Boone Loc: Groundhog Town USA

Just a small tip that I found out by accident!

I shoot Nikon gear, "But I Think" this may be true of other 3rd party battery grips as well...!

I prefer my 3rd party battery grip + my wireless remote to the Nikon battery grip. Simply because of the price of the Nikon grip and how often I use these items.

I have used the "Meke Grip with the Meke Remote"... for many years with no complaints.

Yesterday I was using the Meke grip and its remote, and the remote stopped working? Well I had my camera set to "Use the battery in the grip first...and then the battery in the camera second. After a short time...I figured that the remote stopped working because the battery "In The Grip was dead". I changed the batteries around so that the "Camera Battery" was now in the grip, and the dead battery was in the camera. This worked...and now the remote worked as before.

This was no great discovery, however, later on I got to thinking about it. I went into my cameras menu (Custom Settings Menu / a12 on my D750) and changed the battery order to use the "In Camera battery first...and then the battery in the grip second".

Now the remote will work without interruption.

I know this is no earth shaking discovery, but hey..."It's January.....and what else is there to do"???

Oh well...at 70 yrs. young...all new (To Me) discoveries are neat. (Neat is a 1960's word for you younger kids. )

So my good friends...that is my great find so far this year...and I'm sure there will be more as well!

Happy New Year To All!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks,
Boone.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

All tips are worth storing away for whenever if ever they can save someone time or aggravation!

Boone Loc: Groundhog Town USA

Thanks. And your right about tips!

Thanks,
Boone.

gwilliams6

I have happily used Meike battery grips for all my Sony's i have owned, A6500, A7RII, A7RIII, A7III, A9, and my current cameras, A7RIV, A1, A7SIII.

Sonys are made to use the battery in the grip with the most charge first in either the Sony or Meike grip. These grips hold two batteries, no battery remains in the camera. Just a dummy battery section of the grip extends up into the camera and that transfers power and control inputs . As long as one of the two batteries in the grip has some charge, the Meike remote will work.

I use both Meike and Sony grips, both brands have worked flawlessly and durably, but I have saved enough over the years using the less expensive Meike grips to help buy more gear.

Here are my three current cameras, A7RIV, A1, A7SIII, two with Meike grips, one with a Sony grip.

Cheers and best to you.

(Download)

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

I have the battery grip that was included with the package. Both are OEM BAttery Grips.

In-lightened Loc: Kansas City

3rd party grips work just fine...batteries, not so much. I found I preferred using the battery in grip first so I didnt have to remove the grip to charge...but didnt often use a remote trigger. Now that I shoot Sony, moot point.

I value everyones tips so I learn to think about things differently.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

I have used both Canon grips as well as third party grips that cost a fraction of the price and did not notice any difference in build quality or performance. I will say that I spent a lot of time reading reviews on the third party grips and I don't think that they are all created equal.

leftj Loc: Texas

Scratching my head as to why you would put a dead battery in the camera body instead of a charged battery.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

Do all battery grips work in that way? I thought the two batteries were just increased the available capacity.

Stan

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

I'm in Kim's camp on only using the battery in my grips since it saves both time and wear to detach the grip to change batteries.

Boone something else to consider, rechargeable envelope batteries are more cost effective than OEM however they don't reveal current charge status as OEM (and clones) do.... No free lunch here.

Also another important caveat! envelope batteries are NOT 1.5 volts but instead 1.2 volts which causes serious issues if used in Phottix Oden remote wireless trigger/receiver scenarios... Experience is a brutal teacher here!

envelope batteries are superb for powering speedlights and also for use in battery grips.
In fact I balance my Gimble rigs by switching out different mix of grips, and battery configurations.
If you haven't used a wimberley gimbal head before you have no idea how epic they are!
My 7.4lb (3,360g) AF-S 200-400mm f/4 IF ED VR Nikkor floats like a feather when perfectly balanced in my wimberley gimbal head!

Note: Don't waste your money on a wimberley gimbal head if you were naive enough to purchase a "Pumper"
i.e. an lens that changes length when zoomed... They are crippled in a wimberley gimbal head scenario.
Only primes and IF glass work as designed in a class act gimbal head... Again experience is a brutal teacher...

Oh, final thoughts... If you have medium to large hands it seriously helps to purchase a grip for enthusiast class Nikon Bodies like the D750 and/or D7200... I have a D7200 and always have an empty grip attached... Not a fan of the D7200 because of it's lame ergonomics however it's sensor is far superior to the D500 (for location beauty/fashion gigs) so I'm stuck with it thus buy used OEM grips for it *Note: Always have two identical bodies for commercial gigs* (again experience is a brutal teacher).

leftj Loc: Texas

Only putting a battery in the battery grip kind defeats the purpose of the battery grip.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

The purpose of a battery grip in many of my commercial scenarios is primarily ergonomic/workflow...
Especially since I can swap out a battery in less than one minute... actually about 15 seconds...

Albeit if you aren't shooting commercial gigs on a regular bases where you have an entire team aboard and a fashion model in his/her "zone" then you might be a tad naive as to the fact that workflow on set is absolutely critical!

I also always have an empty grip on my D7200's for ergonomic reasons.... their "enthusiast class" interface leaves much to be desired for my needs. Besides an empty grip gives an illusion of "High End" to naive clients... "My what a big camera you have goldilocks" Image is everything when it comes to "perceived" worth.

leftj Loc: Texas

So I guess with the empty grip on your D7200’s you are creating excessive wear with the frequent removal of the grip to replace the battery. And where is the speedy workflow there. I guess the pros using those little $5,000 Leicas aren’t perceived as pros since they don’t have a big camera.