Battery grip and other D90 goodies

[TonyW]

I have recently embarked upon a modest spending spree for my d90 purchasing amongst other things a Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro lens.

After the purchase of the Tamron I realised my ability to handhold at lowish speeds (never mind macro) was sadly lacking! Much improvement I believe will be made by more practice, practice, practice.

I have been experimenting with Ron Reznicks grip and Joe McNallys 'Da Grip'. I believe both techniques and the required practice will help me improve.

Also thought about and bought a battery grip - much more comfortable for portrait orientation and for lanscape can be pressed into the shoulder for more stability. I looked at the Nikon MB-D80 but was a little put off by the premium price particularly for something I wanted to trial.

So I ended up purchasing a Meike brand which I believe is pretty much a copy of the Nikon product. I paid £37.50 (approx $60) for this including 2 unbranded EN EL3e batteries and delivery. At approx. 1/3 price of the Nikon product I was not expecting too much but have been pleasantly surprised. Build quality I strongly suspect not up to Nikon standards, the unit appears to be about half the weight and probably would not stand up to too much abuse. Of course I have not looked properly at the Nikon and as yet not had a proper chance to use it in anger but am sure the grip will be very useful. Camera now nearly the size of medium format - wish I had not got rid of my Bronica ETRSi - still I could not afford the digital back for it :smile:

Has anyone had recent experience of this product and care to comment on experience (good and bad)? For the immediate future I am hoping that I will get on with it and maybe eventually purchase 'the real McCoy'

I also purchased and am waiting on delivery of a 4 way macro focus rail again on the cheap from Hong Kong! Should make macro focussing a breeze ? :biggrin:

Finally bought a laminated glass protective cover for the two LCD's on the D90. I have always left the plastic cover in place on the main LCD as I have found it perfectly adequate for histogram viewing (no chimping honest gov. :smile. Now wondering if the laminated glass screen really offers as much protection as the all plastic original?

 

[coutanth1]

Tony,

:smile: When I was finalizing my decision to go with the D90, I went thru some things similiar to you. I went to a box/chain store just to hold the D90 and thought "Gee, wish the body was just a tad bigger." Ordered an Opteka grip to go with the body and really like the little extra room to rest my right pinky finger on. (And I don't think I have large hands.) Love the additional forward and rear command dials when shooting portrait. And I ordered a pop-up shade/rear LCD protector (like a Hoodman Loupe). Great for bright chimping conditions. Plus it adds 4 layers of rear LCD protection via the main/top shade flap, the left and right side flaps that fold underneath of the main shade, and finally the glass protector plate underneath all of that. And I like that I can simply half-slide the shades section to the right and pop it off of the underlying glass section. Sure, I've worn the paint off the WB, ISO, Etc buttons on the pop-up shade. But I don't care because the paint on the D90's same buttons underneath still look brand new after 30K plus shots.

 

[TonyW]

Herschel, thanks for the reply it is good to hear from someone that has gone through a similar process and come to similar conclusions. I now know that if I am wrong there is at least one other person sharing my error :wink:. I assume the Opteka grip is similar to the Meike i.e. a cheaper copy of the Nikon product? How long have you used it and do you have any regrets not going for the Nikon original version?

I did consider the pop up shade (I may go this way eventually) but thought that my chimping would be just too obvious :biggrin:. Actually the added protection offered is very appealing.

 

[TonyW]

I know, just joking. Chimping is good (of course I only do it to look at the histogram :biggrin what a useful thing to have - only the same as taking a polaroid test shot, but far more convenient.

Another thing I cannot resist is Pixel Peeping whatever the size of displayed print I just have to get closer than correct viewing distance to see - I just cannot help myself :smile:

I am sure I will be delighted with the Tamron went by comments of many users on this forum

 

[GH41]

Your going to have fun using the gripped body on a tripod for macro work. The connection between the body and grip will not be rock solid. You will be better off using a pan/tilt head. Both my D90 and D7000 suffered this problem with OEM Nikon grips. I don't know about the Tammy lens but my 105VR was heavy and exagerated the problem. GH

 

[TonyW]

Thanks for the info. Not given it a great deal of though but had no intention of using grip for tripod work

 

[**J**]

Yeah I am going through the same thing. Got the nikon grip and was a little put off that I had to "modify" the pins inside the battery compartment to make it work, only found out about it after I purchased it. It is a very common problem with the nikon grip and well documented on the web, although it is an easy fix. I would like to purchase an eyecup for the viewfinder and a SB900 speedlite. Did get the R1 kit and enjoying it alot. Thanks to tax time I think I'll be doing alot less purchasing and alot more shooting. :biggrin:

 

[beastie]

out of curiosity, does the Meike grip for the D90 also fit on the D7000? or is there a different version available?

