Meike D7000 Battery Grip

[amilaboy]

If you have not bought a cheap and cheerful battery grip before, here is one for you, the Meike MK-D7000 for you to enjoy. I am another satisfied and happy customer from E bay!


I expected a Neewer but got a Meike delivered, it is a bonus? Are they the same company?


It is an excellent, a very good, an awesome product for £27.21 (free delivery) and beyond all my expectations!


I placed an order on Saturday and received it on 27/3/2012. It arrived in perfect condition. The box was unopened and the grip wrapped in a bubble bag. The box and instructions all have the brand `Meike' instead of `Neewer', are they the same company?


The `joystick' is feather-like touch, sensitive, which adding a different kind of control to D7000. Should I have arthritis, it would be my main control/navigate . It can be pushed down for `Enter' function.


The rubber feels like seriously high quality product.


The AA cells are very tightly squeezed together, which is amazing. One must push each cell down vertically from top. Two are arranged at the bottom of the tray, that is why you only see four cells in the picture.


The hard plastic surface matches D7000 frosted random splash pattern. Well done! It looks like and feels like a quality product, just like a Japanese made. The Chinese is getting there now, very impressive.
My D7000 now look and feels like a substantial serious piece of kit.


Inside the plastic grip, the bottom is a large piece of metal occupying the whole area of the base, design to support the camera with hefty lenses on a tripod. I mounted my camera and the battery grip on the tripod and did few hundred shots with my Tamron 70-300mm lens, old metal lenses with metal barrels, there was no problem, I am very satisfied with it.


It does not hold two EN-L15 batteries. It only holds one.
The instructions does not recommend AA cells as main power source, but my intention is to use my stock of Ni-MH cells as cheaper power alternative.


I kept my EN-L15 batter in the camera, it worked fine, without draining it.


There is a very subtle 'knocking' feeling against the camera if you just hold the grip, which is unnoticeable if you busy focusing, checking exposure, choosing shutter speed, aperture, etc.


Also, I was puzzle by the occasion random flashing green light (SD card access) when the camera is switched off. It was apparently reading battery information from the MK-D7000 grip, that makes the green LED on the camera flashes. That is when the battery tray is rocking.


To solve the problem, I sandwiched a tiny piece of paper between the edge of housing and the edge of battery tray, it stops rocking and work fine. The green light has now stop flashing.


It weighs 234g when empty. The plastic feels thick and substantial enough. Feel very good when holding it. If I don't need to do anything, I would hold my camera attached to it as therapy.


There is a `parking space' for the rubber cover from D7000 electronic interface connector.


It is all beyond my expectations. If you are not after the Magnesium alloy construction of Nikon MB-D11, this Meike grip is ten times cheaper and I am very happy with it. Thumbs up,

 

[shadowlands]

I tried one with my D300/D700 and I was more impressed with the Nikon version. Just loved the build of the Nikon. So I returned mine and spent more on a used, slightly scuffed Nikon MB-D10 and couldn't be happier.

But yes, the Meike was pretty good and great for the money.

 

[cgw]

Not sure about this boderline shill post, though it's for a product that's sold under a variety of brand names and appears to be essentially the same. They're cheap but simply don't compare to the build quality of the Nikon MB D-11. The knock-offs have flukey rocker switches and thumb wheels. The paint wears off the buttons. The thumb wheel that tightens the grip often rattles--great for video(not). There can be electrical contact issues--sometimes fixable, sometimes not. The lock on the battery tray is fragile. All units are mostly plastic.

Lesson? Pay less, get less.

 

[480sparky]

..........Lesson? Pay less, get less,......

.... have more money to spend on good glass.

 

[cgw]

..........Lesson? Pay less, get less,......

.... have more money to spend on good glass.

Sure but nothing says cheap everytime you shoot like one of these.

 

[480sparky]

..........Lesson? Pay less, get less,......

.... have more money to spend on good glass.

Sure but nothing says cheap everytime you shoot like one of these.

 

[cgw]

.... have more money to spend on good glass.

Sure but nothing says cheap everytime you shoot like one of these.

i.e., they're plasticky junk. It's obvious every time you use one. Side by side comparison of the knock-offs and the MB D-11 shows the differences aren't exactly subtle.

 

[480sparky]

i.e., they're plasticky junk. It's obvious every time you use one. Side by side comparison of the knock-offs and the MB D-11 shows the differences aren't exactly subtle.

Then I'll take the plasticy junk every day, and use the savings to buy getter glass. A plasticy junk grip doesn't affect the image one bit.

 

[cgw]

i.e., they're plasticky junk. It's obvious every time you use one. Side by side comparison of the knock-offs and the MB D-11 shows the differences aren't exactly subtle.

Then I'll take the plasticy junk every day, and use the savings to buy getter glass. A plasticy junk grip doesn't affect the image one bit.

Sure. Until the toggle switch and thumb wheel crap out and the battery tray latch breaks off. The frequency of malfunctions with these isn't insignificant. The net savings over buying a copy and an MB D-11 used aren't going to help much, glass-wise--unless you're looking to step up from the bottom shelf.

 

[480sparky]

i.e., they're plasticky junk. It's obvious every time you use one. Side by side comparison of the knock-offs and the MB D-11 shows the differences aren't exactly subtle.

Then I'll take the plasticy junk every day, and use the savings to buy getter glass. A plasticy junk grip doesn't affect the image one bit.

Sure. Until the toggle switch and thumb wheel crap out and the battery tray latch breaks off. The frequency of malfunctions with these isn't insignificant. The net savings over buying a copy and an MB D-11 used aren't going to help much, glass-wise--unless you're looking to step up from the bottom shelf.

I've never had an issue. Maybe I'm blessed. Maybe I take care of my stuff. And maybe I don't grip my cameras 100% of the time.

Plus I never said the savings of ONE grip will make the difference between a kit lens and top shelf glass. Nice try, please play again. Not everyone is filthy rich and can just plop down a couple hundred greenbacks just because it's OEM. Some people DO have to make a choice.

Your method works for you. Good. And it will work for others, too. Great. Now try accept the fact that my method works for me......... and others.