip's scroll wheel.

It's all good fun and games for $50 for the grip, when even the genuine one wasn't in stock yet.

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I have purchased both Nikon and Generic battery grips.

I have a D7000, and the $200+ Nikon battery worked great and felt great.

The $50 one on amazon, did the exact same thing, just felt cheap. It also worked great, all buttons function as they should, until about 6 months later after a lot of use, the shutter dial on the grip stopped working, and also the battery cartridge would only work with AA, and not my extra EN-EL15.

So the generics work as good, just might now last as long, and feel "cheaper" ... but also you could buy 4 for the price of the name brand.

HTH

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I use a Photix on both my D800 and D600 with Photix batteries and have no problem. It works perfectly and they last just as long. Great product at a great price. (The firmware upgrade story mentioned above doesn't affect all third party batteries.)

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I have a a Phottix grip for a Canon and it works fine. A little bit less rugged than the Canon but much cheaper \$\endgroup\$
    – Jafin
    Commented Dec 18, 2013 at 7:20

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