just my 2 cents, I have the zeikos for my D700 and am glad I saved the $140. Unless it's going to be used all the time, put the extra money towards a 35mm 1.8 lens.

Yes, the behavior is the same, except that I've heard the MB-D80's is a bit more sensitive. I didn't really notice that on my zeikos one, though. I'd consider getting that one because it's less than half the price and it worked flawlessly for me for the 8 months I had it.

@adamz: you mean the vertical shutter has a feature like the main shutter of the camera?

yes it does have

does the MB-D80 batt grip vertical shutter has a half press feature? i planning to buy one.

chancetlu said:
I have a Meike from Adorama. I had no issues until a recent trip to Kenya. When shooting in continuous, it had a habit towards the end of the trip of all of a sudden claiming the battery was dead (both were fully charged). I had to turn the camera off and on when this happened.

I have the MB-D80. But I have the same issue as you. Batteries reported to be dead but at least one of them are fully charged. The issue that was causing this for me was the contacts between the terminals on the camera and the "little fingers" on the grip weren't that great.

If you look at a EN-EL3e battery which you have used for a while on your D90 (directly in body, not with battery grip), compare the "wear" marks on the three terminals / contacts. You will notice the middle one is a bit off (closer to the edge of the battery). With the battery grip, those little fingers sometimes loose contact or have bad contacts with this particular pin. So to solve it, you will have to bend the contact inside the D90 body a little bit.

I did not discover this myself so I can't take credit for this. I did a search on my problem and this seemed to have solve it.

I have a Meike from Adorama. I had no issues until a recent trip to Kenya. When shooting in continuous, it had a habit towards the end of the trip of all of a sudden claiming the battery was dead (both were fully charged). I had to turn the camera off and on when this happened. I eventually took the grip off and left it off. If I had it to do over again, I would go with the Nikon.

argh, you guys are killing me with the Zeikos recommendations. . .I guess I'll drop the $$ when it goes down to $54.99 on amazon (currently $59.99). . .that pinky thing is so true, though it does add weight, I'll be able to hold the camera more "fully" .. .

niko - in my case the quality speaks for the off brand one, I have the original grip for d200 and the small white battery holders are gone long time ago, which is not the case in my alpha grip for d90 (and I use both of the cameras in the same situations)

My friend has a Zeikos battery grip for his D90. I compared it with my Nikon one and can say it is 99% identical. The 1% difference is that the shutter release on the Zeikos is a little less sensitive than the Nikon one. This actually can be viewed as a good thing since I found the Nikon version's shutter release to be a little too sensitive.

Unless you suffer from NAS (Nikon Acquiring Syndrom), save the money and get a Zeikos grip.

jonnyapple said:
my right pinky has a tendency to slide off the D90 without a grip. For this I spend $60. ;-)

Just chop your pinky finger off and save yourself $60 bucks!

"my right pinky has a tendency to slide off the D90 without a grip. For this I spend $60. ;-) "

Tell me about it - I have the D5000 which is smaller and so am looking for a grip for exactly that reason.

I own the zeikos ~$60. No complaints here and it's got a good build.
edit: shivas, I haven't experienced what you mentioned about draining while gripped. I haven't noticed any difference in shots per charge since buying the grip (I average around 1200 per battery). I got mine for the ergonomics—my right pinky has a tendency to slide off the D90 without a grip. For this I spend $60. ;-)

I bought the Nikon MB-D80... because it's Nikon, c'mon! The grip is great, and makes the camera easier to handle since it always felt small in my hands. But like @joelia, I find myself attempting to tighten the grip unnecessarily because I read reviews that it comes loose. It's never been loose and I've never had contact issues. I curse those reviewers.

Having the camera automatically switch over to the second battery makes worrying about power an afterthought. Which reminds me, I guess I should charge my batteries. I honestly can't remember the last time I charged them.

UPDATED... the right battery was at 0% and took 647 images; the left battery was at 86% and took 71 images. Both are charging now.

shivaswrath said:I've heard that the contacts don't line up well on all the grips,........I've also read reviews saying they drain the batteries if it's kept gripped in your bag. . .that's not going to work well for me because there isn't ANY room in my "go to client" bag for a grip to be sitting separately without getting destroyed. . .

Satechi has good reviews and I liked its ability to do time-lapse.

But I agree, if the batteries get drained while not in use and if the contacts don’t line up well regardless of the make then I would rather buy a spare Nikon battery and keep it handy in my pocket, it hardly takes 5 seconds to change batteries.

JonnyApple recommends the Zeikos. . .I'm still trying to figure out which one too. . .I've heard that the contacts don't line up well on all the grips, so would I rather pay half the price with the Zeikos vs. the Nikon? Or consider the Saatchei??

I've also read reviews saying they drain the batteries if it's kept gripped in your bag. . .that's not going to work well for me because there isn't ANY room in my "go to client" bag for a grip to be sitting separately without getting destroyed. . .

Another vote for the official Nikon MB-D80.

Yup, Nikon by far.

I'd go for the Nikon grip. I know it's more expensive but they are great and are meant to last.

zeikos also makes a battery grip for d90, I've seen some good reviews of that.

I have the alpha grip for my d90 (app 1/3 of the price of Nikon one) and it works and looks same as the original MB-D80.

I have the Nikon... it's been perfect. I find myself constantly tightening it, but it's never loose, just paranoid I guess.

Are there any worth considering battery grips for D90 than the ones listed below? Also can owners post their opinions on the D90 battery grips they owe?

Jenis $59.09
Satechi LCD Timer Vertical Battery Grip for D90 with Remote Control $119.95
Nikon MD-D80 $144.95

It seems Satechi is the best value for money as it also has a built-in intervalometer for time-lapse photography.

Thanks.