1. Go grab a pop-corn. This will be interesting. ::what::::what::::what::
2. Background: So, about 7 months ago, I was too cheap to spend the money on a Nikon battery grip especially when it was just announced. It was an astronomical price then. So, like most of you do, we look for alternate and budget friendly battery grip. Then, here comes Meike, a 3rd party brand that has been manufacturing much cheaper battery grips. For less than $80, who would resist such offer?
So, I ordered one from Amazon.com, tried it, and it worked very well for about 1 week. Then the problem that I encountered is that whenever I use two original Nikon EN EL15 camera batteries, one in the camera and one in the battery tray, the battery charge display on the top LCD of the camera will indicate that the battery is discharged (see video).
[video=vimeo;46926083]http://vimeo.com/46926083[/video]
I later returned the "perceived" defective battery grip to the seller from amazon.com. Fast forward, another person who just purchased an original Nikon battery grip was selling his Meike battery grip for $35. So I said to myself, why not? So I got it and tried it, again, the same issue occurs. This made me think that I could have damaged my electronic connections inside my camera.
I ended up keeping the battery grip since it works as long as I don't put a battery inside the camera and just place the battery inside the battery grip. No problem. Then last week, I had to make a decision soon since my camera warranty will expire in May, I had to buy the Nikon battery grip in order to find out if the defect is on my camera or the battery grip. I couldn't send by camera and Meike to Nikon Service center since they don't work on 3rd party grips. They might not even accept my claim since I used a 3rd party grip.
So, today, the battery grip ($379) arrived, and the first thing that I did was to replicate my ongoing problem. I placed two batteries in my camera and one in the tray, turned the camera on, then, walla, it works! What a big relief!
Based on this, my conclusions are: the 3rd party girp might not be totally compatible with my D800E, 2nd, pay up and get the original battery grip. I've done the same thing with my D700 before and the Meike didn't last a year. I have an original D7000 battery grip from Nikon, and that too works like a champ.
Product comparison.
Nikon MBD 12 by gqtuazon, on Flickr
MBD 12 Nikon vs Meike by gqtuazon, on Flickr
MBD 12 Nikon vs Meike top by gqtuazon, on Flickr
2. Background: So, about 7 months ago, I was too cheap to spend the money on a Nikon battery grip especially when it was just announced. It was an astronomical price then. So, like most of you do, we look for alternate and budget friendly battery grip. Then, here comes Meike, a 3rd party brand that has been manufacturing much cheaper battery grips. For less than $80, who would resist such offer?
So, I ordered one from Amazon.com, tried it, and it worked very well for about 1 week. Then the problem that I encountered is that whenever I use two original Nikon EN EL15 camera batteries, one in the camera and one in the battery tray, the battery charge display on the top LCD of the camera will indicate that the battery is discharged (see video).
[video=vimeo;46926083]http://vimeo.com/46926083[/video]
I later returned the "perceived" defective battery grip to the seller from amazon.com. Fast forward, another person who just purchased an original Nikon battery grip was selling his Meike battery grip for $35. So I said to myself, why not? So I got it and tried it, again, the same issue occurs. This made me think that I could have damaged my electronic connections inside my camera.
I ended up keeping the battery grip since it works as long as I don't put a battery inside the camera and just place the battery inside the battery grip. No problem. Then last week, I had to make a decision soon since my camera warranty will expire in May, I had to buy the Nikon battery grip in order to find out if the defect is on my camera or the battery grip. I couldn't send by camera and Meike to Nikon Service center since they don't work on 3rd party grips. They might not even accept my claim since I used a 3rd party grip.
So, today, the battery grip ($379) arrived, and the first thing that I did was to replicate my ongoing problem. I placed two batteries in my camera and one in the tray, turned the camera on, then, walla, it works! What a big relief!
Based on this, my conclusions are: the 3rd party girp might not be totally compatible with my D800E, 2nd, pay up and get the original battery grip. I've done the same thing with my D700 before and the Meike didn't last a year. I have an original D7000 battery grip from Nikon, and that too works like a champ.
Product comparison.
Nikon MBD 12 by gqtuazon, on Flickr
MBD 12 Nikon vs Meike by gqtuazon, on Flickr
MBD 12 Nikon vs Meike top by gqtuazon, on Flickr