Last year I watched a video by Lee Morris (Fstoppers.com) regarding the 3rd Party/Fake Battery Grips for the Nikon D7000.


Lee Morris unfortunately ordered his, assuming it was an original from Nikon, and then later found out it was actually made by a company called “Neewer”, and then was rebranded with Nikon all over it to make it seem real.



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He did express the opinion that despite it being a fake, the differences he found between them were not that noticeable, or if they were, they did not bother him as much.


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This video actually encouraged me to purchase a 3rd Party branded grip, and mine was purchased from eBay and was made by a company called Meike.





After 8months of using this Grip, I have had absolutely no issues with it at all!


The camera can run off the batteries I put in it just fine and the shutter button works just fine and feels as responsive as the one on the camera body. The only major issue I had with the grip was noted in the video, and that was the dial buttons were reversed. Where you would spin the dial one way to open up the aperture on the camera body, you would have to spin the other way on the grip.


Before purchasing the grip for my D7000, I had hesitations with this making shooting more awkward. However for some reason, it was like second nature to me. I didn’t really feel it slowed me down in anyway, and I quickly got used to it.



The price difference between the 3rd Party one and the original Nikon one worked out to be £160. On the basis all I wanted was the Vertical shutter button, that saving was too good to pass by!


Once I upgraded to the Nikon D800, I really missed the vertical shutter and the extra beefiness the grip gives the camera. I checked out the prices for the D800 Grip and I nearly died a little inside when I saw the retail price of £367.99 at Jessops.com.





Personally, all I want the grip for is a vertical shutter as it is more comfortable to shoot with, can I justify spending £367.99 for that? I don’t think so…


However I just found out that there is a 3rd party company called “Pixel” who are making replica MB-D12 Grips for the Nikon D800.


They will be released on July 2nd, and are being sold for $109 on eBay.


This is a purchase I am seriously considering as the Meike MB-D11 worked perfectly for me, and considering I paid a fraction of the cost, I was very happy with its performance. I am hoping there would be a replica MB-D12 that would be just as good, and potentially, this one made by “Pixel” could be it!


Would you ever purchase 3rd party accessories?


WARNING! – With the replica’s now being available, it’s also worth noting that there will possibly be fakes floating about, so be cautious when purchasing your grip if you’re after an original from Nikon.

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