D500 Grip

webmastadj

Hello all,

How many of you use the D500 with a grip? Do you normally just leave the grip on or only when doing certain shooting?

The reason I ask I am looking to pick one up (I have a BH gift card burning a hole in my pocket). I see my self using it more when I am doing portraits vs wildlife. So portrait session, the grip goes with me, wildlife / walking around, no grip. The one concern I have is with the rubber piece covering the grip connector. Have any of you experienced wear after repeatedly removing and putting back this piece?

Thanks.

retread

Mine stays on except when I an changing the battery in the camera. I often change orientation when shooting sports or stage events. Some wildlife lends itself to portrait orientation also. If I do a portrait it is outside no studio and no interest in having one.

I have had no problems and seldom use the battery in the camera but switch them around periodically.

webmastadj

@retread Could you have a battery in just the grip and not the camera? I was thinking that is what I would do as well, just leave the grip on but was worried about the size when I need a smaller camera.

retread

I think so but not sure. I have used it with a dead battery in the camera and a good one in the grip. I shot some birds in portrait this morning so do use for wild life.

spraynpray

Certainly it is possible to have only a battery in the grip with other bodies so I can't see why the D500 would be any different.

webmastadj

@retread and @spraynpray: Thanks for your input! I am going to wait to see if they put it on sale for black Friday.

Pistnbroke

You seem to be asking for general adviice on grips......All my cameras have grips but they are all the cheap China versions. I take out the plug and make them dumb. One contains 4 AA bats as spares for the flash one an EN EL 15 another a voice recorder and mike while the last has a GPS tracker in case of theft.I never hold them as intended ..it takes too long to change your hand grip I just use the normal grip and rotate it to the top using my right hand.KISS

webmastadj

@pistnbroke Ah, so you use them as on camera physical storage. I am looking at it more for the using the grip as the grip. I found when doing many portrait style shots, my hand is sore for a few hours after; so ergonomics is my top goal. Battery life is second. Just trying to decide if the ergonomics is worth the additional weight and size. As far as make, I will go with the nikon branded one. I know it is more expensive but I know it will work. Also, I do believe in giving the company that came up with the design the money vs some clone. After all, we need to nikon in business don't we?

WestEndFoto

You have to be careful with knockoff grips. A friend of mine bought a D810 with the Nikon grip and it worked for a few minutes then died. Since it was DOA, they just returned it to Nikon and brought in a new one. He did not have to deal with the warranty. The second one came in and they attached the grip and turned it on. Also DOA.

Turned out it was the grip frying the cameras. Since it was a Nikon grip, Nikon dealt with it. Now if this was a third party grip.......

Certainly very rare, but it can happen.

webmastadj

@WestEndFoto And that is my exact case I want to avoid. I barely use third party lenses as it is. Granted I know there are some very good ones out there but I just like to have everything matching.

Pistnbroke

If you only want it for a more comfortable hold then a third party grip is fine ..just take the connector out..... 1/10 the price

WestEndFoto

How to you activate the shutter in that scenario Pistnbroke?

To me the benefits of the grip on a D850, from the most important to the least important, are ergonomics, increased battery life (4 or 5 times with the MB-D18 with the D5 battery), increased frame rate (with the MB-d18 with the D5 battery), presence and increased weight.

VisualUniverse

I put the grip on my D500 and have never taken it off except to add a 2nd battery. I'm a grip user on all my camera bodies. My cameras feel naked without a grip.

WestEndFoto

My D850 feels like a toy without the grip. Also a pain to use without it for portraits. Unfortunately, the grips are backordered.

DJBee49

For what it is worth, I have a battery grip for my D500 and D810, both clones. I have had no issues with them but have also heard of people who have had troubles. For me, at a fraction of the price of the Nikon grips, it was worth the risk.

However, having gone to all the trouble to get these, I find that I hardly ever use them!

webmastadj

Update: I got the D500 grip today. Wow does it make the camera larger! Camera now dawrfs my 70-200 f/2.8. I am not a fan of the added bulk for walking around shooting, but am a fan of how comfortable it is to hold the camera in portrait orientation. I could hold it like that all day now and still control shutter, aperture, and ISO without killing my wrist.

All-in-all it was a good buy I think. It will get used but think it will come off the camera from time to time for when I don't want the add bulk.

Now time to move onto the next photography gear purchase.