I am trying to buy a external battery for my Nikon D7100, but there are many variations on the net and I am confused about which one is good to buy. Does Nikon make an external battery grip or do I have to get a third party one?
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I've gone through three third party grips and trust me, it's just not worth it as the quality is generally poor. It's debatable whether most people need a grip. I take mostly portraits and when I have a giant flash on top, along with a flashbender, holding the camera on the side in portrait seems to help balance things. – connersz Oct 31 '14 at 11:51
They make the MB-D15
http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-MB-D15-Battery-Pack-Digital/dp/B00BJ3NGFS
I have one of these and love it. The challenge/benefit with third party ones are:
Challenges: Can be lower quality. Check out reviews. Generally people like Photix grip.
Benefits: Lower cost.
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The main reason I use the battery grip is that it provides a better grip on the camera. The D7100 body is too small for my hands especially with one of the larger (ie heavier) lenses on it. Third party ones a good enough for this. – Rene Oct 29 '14 at 9:03
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Also consider second-hand Nikon grips. Quality is really much better. – ElendilTheTall Oct 29 '14 at 12:11
The Nikon one is not cheap:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/929858-REG/nikon_27096_mb_d15_multi_power_battery.html
But since this is the kind of thing that you will use for the life of your camera, it's worth considering paying the extra price for the Nikon model. That would be my choice although with something like a grip you're probably pretty safe w third party.
D7100 too small for your hands wow! I'm 6'4 and it feels pretty big to me :)