Author Topic: Meike MK-500 Pro battery grip  (Read 4274 times)

stenrasmussen

  • Guest
Meike MK-500 Pro battery grip
« on: August 09, 2016, 20:40:10 »
As I rarely have use for a battery grip I thought I'd save big money by getting said product over Nikon's own MB-D17.
A short summary of my initial findings:
- Fit is very good albeit some very small gaps can be seen between the camera and grip.
- Rubber grip material feels and looks almost identical to the camera's.
- Buttons; not Nikon quality and feel but quite fine. Would have liked to see the control wheels rubberized. Tactile feel of shutter button is a bit more plastic.
- Battery compartment lid has a very good fit and opening/locking latch works great.
- AA battery tray takes 8 batteries (either Alkaline, NiCd or Li). Manual states operation temperature 0-40˚C which to me says the plastic lips holding the batteries in place are better not asked to flex at sub zero conditions...i.e. do not replace the AA batteries before the unit has reached + ˚C.
- The bottom of the grip's outer shell is on the inside of the battery chamber reinforced with a flat piece of plastic. A much better choice of material is steel as in the MB-D17. This has no negative effect for my use as I will use the grip handheld. I do think that a nerd ought to be able to replace the plastic strip with a something better  ::)
- To further assess the build quality I took off the top and to my pleasant surprise I saw that the electronic contact unit has a gasket and is secured to the grip with three screews and metal brackets. I've seen other non OEM grips where the contact unit has been held in place by thin plastic clips. Screews and steel brackets will prevent the contact unit from get loose/break after attach/detach operations. (This reminds me of a D800 I had where the 10-pin connector broke during use and did a walkabout inside the camera)@@

Oh, forgot to mention that the grip also came with a very handy remote...delayed, long exposure and time-lapse feature included. Operating range is at least 100m.

golunvolo

  • NG Supporter
  • **
  • Posts: 6742
  • You ARE NikonGear
Re: Meike MK-500 Pro battery grip
« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2016, 00:06:52 »
Thanks a lot Sten. I´m seriously considering the d500 and it will need a grip for my use. My main stopping point right now is the high use I have for 1600-6400 ISO with some room for post processing. Will see.

 

stenrasmussen

  • Guest
Re: Meike MK-500 Pro battery grip
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2016, 03:32:08 »
Thanks a lot Sten. I´m seriously considering the d500 and it will need a grip for my use. My main stopping point right now is the high use I have for 1600-6400 ISO with some room for post processing. Will see.

 

I am the same boat...indoor 4-digit ISO values. Hope to get the opportunity to test this soon.

Tristin

  • NG Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1083
  • Nothing less, always more.
Re: Meike MK-500 Pro battery grip
« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2016, 20:51:32 »
I have a Meike grip and really only have two complaints.  First, the Meike grip is noticeably larger than my D750's, especially front-to-back.  Not as comfortable.  Second, no ISO button on the grip.  So I often find myself hving to rotte back to chang ISO, which gets old.  Have had no performance or durability issues though.  The fll that crcked my D750's body only gave the Meike some scuffs.  Sometimes, plastic is indeed fntastic.
-Tristin

Hugh_3170

  • NG Supporter
  • **
  • Posts: 1997
  • Back in Melbourne!
Re: Meike MK-500 Pro battery grip
« Reply #4 on: August 11, 2016, 02:58:25 »
Sten's success with the Meike battery grip has prompted me to ask if anyone on the NG site has used the metal barrelled Meike extension tube set for Nikon F-Mount?

(For practical reasons, I would avoid their plastic barrelled version of the set.)

I am interested in this Meike set as it has electronic pass-through contacts from the lens to the camera and it also has AiS couplings and screwdriver auto focus support for older AF lens types.

The few 3rd party extension tubes that I have tried have been total a waste of money as their fit is no where near as good as those made by / for Nikon, so I would appreciate any comment from folks here that have tried the metal barrelled tubes from Meike.

TIA.
Hugh Gunn

Frank Fremerey

  • engineering art
  • NG Supporter
  • **
  • Posts: 12334
  • Bonn, Germany
Re: Meike MK-500 Pro battery grip
« Reply #5 on: August 11, 2016, 10:02:13 »
Thank you, Sten. As I bought the MB-D17 immediately with the body I do not need another grip.

Yet I consider it a very good idea to have several offerings. Nikon might one day contemplate to bring down the rather
elevated price. I can say the MB-D17 seems perfect to me ergonomically.

Are there other grips out there? Did someone here test them?

I paid 405 Euros for the Nikon grip. How much was the Meike?
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/

Erik Lund

  • Global Moderator
  • **
  • Posts: 6480
  • Copenhagen
    • ErikLund.com
Re: Meike MK-500 Pro battery grip
« Reply #6 on: August 11, 2016, 10:12:38 »
I got the original grip for the D810 for free with the camera,,,

Works very well with the EN-EL18a!
Erik Lund

stenrasmussen

  • Guest
Re: Meike MK-500 Pro battery grip
« Reply #7 on: August 11, 2016, 10:37:37 »
Thank you, Sten. As I bought the MB-D17 immediately with the body I do not need another grip.

Yet I consider it a very good idea to have several offerings. Nikon might one day contemplate to bring down the rather
elevated price. I can say the MB-D17 seems perfect to me ergonomically.

Are there other grips out there? Did someone here test them?

I paid 405 Euros for the Nikon grip. How much was the Meike?

89€...the MB-D17 is 549€ at my dealer...

Frank Fremerey

  • engineering art
  • NG Supporter
  • **
  • Posts: 12334
  • Bonn, Germany
Re: Meike MK-500 Pro battery grip
« Reply #8 on: August 11, 2016, 11:33:57 »
Wow. That is a difference. 4x to 6x ...they sure make a lot of money with tge grips.
You are out there. You and your camera. You can shoot or not shoot as you please. Discover the world, Your world. Show it to us. Or we might never see it.

Me: https://youpic.com/photographer/frankfremerey/