Nikon MB-D15 Battery Pack: I'm hoping someone can answer a question that has me frustrated: I bought a Nikon MB-D15 Battery Pack to use with a D7100 from an acquaintance who hadn't...

spiper75

I'm hoping someone can answer a question that has me frustrated: I bought a Nikon MB-D15 Battery Pack to use with a D7100 from an acquaintance who hadn't ever used the battery pack. It was originally purchased new and hadn't ever been used. I put it on my camera and played around with it a bit but couldn't get the camera to auto-focus when the grip was used in the vertical position. The controls wheels worked so I could change shutter and aperture settings but the focus only worked when the camera was in Manual mode. Is this how the battery pack works in vertical position or is there setting or two I'm missing? Anyone have an answer?

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

spiper75 wrote:

I'm hoping someone can answer a question that has ... (show quote)

Is the shutter button lock on the grip in the locked position?
Is it a NIKON brand grip or a knock-off?

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

spiper75 wrote:

I'm hoping someone can answer a question that has ... (show quote)

Check your menu settings, f9 - set grip ae/al to af-on will shut off the grip shutter button focus. If the grip AE/AL is set to AF-ON, then it functions as Back Button Focus using the grip AE/AF lock button.

spiper75

Thank you for your speedy response. Yes, the AF-L/AE-L was set to ON and I see that it does act as BBF. Because of some hand injury issues it is difficult for me to use BBF, is there a way to turn that off and use the shutter in vertical mode for auto-focus?

spiper75

The grip is a Nikon and the lock is off.

boomer826 Loc: Florida gulf coast

spiper75 wrote:

I'm hoping someone can answer a question that has ... (show quote)

I actually just received one yesterday. I tried it out on my D7100, and it worked in all settings, not just manual. I did not look at my menus to see how they were set, since it worked fine. Sounds to me like maybe you should check your menus .

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

spiper75 wrote:

Thank you for your speedy response. Yes, the AF-L/AE-L was set to ON and I see that it does act as BBF. Because of some hand injury issues it is difficult for me to use BBF, is there a way to turn that off and use the shutter in vertical mode for auto-focus?

Sure, just change the f9 menu setting to one of the other settings, like set the AE-L/AF-L to AF lock or AE lock.... then the shutter button on the grip will activate focus.

spiper75

Thanks again. I appreciate your information and now look forward to using this thing I bought.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

spiper75 wrote:

Thanks again. I appreciate your information and now look forward to using this thing I bought.

Glad it was helpful - I had a Neewer cheap grip for my D7100, about $40.00, it was OK, but it felt cheap and had some electrical connection issues (the green activity light on the camera would light up all the time when the camera was just sitting on the shelf, like a battery was pulled out then put back in.)

I finally bought an OEM Nikon grip for about $200.00, it looks good, feels good and is solidly built with a magnesium skeleton like the D7100, and zero connection issues. The OEM Nikon's are well worth the $200.00 in my opinion!

boomer826 Loc: Florida gulf coast

Dngallagher wrote:

Glad it was helpful - I had a Neewer cheap grip fo... (show quote)

I bought a Pro Master grip for my D7100. It works fine, no issues so far, I have had it for about a month. I just don't like the feel of the dials or power switch. They just don't feel like they will last long. Anyway, I too bought a MB-D15 for a little over $200.00 , new. I have Nikon grips for all of my other Nikons and have never had a problem.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

boomer826 wrote:

I bought a Pro Master grip for my D7100. It works fine, no issues so far, I have had it for about a month. I just don't like the feel of the dials or power switch. They just don't feel like they will last long. Anyway, I too bought a MB-D15 for a little over $200.00 , new. I have Nikon grips for all of my other Nikons and have never had a problem.

I did not try anything after the Neewer grip - I had a Neewer for my D5100 and it was fine, but on the D7100 the Neewer felt really cheap, so I opted for the Nikon - had to have something to make the camera a tad bigger for my hands ;)

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

I use a Meike grip on my D750, and it is excellent. Fit , finish and functionality are great. I previously only bought Nikon grips, but at the current rate you could purchase 4 Meike's and still spend less than 1 Nikon grip.

Review of the Meike grip on fstoppers.com can be found here:

https://fstoppers.com/deals/review-meike-mk-dr750-battery-grip-d750-fantastic-and-its-not-even-because-grip-59345

Bill
I started with nothing; I still have most of it.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

yssirk123 wrote:

I use a Meike grip on my D750, and it is excellent. Fit , finish and functionality are great. I previously only bought Nikon grips, but at the current rate you could purchase 4 Meike's and still spend less than 1 Nikon grip.

Review of the Meike grip on fstoppers.com can be found here:

https://fstoppers.com/deals/review-meike-mk-dr750-battery-grip-d750-fantastic-and-its-not-even-because-grip-59345

Bill
I started with nothing; I still have most of it.

Mieke, Neewer, pretty much the same most likely.

What ended up being important to me, other than electrical issues was the internal construction of the grip. The OEM grip has a magnesium skeleton just like the D7100 camera, especially when using a tripod or tripod connected sling strap like an R-Strap, I end up feeling more secure about how the camera is connected/mounted while used.

I probably still have my old Neewer grip - be interesting to take it apart and see how much metal is inside it actually versus plastic.

kb6kgx Loc: Simi Valley, CA

MT Shooter wrote:

Is the shutter button lock on the grip in the locked position?
Is it a NIKON brand grip or a knock-off?

He said it was the “Nikon MB-D15”.