Has anyone had success with a non Nikon vertical grip for the D700? Recommendation?

Tom Trujillo
The CUBAN NIKONIAN!
D700, D70s, F5, N70, 8008, F-PhotoT

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I am not sure if I perfectly understand your need, but I generally like actual nikon products and like to pay the price. They make all the difference for me.
I can say that I had a serious medical problem for two months and needed any simple handgrip. I did not need the batteries, didn't have any spare money, and I could not afford anything, and felt desperate. I did have frozen shoulder, as they term it; a funny name but a serious ailment. I could not keep lifting a pro dslr like the d700. A $10 grip gave me the time needed to feel secure and let my shoulder heal. It was nothing more than a handle but that worked out nicely for just ten dollars. The brand was not important, just that I could lift the camera with an added hand grip and nothing more than that.
I'm a hobbyist.
More expensive support systems or accessories for shooting could be a much larger and exciting topic. I wonder if I helped.
Best wishes, jw

PS you may have been asking about fps and performance and sorry I can not help with that. Your pictures look nice.
"Shadows are the soul of the picture."rick sammon

JW.

Thank you for your input. I whole heartedly agree about the quality of Nikon products, not to mention the expense incurred with Nikon products! LOL. Some times I truly feel put out by the Nikon prices and feel we are getting gouged but that is neither here nor there. While I am doing well I no longer feel that I have unlimited deep pockets for NAS so I try to manage with third party products where I feel they will help but not sacrifice image quality.

I have been shooting lots of political events lately in an effort to supply my fledging event photography business with some portfolio samples and after a long day last week I realized my right wrist was starting to kill me from all the vertical shots. I sure miss using my F5 with the integrated vertical grip and shutter release and will never understand why Nikon omits this capability from a $3000 semi-pro camera (probably to sell more MB-D10's).

Anyway, I wound up procuring at BHPHOTO a Vello Vertical Grip for roughly $70 with the same features as the MB-D10 from Nikon which is priced at $250. It arrives tomorrow so hopefully it will work out ok. It had plenty of five star reviews and thats what I look for.

Thanks again and I hope your are feeling better!

Tom

Tom Trujillo
The CUBAN NIKONIAN!
D700, D70s, F5, N70, 8008, F-PhotoT

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Thanks for such a nice reply.
I feel pretty good.
At that time I have to carry the camera with my right hand in between shots. The grip provided a handle. See what I mean, the camera is not designed for a right handed holding position.
Then I came up with the idea to cradle the camera in my left elbow between shots.
The frozen shoulder thing was unbelievable and I am a trombonist professionally-- and just a hobbyist photographer but I shoot pictures every day.
Typically my hands a swollen and so it goes for me.
In the music industry there is far more awareness of the body as part of your infrastructure. Long term professional musicians come down with all sorts of strange, crazy ailments that sound more like funny things than any real crisis points in ones professional life.


"Shadows are the soul of the picture."rick sammon

Hi Tom,

Please let us know how well your new grip performes.
Good Luck and Enjoy your Nikons!

Best Regards,
Marty

Well I have good news and bad news to report. The Vello grip does NOT work with the ENL3 battery. I reached back out to BHPHOTO who originally told me it was compatible with the D700 and now they say I was given bad information. They suggested a different off brand ZENBG300 which is out of stock.

So, I did some digging on the new ZEN recommendation and found on Amazon lots of positive feedback on the item, however, an equal number of negative feedback. Its really weird, lots of happy customers with D700's and many unhappy ones with the very same issue, ENL battery not recognized.

In my case, as soon as I connect the grip to the D700, if it has an ENL battery in it, the camera indicates DEAD Battery and will not work. Soon as I disconnect it - or put in AA, everything is fine.

I guess I have a decision to make about a return and spending an additional $180 some odd for the nikon grip. T

Tom Trujillo
The CUBAN NIKONIAN!
D700, D70s, F5, N70, 8008, F-PhotoT

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

How about a 2nd hand MB-D10? Lots of people with D300s and D700s seem to be selling gear and a used MB-D10 can be had for about 1/2 the cost of new.


Anthony

The Moderator Page and My Gallery
The important things in life are simple; the simple things are hard.

May have to go that route.

Tom Trujillo
The CUBAN NIKONIAN!
D700, D70s, F5, N70, 8008, F-PhotoT

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I went that way and have not regretted it. I put the money towards other stuff I wanted needed.


Anthony

The Moderator Page and My Gallery
The important things in life are simple; the simple things are hard.