 

[TonyW]

Meike is a brand name (although probably many different badges for the same product) the D90 grip is totally different to the D7000 - think it is the same as the D300. The battery contacts in a different place.

Had a quick look on my ebay and found this link Meike battery grip Nikon D7000 which may be of some interest

 

[Iscariot]

Congrats on the Tamron you'll love it. I love mine. Im still working on my macro skills and manual focusing. Im not really a very steady hand so need to find situations that support faster shutter speeds.

 

[coutanth1]

Herschel, thanks for the reply it is good to hear from someone that has gone through a similar process and come to similar conclusions. I now know that if I am wrong there is at least one other person sharing my error :wink:. I assume the Opteka grip is similar to the Meike i.e. a cheaper copy of the Nikon product? How long have you used it and do you have any regrets not going for the Nikon original version?

I did consider the pop up shade (I may go this way eventually) but thought that my chimping would be just too obvious :biggrin:. Actually the added protection offered is very appealing.

Tony,

From a quick cross-reference of images of the Meike and the Opteka, there appears to be a few features the Opteka grip has that the Meike is lacking. The Opteka grip has front and rear command dials, AE-L button, and of course shutter button - same placement as when holding the D90 in landscape. I like having the same access to aperture, AE-L, etc when shooting portrait as when I'm shooting landscape. Oh, and I'm coming up on 3 years of using the Opteka grip and batteries that came with it. (Paid somewhere between $50-$100 for the Opteka.) Haven't had a single problem with it. And the D90's original battery compartment door is safely stored inside of the grip. :wink:

As for OEM vs off-brand: One of my BIL's bought a D90 with a Nikon grip. The only difference I can see is his grip has an LCD, with clock feature. That's a little too much for my tastes, and there are lots of times that I don't care what time it is. (Heck I can see just fine whether it's daylight or dark. :tongue If I'm shooting portrait and want to see what settings I'm using, I can just tap the shutter button and the info will be displayed in the viewer. And I'm not sure about how one would protect that additional LCD.

As far as the pop-up shade protector, all I can tell you is that Dad was so impressed with it that I ordered one for his D70 and gave it to him on his birthday. He really likes it, especially on sunny days when he's out hiking around. I think if you look at some images of the pop-up shades, you'll see that it has a series of control buttons that correspond to those on the left rear side of the D90. They lay right overtop of those buttons - that's what I meant about wearing the paint off of the buttons on the pop-up shade. (For around $25, I can wear the paint off of those several times over without wearing off the paint of those on the camera body. :wink

 

[TonyW]

Herschel,
The Meike grip I purchased does have front and rear command dials, AE-L button, and button with lock so I think it must be similar to Opteka. It will work off either one or two EN-EL's or 6 AA size. D90 Battery door gets stored inside grip. This is the model:

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

I did look at one of the grips with clock/timer intervalometer but decided against it - I already have an intervalometer and I can always look at my watch :wink:

The only thing I would say is that the unit just feels little light and flimsy when off camera and the battery door lock does not appear to be too robust - I assume that this is not the case with the Nikon original. However the feel changes dramatically once fitted and it becomes one with the body

Glad to hear that you have had several years use without issues - hope and trust I find the same.

The flip up shade is sounding more and more attractive :smile:

 

[coutanth1]

:smile: Ahhh, now that pic looks identical to the Opteka. Haven't had mine off camera since adding it, so I don't remember how much it weighs.

One thing that I have trouble remembering is to make sure I've turned 'Off' the power switch on the grip once I know I'm done shooting.

Even on my hardest/longest days shooting, 3 EN-EL's have been plenty enough for me. :smile:

Last thing on the shades: The original eye cup needs to be slid up and off, put into storage. The shade has its own rubber eye cup. The main unit with glass protector plate slides down in the eye cup retainer, and then snap-locks underneath of the rear LCD. The secondary unit containing the shades pops in from the back and slides left to lock. It'll feel tight when installing - to the point that one thinks that it doesn't fit - but they're designed to fit tightly and not jiggle around or fall off on their own. :wink: