First off, let me say that I'm not a big fan of non body maker accessories myself and that I may or may not be as happy a year from now with my new widget ... but after 1 day and 150+ shots I'm ecstatic. I also wish the thing wasn't made in China. Also, I have no financial interest in the seller or the product from the seller.
Anyways, my biggest, complaint with the D50 has been that Nikon never released a vertical grip ... not even a battery grip ... for the D50.
I have used Nikon F/F2/F3/F4 bodies for, as we say in Appalachia, a coon's age and I went into digital as cheaply as I could to see if I would actually covert. Two years later I love the thing and have not yet seen fit to upgrade.
Well, I finally broke down and bought a vertical shutter grip off e-bay from China from "LINK DELIGHT" although the actual brand on the box is labeled "YXTM" whoever that is.
Although not completely happy with it, although being used to the handling of an F4s I probably never will be until I get a pro or prosumer DSLR, I have tried to take built in limitations into account.
Here are my thoughts, and I will try to be detailed without rambling forever:
BATTERIES: The grip comes with no batteries but holds two Nikon EN-EL3e batteries in the somewhat flimsy battery holder. This is a minor complaint, becaue I think I was looking for reasons to complain. Looking at the battery holder for my F4s, they are only slightly sturdier.
They claim it will work with only one battery, I have not checked this. It does double your shooting capacity having 2 ... but you do have to switch their order in the holder once one discharges. I verified this by downloading files directly from the camera.
This somewhat nullifies the double capacity, but at least the second battery doesn't have to be fished from the pocket or bag when it needs switched. Recharging the batteries requires removal from the carrier.
It also comes with a AA battery clip which I have not tested.
CONSTRUCTION: The grip itself seems to be quite well built and of comparable, identical in color, to the D50's case. According to the seller this is made by a company which makes many vertical grips for various camera makers. I don't know if they make Nikon grips, or if this claim is even true. That being said, from the build quality it is certainly believable. It attaches via the tripod socket and has a very snug fit.
OPERATION: Actually using the vertical shutter release is a bit clunky. Here is the process.
1 - Turn VSR on.
2 - Set D50 to receive IR signal.
3 - Popup little IR thingie from VSR.
Now, that's not as hard as it sounds, but it is more difficult than most VSR grips ... but, there's no other way to do it. The only part I really don't like is that to return to the regular SR requires turning the body off and back on.
INSTALLATION/D50 MODIFICATION: This was the part which really concerned me ahead of time , but it shouldn't have. The only mod to the D50 is removing the old battery door and it is a no tools 2 second task. I was impressed. The VSR also has a holder for the old door so it doesn't get lost.
Beyond that the grip has an ell which fits into the D50 battery socket and the VSR attaches via tripod socket with a thumbwheel control.
IN THE FIELD: Overall it works quite well. It looks nice on the camera also. It makes longer lenses balance much better and overall gives the D50 a much more substantial "FEEL" than it had before.
My hands aren't huge, but the D50 ... like most DSLR's I've picked up ... felt a little too toy like to me. This largely fixes that.
To some people that may not even be an issue as I suspect the "FEEL" issue with me was from years of carrying heavier metal body SLR's around. Although I don't miss the neck strain of the F4s with a 300 F4 after an all day affair, the D50 with big glass has always felt very front heavy to me. This is a nice compromise IMHO between balance and lightweight.
The above photo is probably copyrighted, but I assume they won't sue me since I'm trying to give them a solid plug while being informative and balanced.
I hope this helps some D50 owners out there.
LWW
Anyways, my biggest, complaint with the D50 has been that Nikon never released a vertical grip ... not even a battery grip ... for the D50.
I have used Nikon F/F2/F3/F4 bodies for, as we say in Appalachia, a coon's age and I went into digital as cheaply as I could to see if I would actually covert. Two years later I love the thing and have not yet seen fit to upgrade.
Well, I finally broke down and bought a vertical shutter grip off e-bay from China from "LINK DELIGHT" although the actual brand on the box is labeled "YXTM" whoever that is.
Although not completely happy with it, although being used to the handling of an F4s I probably never will be until I get a pro or prosumer DSLR, I have tried to take built in limitations into account.
Here are my thoughts, and I will try to be detailed without rambling forever:
BATTERIES: The grip comes with no batteries but holds two Nikon EN-EL3e batteries in the somewhat flimsy battery holder. This is a minor complaint, becaue I think I was looking for reasons to complain. Looking at the battery holder for my F4s, they are only slightly sturdier.
They claim it will work with only one battery, I have not checked this. It does double your shooting capacity having 2 ... but you do have to switch their order in the holder once one discharges. I verified this by downloading files directly from the camera.
This somewhat nullifies the double capacity, but at least the second battery doesn't have to be fished from the pocket or bag when it needs switched. Recharging the batteries requires removal from the carrier.
It also comes with a AA battery clip which I have not tested.
CONSTRUCTION: The grip itself seems to be quite well built and of comparable, identical in color, to the D50's case. According to the seller this is made by a company which makes many vertical grips for various camera makers. I don't know if they make Nikon grips, or if this claim is even true. That being said, from the build quality it is certainly believable. It attaches via the tripod socket and has a very snug fit.
OPERATION: Actually using the vertical shutter release is a bit clunky. Here is the process.
1 - Turn VSR on.
2 - Set D50 to receive IR signal.
3 - Popup little IR thingie from VSR.
Now, that's not as hard as it sounds, but it is more difficult than most VSR grips ... but, there's no other way to do it. The only part I really don't like is that to return to the regular SR requires turning the body off and back on.
INSTALLATION/D50 MODIFICATION: This was the part which really concerned me ahead of time , but it shouldn't have. The only mod to the D50 is removing the old battery door and it is a no tools 2 second task. I was impressed. The VSR also has a holder for the old door so it doesn't get lost.
Beyond that the grip has an ell which fits into the D50 battery socket and the VSR attaches via tripod socket with a thumbwheel control.
IN THE FIELD: Overall it works quite well. It looks nice on the camera also. It makes longer lenses balance much better and overall gives the D50 a much more substantial "FEEL" than it had before.
My hands aren't huge, but the D50 ... like most DSLR's I've picked up ... felt a little too toy like to me. This largely fixes that.
To some people that may not even be an issue as I suspect the "FEEL" issue with me was from years of carrying heavier metal body SLR's around. Although I don't miss the neck strain of the F4s with a 300 F4 after an all day affair, the D50 with big glass has always felt very front heavy to me. This is a nice compromise IMHO between balance and lightweight.
The above photo is probably copyrighted, but I assume they won't sue me since I'm trying to give them a solid plug while being informative and balanced.
I hope this helps some D50 owners out there.
LWW
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