Zeikos ZE-NBG5000 Battery Grip for Nikon D5000
Mar.08, 2010 in
Nikon D5000 DSLR
- Professional high quality battery grip for Nikon D5000
- Effectively doubling your shooting time
- Holds 2 EN-EL9 Li-Ion Rechargeable Batteries
- Vertical firing release with lock
Product Description
The Zeikos Power grip for the Nikon D5000 is the perfect solution for doubling your shooting time. It holds 2 EN-EL9 Lithium-Ion Rechargeable batteries. It has a vertical firing release with a lock and dramatically improves stability. It has a 1 year warranty…. More >>
March 8th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
I ordered this grip after reading every (which is not saying many) reviews I could find, both here and elsewhere. Most reviews say nothing but good things, with only a couple of exceptions; one guy claimed that when he used it, his LCD stopped working, and another said that the camera rejected his batteries and told him to insert a proper battery. I thought that the first guy was doing it wrong, and that the second guy tried to use cheap knock-off batteries.
I was wrong, because when I tried using this grip, with two Nikon EN-EL9a batteries, with the data cable attached, both my LCD remained OFF, and the camera rejected the batteries as improper units. When I unplugged the data cable, but still used two batteries, the camera’s LCD worked again, but only to tell me that the battery wasn’t accepted. When I used ONE battery, with NO data cable — meaning the grip was now nothing but a grip — the camera accepted the battery and worked just fine. It doesn’t matter which slot you put the battery in, but the moment you put two batteries in the grip, the camera stops working and declares the battery to be unfit.
This grip is a fantastic addition to the camera as far as holding it is concerned, but it has little to no extra value outside of that. I would still have bought this grip if it had one battery slot, and no side-fire trigger, because I like the full-body effect it provides. It’s much more pleasant to hold the camera with the extended body, no matter what the angle. I only wish that I hadn’t spent so much on it when it doesn’t work the way it’s meant to work, and I really had no need for a second battery since the EN-EL9a battery charges so quickly to begin with.
If you’ve got spare money lying around, and you like the feel of a full-body Nikon (but don’t have enough stacks of money to buy one), then this grip is a great addition to your D5000. Just don’t maintain the expectation that it’s going to give you doubled battery life, or a side-fire trigger for portraiture.
I’ll keep mine for the grip function alone, but I wanted to post this for others to know what may (likely) happen.
Rating: 1 / 5
March 8th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Okay, I’ll admit I first bought this because I thought it was cool. Second reason I bought it was to see if it would balance out the weight for my 18-270mm lens. I was really digging it for the first couple days I bought it, and it seemed I was getting more grip when testing out the product, it was a good buy.
It had the rugged texture of all the Nikon DSLR’s, grip felt good, attached perfectly being tightly sealed to the Nikon D5000 body, and the color was spot-on. All the weight came from the two batteries, the cable wasn’t really annoying, and the vertical shutter button auto-focused as advertised.
After 4 days I decided to see how the camera felt again without the grip and it felt so much better losing the weight and the big body structure of the grip. It felt like being fat, then losing weight, to fit and slim.
I’m an on-the-go casual hobbyist photographer, the less I carry, the easier for me. While the battery grip adds twice the battery power, the original battery seems always more than enough for me. I’d much rather just carry the small spare battery. Who needs a vertical shutter button? If you know what your doing, you’ll get the same results with or without the vertical shutter button while shooting portraits.
I think if you purchase this item you’ll enjoy it for the first couple of days and the notice it’s not needed and prefer it off.
All in all, I think it’s an unnecessary item and you should be spending that money on a flash or lens.
Rating: 4 / 5
March 8th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
This grip is a pretty good buy. It fits snug and feels good in larger hands. Autofocus works, but you do need to have a small cable (included) connecting the grip to the camera for autofocus to work; which isn’t that big of a problem, the wire is short and doesn’t really get in the way. You do have to unplug it to connect a USB cable to transfer images as it blocks the input on the camera. The grip does not have a selector dial on it, so you still have to adjust shutter speed and aperture with the dial on top of the camera, but if you’re shooting portraits with the same settings it doesn’t slow you down. The grip is not an identical color match to the D5000, but you’d only notice it if you own the camera, in other words, whatever or whoever you are photographing isn’t going to notice, or care.
All in all, I would recommend this grip, it is specifically designed for the D5000.
Rating: 5 / 5
March 8th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
I just sold my Nikon D40 and purchased a Nikon D5000. This grip was specifically made for the D5000 so I bought it instead of the less expensive Opteka grip. I use a full size speed light on my camera, as well as a 70-300 lens. I have large hands, so I wanted more surface area to grab while using my camera. I am happy with this grip.
The included communication cable plugs into a data port on the side of the body of the D5000, and the other end plugs into the grip. This allows you to turn your camera on it’s side and not have to contort your hand to reach the shutter release button since there is a portrait shutter release built into the grip. Since there is a cable connected, you don’t have to use infra red remote mode on your camera, and the autofocus actually works on the shutter release button included on the grip (You can hold the button halfway down to focus) unlike the Opteka grip.
One thing I really like about this grip is the fact that if you really only bought it to get a better grip on your rig, and you don’t need the extra battery power, you can put just one of the EL9 batteries in the left slot and the camera will function as if the battery was in the factory slot. This means you can buy just this grip, and not have to purchase a second battery if you don’t want to.
The plastic on this grip is not cheap looking like a lot of the after market grips out there, but it’s still not the same exact shade as the Nikon body. There is about a 1/16 inch gap between the grip and the camera body even when the mounting screw is tightened very tight, but the mount is very solid, and does not wiggle when holding the grip and shaking the unit around.
My only complaint about this grip is the communication cable. It protrudes from the side of the camera and snags on my lowpro camera bag when pulling it out of the bag (I have the holster type bag). The plug is very cheaply made, and I worry about it snapping off if I’m not careful taking it out of my bag every time. I think they could have made this cable angle into the sockets in a more form fitting manner in order to keep it from snagging on things, or made it a little more rugged.
Overall, I am very happy with this grip. It does what it was made to do, and I can take about 1700 shots at the highest setting with both batteries in.
Rating: 4 / 5