Product Review: MeiKe Battery grip for the D3100

PavementPilot

New member
MeiKe pronounce M K released their D3100 battery grip.

I received it today and tested it out. It is made of the same plastic as the body of the D3100. The body lines are perfect for the D3100 body, with a rubber grip on the vertical hand surface for shooting protrait. The shutter release is smooth with distinct detent points for AF and release. In continuous mode, it works perfectly.

The locking wheel appears to be loose when the grip is locked to the body, but that is only the wheel on the shaft. The grip stays locked, even though the wheel does rattle a bit. the battery door is tight on my grip. I have heard of others saying the door is loose and rattles.

Because there is not IR on the D3100, the only way to have a protrait shutter button was to use the DC-MC-2 port with a 3N connector. There is a short communications cable from the battery grip to the body on the left side.

I mounted my body, grip, and 55-300mm on my tripod to see how balance was effected. The tripod mount on the bottom of the grip is just slightly to the right of the body mount, but I found not effect in balance on the tripod.



Pros:
  • Lightweight body, but feels and appears sturdy
  • Veritcal (Portrait) shutter release
  • Easy battery installation and removal
  • Matches body lines
Cons:
  • Due to the comm cable the other ports are left open to the elements. Covering with the open ports with tape or inserting plug covers will help
  • Locking wheel rattles on the mounting shaft
I did not test with two batteries, as I am still waiting for my second battery to arrive. I will post an adendum to this review when I can test with both batteries. This test will be an extensive field test, as I want to see how it monitors and draws from both batteries.
 
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Rick M

Senior Member
Sounds pretty good for the money, will be interesting to see how it handles the 2 batteries, does it drain them simultaneously or seperately?
 

PavementPilot

New member
My second battery arrived today. I charged it up and had my original fully charged. I loaded both and set the Live View on, and recorded 10 segments of video. After 100 minutes (10 X 10 minute clips) the battery indicator went red and showed 1/3. I stopped at this point and turned the camera off. I pulled the right battery and turned the camera back on to check left battery. It showed 2/3. Camera off, and pull left, load right, and camera on. This one showed 2/3. Pulled the grip and inserted into camera direct. Both showed full batteries. Regripped, loaded both batteries and now it shows full charge. Pulled the batteries and put on charger, one at a time. Both took the same charge, and the time was about equal to what a 2/3 battery needs to charge to full.

I dont know what to make of this. I guess to refesh the battery level, I would need to turn off and pull the batteries and reinsert. This is something I will be watching and working on.
 

Rick M

Senior Member
Sounds like it is drawing on both batteries simultaniously? I don't think you will get accurate readings when you draw down a battery quickly. They heat up and become inefficient. I think a test under normal conditions will give you better, more meaningful results.
 

PavementPilot

New member
I have changed how I am going to use my grip. Only one battery at a time, but someone else over on flickr shared how he is using his. One battery loaded, and put the shutter cable in the other bay, so it is not always there, unless needed and hand to have at that. I folded my cable in half and inserted the cable end in first leaving the plug ends out towards you. This will prevent accidental shorting out at the terminal end of the bay.
 

fotojack

Senior Member
New batteries need to be charged and drained a few times before they become fully useful. Wait till you have a few more charges on those batteries and do the test again. I think you'll see a marked difference and improvement. By the way......what make of battery are you using? The whole reason for the grip is to load two batteries, where after one gets low, the other kicks in. Nikon batteries have the chip installed in them that tells your camera battery meter that one is losing power so it can kick in the other battery. Apparently, I'm told, aftermarket batteries don't have this chip.
 

PavementPilot

New member
I have cycled the new battery numerous times, that I bought for this grip. There is no manual switch on the grip. Both my batteries are genuine Nikon. Tested in the camera without the grip to verify. Others have noticed some odd or quirky behavior with their bodies at times with the grip installed and both batteries loaded. It goes away when only one battery is loaded, or the grip is removed and a battery is loaded directly into the body. I haven't experienced this, but have gone to one battery at a time.
 
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michalurban

New member
Hi, thanks for the review. Im just curious, do you think it would be possible to adjust the cable somehow? What I mean is eg. removing the "connector cover door", use a tape to stick the cable down to the camera body and then using a black ducktape or something to cover the whole thing? I dont use those connectors as I copy photos directly from the memory card. I know it sounds messy :) but Id like to buy this camera, I love to use a camera with a BG - but this solutions looks like I would be pulling the cable out all the time - or the door. Thanks! :)
 
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TwistedxKnights

New member
Just curious if anyone has run into errors when using the battery grip? I was on a shoot a few days ago and I got a Incompatible battery Error . I use two genuine Nikon Batteries in the grip , first time I encountered the error was when i changed to a Holga lens at a shoot a few months back.
 
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