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hi all, ive recently aquired a d300 and am loving it! but im keen to get the battery grip for it to complete the package. ive been looking at some reviews and some have been very critical about the grip. have any 300 owners on here had better experiences?
ps, some of the more critical reviews were on B&H if anyone is interested

But all of those complaints were just whinges... not really reasons to not buy the grip!

Ie, one was someone complaining about the price nikon wants for all the stuff... another guy was sooking about the way you have to take the grip off to remove batteries, someone else said the wheel felt different.

Sure they are gripes, but if you want a vertical grip get it... and I know you want a grip!

On the otherhand, multiple people have commented on how the grip is far superior to the D200 in terms of build quality and stability, two of the major issues with it.

If you got the $$$ buy it dave

I remember the same whinges about the D200 battery grip....... which I thought made it a better camera to handle......

..... I will be getting the D300 grip when available as I like a larger and heaver camera........ the camera with grip should be more stable with longer lens

big pix wrote:I remember the same whinges about the D200 battery grip....... which I thought made it a better camera to handle......

..... I will be getting the D300 grip when available as I like a larger and heaver camera........ the camera with grip should be more stable with longer lens

Agree also.. The D300 without a grip seems naked..

MATT

yeah i agree with you bigpix. i previously shot with a d70s with grip and loved the feel of the camera with a grip, like you said, just feels alot more stable in the hand etc. hopefully im selling my faithful d70s to fund the purchase plus leave me with some change (hopefully)

Mine arrived today
No complaints, feels great, excellent quality.
......................now to wait for the BL-3

Cheers
Marc

I am soon buying the D300 and I need the grip and chamber for the NL4 batteries - the main reason being so I can shoot 8FPS.
What are the current prices for the grip and chamber? Is Poon not stocking those? I have seen $545 for the grip which seems rediculously high.

Cheers.

marc wrote:Mine arrived today
No complaints, feels great, excellent quality.
......................now to wait for the BL-3

Cheers
Marc

Marc, do you need to have the battery in the camera or can it run with just one battery in the grip? There as been some criticism of having to remove the grip to remove the battery.?

Cawdor $545 seems very high, bu they maybe the Aus price..ALso to get 8fps you can use the AA battery holder I believe.

MATT

cawdor wrote:I am soon buying the D300 and I need the grip and chamber for the NL4 batteries - the main reason being so I can shoot 8FPS.
What are the current prices for the grip and chamber? Is Poon not stocking those?

Grip and chamber? Can you elaborate on what you mean by chamber please?

The grips have been in very short supply, but, from the forum price list ...

Nikon MB-D10 (D300 Battery Grip) $330.00

They were added on Monday, and this was my post (on Monday) advising that these were finally available :

On the subject of hens' teeth, Poon has sourced a supplier of unobtanium, and we have a few MB-D10s available. These arrived at his office today, but he's only giving us a small quantity because most of them have already been accounted for.

In the month and-a-bit that these have been available, the price in HK has gone up by over HK$250.

So, the price for these is Au$330 now. Sorry about that, but unobtanium is quite difficult to find.

Three of these are currently on their way to our members.

To use the D2X or D3 batteries, you will also need to buy the accessory battery cover, which is selling for around US$35-US$40.

Or it would be, were there any available. They're not.

But I believe that through using AA batteries you can also get the faster frame rate, and you don't need the battery cover to use AAs.

I have seen $545 for the grip which seems rediculously high.

I would concur with your assessment of this price.

gstark wrote:Grip and chamber? Can you elaborate on what you mean by chamber please?

by chamber I meant the special battery cover BL-3. I did look on the bargains list but last time I looked the grip wasn't listed, glad that has changed now
Almost ready to order the D300

[rant]I find it a bit disturbing that Nikon can charge so much for what is essentially some molded plastic with wires and contacts, nothing complicated. Compare the current grip price of $330 with $349 for an iPod Classic 80GB which is a LOT more complicated to assemble and produce...yeah. And yes I know I know that I can't use an iPod to increase the FPS on the D300 so please refrain from making that comment [/rant]

cawdor wrote:I find it a bit disturbing that Nikon can charge so much for what is essentially some molded plastic with wires and contacts, nothing complicated.

It's actually quite a bit more complex than that, but yes, it is too expensive.

But some of that is also due to its rarity. As I mentioned in my other post, the price has seen an increase simply because people want to buy it, but it's hard to locate, thus it's a sellers' market.

The alternative is to wait, but we're an impatient bunch, aren't we?

