Battery Grip

jonritter

Senior Member
I am going to be ordering a D7200 shortly and I was wondering what battery grip you guys are using? I currently have a D5200 that supports two batteries which is nice, but requires a cable for the button to operate the shutter. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Jon
 

Mark F

Senior Member
I am going to be ordering a D7200 shortly and I was wondering what battery grip you guys are using? I currently have a D5200 that supports two batteries which is nice, but requires a cable for the button to operate the shutter. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Jon

Others may disagree... but if you are ever going to hang the camera from a black rapid or any single point camera strap, do yourself and your camera a big favor by spending the extra money on a genuine nikon battery grip.
I don't know how many 3rd party grips I have had in the past where I have caught the plastic cracking around the screw thread of the grip. Nikon grips are a lot beefier there. It uses a magnesium alloy equivalent to that in the body.
Some of the knockoffs look nice, but not as well constructed.
But your mileage may vary depending on what your usage is.
 

Gobae

Senior Member
I purchased the Vello BG-N1 for my D7200 and so far it's been quite good. The are a couple of quirks however. Which, after reading the MB-D15 reviews, are apparently not unique to just the Vello version.

First, the tripod screw on the D7200 is so off center (to the left) that the battery grip doesn't seat totally tight on the right side. This leads to some small movement and squishy feel when using the grip in portrait orientation.

Second, unlike some Nikon grips for other models, this one only houses the second battery; "primary" battery stays in the camera. So if you need to charge both batteries you've got to remove the grip. But you can tell the D7200 which battery to use first.

Third, if you remove just the grip battery to charge it and continue to use the camera with just the in-body battery it may not recognize the grip and extra battery when the battery is put back in. To remedy this you need to remove the grip and re-install it.

As far as hanging the camera via a black rapid or other strap system goes, I've never had any issue with the grip plastic cracking or deforming like MarkF experienced. I was initially concerned about that potential (especially with the threads so off center on the D7200) but it hasn't materialized after 1.5 years on the D7200 and 4 years on my D90. That said, I still inspect them!
 
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Danno

Senior Member
On my D7200 I went with the Nikon grip. I looked for a long time before I bought one and in the OEM grip for the same reason, [MENTION=12825]Mark F[/MENTION] did. I looked at some cross-sections of the factory grip and I felt more secure with the OEM grip. I am now using a Cotton carrying system when I go on walks and a Joby strap when it is more appropriate and both attach to the tripod mount of the grip. I feel very confident using that on the OEM grip.
 
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