Camera Grip, you`re views please.

Graham

Graham

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Graham
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Hi All,
A few weeks ago i bought a Grip, I thought it would be useful as i wanted to spend a day or two without changing batteries, well now here is my dilemma.
I have spent an afternoon in the inlaws garden doing Macro (trying) so most of the time the camera was on and not always on AF, at the end of the afternoon, say about 6ish i noticed the battery indicator was down to 2 bars, 2 original Nikon batteries and both fully charged the day before.
So off came the Grip and in went one battery, 10 - 15 photos later the battery was dead, battery No2 was about the same, now i cant guess at this stage but im sure there wasnt 300-350 photos taken in total;
Can i have your views on Camera Grips, my Grip was a Meike not a Nikon but should it matter ?
 
Were you using live view? That uses battery power at a faster rate.
 
Not that much as i prefer to use the eye piece for preciseness.
 
Hi Graham, I have a Neewer grip for my D7000 with an ex-pro battery and have had no problems like this at all when the grip is connected. (Although I don't use it that often tbh). I read here a few days ago about someone having a similar issue and the grip turned their new battery with a reading of 0 to 4 in a couple of weeks. (iirc).

I actually ordered a Meike grip but revieved the Neewer one instead... pretty glad now. :LOL:
 
I have nikon grips for both my D300 and D800 cameras, my opinion is why buy an expensive camera then get a cheap grip for it? I also use Nikon batteries as well, not third party ones I just don't trust them to be of the same standard, but that is just my opinion. Battery life is not a real problem, it depends on how long and often you check the shot on the screen
 
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My ex-pro battery out performs my Nikon one considerably.

Not everyone can afford to buy genuine OEM stuff, the grip is about £100 and then about £40 for a battery where as a Neewer grip is £24 and an ex-pro battery is about £12... so basically, what you're saying is there is no point to companies like Tamron, Sigma, Tokina, etc etc etc because you have an expensive camera and should only use OEM lenses. Hmmm, I'd be stuck with a point and shoot if that were the case as I can't afford to buy 'proper' Nikon lenses to go with my D7000.
 
My point is that i dont seem to get as many shots out of the grip as i would if i used two seperate batteries, just seen my photo cpunt for yesterday and today, 230 photos, me thinks the grips gotta go if thats the case. and YES my batteries are Nikon ones.
 
You should still check them though, especially as they're draining so quickly. If you read my above comment you will see that a poster here stated their battery had gone from 0-4 in under a month. If this has happened to you then you have cause to contact the seller of the grip imo.
 
Thanks,
No chance as was 2nd hand :facepalm:
 
realspeed said:
I have nikon grips for both my D300 and D800 cameras, my opinion is why buy an expensive camera then get a cheap grip for it? I also use Nikon batteries as well, not third party ones I just don't trust them to be of the same standard, but that is just my opinion. Battery life is not a real problem, it depends on how long and often you check the shot on the screen
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to me grips are often only used some of the time, even less time actually using the buttons and controls on the grip, and battery grips probably depreciate in price quickly, for a pro then the feel and realiability of a oem grip is worthwhile, for a amature its probably not.
 
I've got a Meike grip for my D800e - I don't put the Nikon batteries in though - I use AA's. This works fine no power drain that I've noticed - but I only connect it when I want it.
 
I have a Meike grip on my Canon 5D3 and have had Meike grips on all the Canon bodies I've had and they have all been excellent. Never had a problem with any of them and the only battery drain problem I had was with a different make grip on the 5D3 (can't remember what brand it was but it was pretty widespread). I first got a grip for a 550D in early 2011 and the grip is still in use regularly on the wifes 650D and is still working perfectly. On my 5D3 I can get around 3000 shots on a pair of fully charged genuine Canon batteries, which I did last year at an airshow (I only changed batteries for around 300 shots at the end but there was still power in the first pair anyway but they were getting low)

Try testing the batteries without the grip, it may be you have a rogue grip with a problem and it might be worth looking into a new one. The only genuine grip I've ever had is the one currently on my Canon 70D and TBH if the Meike equivalent had been available when I got the 70D I would have gone for that but I got my 70D on its release so the Canon was the only grip available at the time. The Meike grips I've had have all worked as well as the Canon grip and the Meike feels as solid as the Canon too.
 
Meike for my D800 and no problems with battery drain here - if S/H maybe faulty when sold?
 
I have a Sony Grip for my a77 and it works very well, no rapid drain on the batteries x2 ( genuine Sony's) They seem to last as long as they do in single mode

Maybe you have a faulty grip or worn batteries

Les ;)
 
You should get at least 1000 images off any DSLR battery so two in a grip should in theory give you 2000+ images, not 230?!
 
Indeed - I'd ask the question as to how many shots you're getting out of a battery without the grip? It would be good to get a baseline before comparing with the grip. I didn't see what camera you've got, but I'm easily getting >800 out of my D7100 (without monitoring - it's likely more, and in the ~1000 region) so to be getting that few, there is clearly a problem!
 
i have shot over 3000 with a battery in the camera and one in the grip at a marathon i covered, i would suggest you check your batteries, or your grip for a fault. hth mike (nikon d700 meike grip)
 
Jackwow said:
Surely both had to be in the grip? :thinking:
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Depends on the camera grip. My D300s and D800 grips take 1 battery, the other goes in the camera.

Im with Mike (dinorock), I get 2500+ shots from either of mine gripped - genuine grips and batteries.
 
Thank all for your replys/thoughts.
Think it's going to be sold on.
 
There is something wrong with your camera, your grips, your batteries or your use of the equipment.

I have had Nikon and third party batteries and grips on various models of cameras and they have all lasted a long time between charges.
 
I have a canon grip on my 500d and it lasts me ages, even with the camera on all the time i never really seem to run out of battery.
 
Something doesn't sound right here, have you tried only using one battery in the camera (none in the grip), only using one in the grip (none in the camera) or using either battery in the camera without a grip attached? Depending on the results of these test it may say whether it's the camera, batteries, grip or your use. I'm guessing your camera is a d3200 by your profile.

I have used batteries in both the camera and grip on a d7000 and d7100 and had no battery drain issues. I can go a few trips without charging the batteries, I now only charge the grip battery as I don't always discharge it enough in a day or two to move onto the camera battery. It also helps not having to take out the grip off to charge the camera battery. I'm also hoping 4 batteries will get me through 2 days staying on Skomer in July with no access to battery charging, so far I've not used more than 2 batteries in 2 days.
 
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