MATT wrote:
Marc, do you need to have the battery in the camera or can it run with just one battery in the grip? There as been some criticism of having to remove the grip to remove the battery.?



MATT

Matt
You don't need to have the battery in the camera body, it auto defaults to the the MB-D10 grip power first and if you have one in camera that gets used next.
It's true however, if you use the EN-EL3 battery (in camera) you need to remove the grip to charge this one.
I've managed to use the EN-EL4 battery in the grip without the BL-3. You just disassemble the battery chamber from the battery frame and use some foam to cover the gap between the two. It works fine and gets me my 8 fps . And will do until the BL-3 becomes available.

Cheers
Marc

so just to clear a few things up with the grip. when i get it, i also have to buy another battery (can you use the battery from the body?) a battery 'chamber' cover and a charger? some clarification on whats included and what has to be bought seperately would be handy

I got mine on December 17 at B&H in New York. It never left my camera from that point on and I have absolutely no complaints about it. It's a solid piece of kit and feels beautiful in the hand but the Aussie retail price is certainly over the top, as has been discussed here ad nauseum. Over the counter, I paid the equivalent of AU$303 so Poon's price of $330 delivered is spot-on.

David - you'll need another battery to whack in the grip if you want the power longevity and frame rates possible with two batteries. Otherwise, just pull the battery from your camera and slot that in but, apart from the vertical grip function, I don't see the point of adding a relatively weighty accessory if you're only going to use it to store your single battery.

The grip comes with covers for its terminals when not attached to the camera (which mate perfectly with the rubber covers that come off the camera body when the grip is fitted so this is where mine currently live) plus a separate slide tray for using AA batteries in place of the En-El Nikon (or equivalnet) batteries. As the same batteries are used for both the camera and grip, you don't need an extra charger - the one you have will suffice.

The normal battery chamber cover on the camera stays in place; the only electrical contact between the grip and the body is via the terminals on the base of the camera body. The physical attachment is done via the tripod socket on the camera body. The grip then has its own tripod socket so you've lost nothing.

David

If your using the EN-EL3e battery from existing D300, you'll obviously need another to use in the grip. (only 6fps).
If you intend to use the EN-EL4/4a from the D2 cameras, you'll need to get the charger & BL-3 cover also (8fps)
The MB-D10 grip includes the battery cover and holder to use the EN-EL3e plus another battery cover and holder to use the AA batteries (8fps).

Also you don't need to have a battery IN the D300 for the grip to work, as it defaults to the grip first.
Hope this is all clear for everyone.

Cheers
Marc

Edit- Thanks Simon, you beat me to the post

marc wrote:Matt
You don't need to have the battery in the camera body, it auto defaults to the the MB-D10 grip power first and if you have one in camera that gets used next.
It's true however, if you use the EN-EL3 battery (in camera) you need to remove the grip to charge this one.
I've managed to use the EN-EL4 battery in the grip without the BL-3. You just disassemble the battery chamber from the battery frame and use some foam to cover the gap between the two. It works fine and gets me my 8 fps . And will do until the BL-3 becomes available.

Cheers
Marc

Thanks Marc... DOnt think I need 8fps at the moment..


Cheers
MATT

thanks for clearing that all up, im mainly after this grip to get the 8fps, prices on B&H look pretty good so ill prob source it from there seeing as they are rare as hens teeth in Oz. cant wait to get it on my 300!

DavidR wrote:prices on B&H look pretty good so ill prob source it from there

I'm not sure, but I think that Poon may still have a couple for us

well if you can source one for me from Poon id be very interested, would he be able to bundle the battery and bits all together? love the Poon

Which battery?

EN-EL3e is readily available, both in genuine and Photix brands.

Aas should be available anywhere.

EN-EL4a (I think) - the D3 battery - isn't available. Don't know about the EN-EL4 (D2x battery).

The cover, if you're wanting to use the "4", and as I've stated several times, isn't available anywhere at this time.

sorry gstark, ill pm you about the grip

Wouldn't you be better off with AA batteries? You don't need to buy the EN-EL4(a) and charger, they are readily available and significantly cheaper.

the mb-d10 is awesome, i dont know what the bad reveiws are about, because everything about it is great, although the shutter button is a bit more sensitive than the shutter button on the body. makes the D300 feel so much more serious, and 8fps is nice.

I'm still waiting on my MB-D10 I want it bad.

I also want the 8fps. I'll use AA's until the D3 battery and associated bits is available.