Battery grip for D850: I have the Nikon battery grip on my D500 and love it but hate the price. I'm considering the Vello grip for my D850 but want the same Nikon quality; any...

A. T.

I have the Nikon battery grip on my D500 and love it but hate the price. I'm considering the Vello grip for my D850 but want the same Nikon quality; any suggestions?

foathog Loc: Greensboro, NC

want the same? buy the same

Bigmike1 Loc: I am from Gaffney, S.C. but live in Utah.

Go with whatever you can afford. If it works go for it. You might look around for a used grip what ain't so expensive.

Edward Booth Loc: Riverview, Florida

I have the Vello grip on both my Nikon D500 and D850. I have had no problems and everything works fine. Very happy with the grip and especially happy with the price.

LenCreate

I bought a Nikon refurbished grip for my D500. More expensive than the Vello, but a 1/4 the cost of a new Nikon. It looks and acts like a brand new one and, once it was installed on the camera, the camera looked like it was built with the grip as a part of it. I tried a Vivitar first and returned it. It didn’t fit as well and the body finishes didn’t look the same.

CWGordon

I have the Nikon ones on my cameras, but have used Vello equipment in the past. Quality was good and it worked just as well. i would not hesitate to buy and use their stuff. Vivitar many years ago made good products. I don’t think it is the same company, but don’t know that for sure. I do know the stuff they sell now is not very impressive. Just OMO.

throughrhettseyes Loc: Rowlett, TX

The D850 grip increases your shooting speed from 6 fps to 8 fps which is an increase 25%. Because of this I would be hesitant to buy a generic grip. There may be internal processing in the battery grip that works with the D850. Now I have a D500 and it will shoot 10 fps with or without the grip. I got the Nikon grip free with the purchase several years ago.

RV Loc: Chicago

Have a Vello Grip on my D610 for the past 6 years with over 100,00 shots. Absolutely no problems. I normally buy only Nikon but the price of their grips are ridiculous. Just saying.

CWGordon

I love my Nikons, but some of their prices are ridiculous. Just bought the 500 PF...just sayin’
Only thing worse is how their repair dept. refuses to repair anything unless “you” take blame and pay for it yourself.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I add grips to all my cameras to improve handling. Most have been purchased new, but the last one was for my D500. My local dealer found a used one for about half the price of new. It is cosmetically fine.

I only use Nikon grips. They are closely integrated with the camera electronics, and in earlier years l had two different ones that would not work properly and interfered with camera functions.

bjprovo Loc: Northeast CT

throughrhettseyes wrote:

The D850 grip increases your shooting speed from 6 fps to 8 fps which is an increase 25%. Because of this I would be hesitant to buy a generic grip. There may be internal processing in the battery grip that works with the D850. Now I have a D500 and it will shoot 10 fps with or without the grip. I got the Nikon grip free with the purchase several years ago.

This is true only if you buy the battery and parts to work with this grip. The grip alone does not increase the speed.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

bjprovo wrote:

This is true only if you buy the battery and parts to work with this grip. The grip alone does not increase the speed.

LOL! When folks price out the grip, battery, chamber cover and charger and find out the they may get 8fps with proper settings at a cost of about $1,000, many undoubtedly change their mind.

duane klipping Loc: Bristow iowa

If all you really want is the longevity of dual batteries go with the cheaper. Far too many people get hung up on brand name.

Non OEM parts in most instances work as good as original name brand but you will save big. Companies love people who are hung up on names and can charge you 3 times because they can. Auto insurance companies usually quote non OEM parts for this reason they are not "sub-standard" as many think.

Put the money saved to something else because you will never get that money back on OEM products.

alx Loc: NJ

I have the Vello BG-N19-2 grip for my D850 and it works will with all controls integrating the way they should. Note that for the speed increase, you WILL need the EN-EL18b type battery, BL-5 chamber cover and a charger, the same as the Nikon grip will need. The battery supplies the extra power for 8fps, not just doubling up with dual EL15's.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

alx wrote:

I have the Vello BG-N19-2 grip for my D850 and it works will with all controls integrating the way they should. Note that for the speed increase, you WILL need the EN-EL18b type battery, BL-5 chamber cover and a charger, the same as the Nikon grip will need. The battery supplies the extra power for 8fps, not just doubling up with dual EL15's.

Doubling up the batteries does not increase the power...uses one battery at a time. Plus you need the 18C and not the 18B and its special charger to achieve the theoretical 8fps. Note the previous post.