I ordered a nice used one from BH for $160. Might have saved going the eBay route but the older I get the less trusting and less patient I am waiting for auctions to end. T

Tom Trujillo
The CUBAN NIKONIAN!
D700, D70s, F5, N70, 8008, F-PhotoT

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

>I ordered a nice used one from BH for $160. Might have saved
>going the eBay route but the older I get the less trusting and
>less patient I am waiting for auctions to end. T

My simplistic opinion....

You've got a $2500 body..why put a non OEM item, which has electronics within it ??? on the base of your body??? Good move on the used BH item...they stand behind anything they sell...great place to buy goodies !!!

I'm silly in that way....I buy only OEM stuff that attaches to my equipment that has any electircal components....e.g. batteries, etc.. I only buy Nikon...why? when something bad happens, I have the receipts and products from NIKON...they money saved will result be quickly lost in the event of a problem..I want my Camera to "work" when I want it..

My non OEM stuff is built specifically by other top quality manufs....pocketwizards, Sigma lenses...for example, I purchased the SD-9 battery packs...yep $200...but, I'm placing it on a $600 SB910....I just want it to work properly....you just don't know what you are getting when you go 3rd party....yeah, yeah, I know it's all made in the same place (LOL).

dc

Visit my professional gallery.

Yet, I just installed the used MB-D10 grip from BH and it has the same problem. Works with AA but soon as I put one of the two EN batteries in it the camera is DEAD and shows drained batteries. Both batteries work fine directly inside the camera body - WTH ???

Tom Trujillo
The CUBAN NIKONIAN!
D700, D70s, F5, N70, 8008, F-PhotoT

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Sounds like a problem with the camera body. Try the grip on a different D300/D700. It could be as simple as cleaning the contacts with ISO alcohol, but you've probably already tried that...

D700 l N90s l AF-S 16-35 f4 l AF-S 24-85 f3.5-f4.5G VR l AF-S 70-200 f2.8G VRII l AF-S 50 f1.8G l AF-S 300 f4 l TC-14EII l 2x SB600 l Autometer IIIF.
https://www.facebook.com/tony.johnson.photography
http://www.eyesonboulder.com
My Nikonians Gallery

Hi Tom,

Try cleaning the electrical contacts in the MB-D10 and on the EN-EL3e batteries.
Do you have the latest firmware (version A:1.03/B:1.02) installed in your D700?
Check Custom Setting d11 MB-D10 Battery Order.
Good Luck and Enjoy your Nikons!

Best Regards,
Marty

I use the Zeikos grip with no issues. I had it on my D300s no problems, moved it to the D700 no problems. Cost under a hundred bucks if I remember. I bought it over a year ago from Amazon and shoot like a machine gun... lol

D700 l N90s l AF-S 16-35 f4 l AF-S 24-85 f3.5-f4.5G VR l AF-S 70-200 f2.8G VRII l AF-S 50 f1.8G l AF-S 300 f4 l TC-14EII l 2x SB600 l Autometer IIIF.
https://www.facebook.com/tony.johnson.photography
http://www.eyesonboulder.com
My Nikonians Gallery

I dont know, getting ready to throw in the towel. The firmware is correct. The pins and connections on the D700 are pristine as their rubber cover was never off until last wednesday. Calling BH tomorrow and probably keeping the off brand unit as it is 1/2 the cost of the used Nikon. If they are both only working with AA, why pay the extra.

Tom Trujillo
The CUBAN NIKONIAN!
D700, D70s, F5, N70, 8008, F-PhotoT

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Tom, I have the same problem with a used D700 and MD10 that I purchased. It will not work with the EL3 battery. I finally bought a $100 worth of rechargeable batteries and two chargers.

John

My Pictures may be seen here: http://jmiguez.smugmug.com/

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Well, I give up. I received the following from BH today about the MB-D10 to which my response is Huh??

"Hello Thomas Trujillo, my name is Gabe M:

Apparently item B&H # ZENBG300 would be the only compatible item for your camera. It is out of stock now, however, we should get it by tomorrow, so once we will receive the return, it could be processed for an exchange.

Please let us know if you're interested in that exchange. "

So I called them this morning and got an RMA for the MB-D10 and I am keeping the Vello. If I have to use AA's, then I may as well do it with the $70 Vello vs. the used $180 MB-D10!

My eneloops will get a a workout.

T

Tom Trujillo
The CUBAN NIKONIAN!
D700, D70s, F5, N70, 8008, F-PhotoT

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Have you checked the battery preference in your D700 menu? Perhaps there is something selected that shouldn't be. Just a thought.

Good luck with your issue. I just purchased a lightly used D700 and I love it. I hope you get your issue resolved soon.

JD

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.