Hi Cary,

AFAIK, the heating might even go to affecting the LCD panel and the shutoff is to protect it (the LCD), just don't know and the Nikon guys aren't adding any info to diffuse the confusion.

There is still an active question concerning damaging the camera if used for a period of time. Hopefully they will give a meaningful answer.

My best,

Mike

Mike Gunter said:
Hi Cary,

I'm revisiting this since I just got an answer from Nikon support about heating up during movie making.

They don't know how long it will take to heat up.

From Nikon:

Thank you for contacting Nikon USA.
Using the MB-D11 with your D7000 to record, will increase the movie clips but the camera will overheat. Unfortunately we do not have an exact periods but we do not recommend using it for extended periods for recording.

Regards,
Claribel C.
=======================

I did follow up with a question concerning any damage to the sensor should the camera become hot (the manual suggest it would shut down to protect itself).

While it seems incredulous that there's no data on this, in Nikon's defense, there would be a myriad of conditions in which test data would be skewed and what's normal in the arctic circle would be quite different than in the Sahara desert. Still, it's silly that there wasn't an attempt to try and determine what 'hot' means in some kind of terms of 'time', because now everyone who owns the camera is left in the air as to how long they can use the camera usefully.

Kind of stupid, isn't it? You can use the camera as a video camera, as long as to don't use it 'too long'. What's that mean?

As a side note:

I was delighted to see that after Howdy Doody went off the air, Claribel the Clown got a job. ;-)

My best,

Mike

Mike,

Thanks for the info and for contacting Nikon USA, even if it did leave us both scratching our heads. I'm sure the camera would have some fault circuitry for overheating. I doubt it would cause any permanent damage, if it did over-heat, but I can't imagine it being very easy to actually over-heat the sensor, from our experience. Wouldn't using live view, without recording, stress the sensor just the same as recording? Seems it would be working the sensor the same, since the shutter would be open and the sensor "on" during Live View operations.

I just got my MeiKe battery grip today. It definitely appears to be all plastic (too light to have a metal frame). The buttons feel kind of cheap but function great (I actually like the fact that the shutter button has a definite click to it instead of feeling mushy like the on-camera one). The main plastic and rubber part looks and feels just like the camera. I'm happy with it - definitely worth my $50. If you really care about the weight and weather sealing, get the Nikon. If you just want a grip and place to shove extra batteries, the MeiKe seems like it will work just fine.

CaryTheLabelGuy said:
Mike,

Interesting. I guess I missed that part in the manual. I always read the manual front to back, especially with a new body(not so much on new lenses).

I used one of the D7000's for about an hour yesterday, shooting nothing but video, in 95 deg weather and didn't run into a single problem. I was shooting test footage to play with my new Sony Vegas wares. I'm going to shoot a minuture film using my 620 whp Mitsubishi Evo VIII as my subject. This would make my first attempt at real filmaking(last night made me realize that I should stick to still photography....lol).

Hi Cary,

I'm revisiting this since I just got an answer from Nikon support about heating up during movie making.

They don't know how long it will take to heat up.

From Nikon:

Thank you for contacting Nikon USA.
Using the MB-D11 with your D7000 to record, will increase the movie clips but the camera will overheat. Unfortunately we do not have an exact periods but we do not recommend using it for extended periods for recording.

Regards,
Claribel C.
=======================

I did follow up with a question concerning any damage to the sensor should the camera become hot (the manual suggest it would shut down to protect itself).

While it seems incredulous that there's no data on this, in Nikon's defense, there would be a myriad of conditions in which test data would be skewed and what's normal in the arctic circle would be quite different than in the Sahara desert. Still, it's silly that there wasn't an attempt to try and determine what 'hot' means in some kind of terms of 'time', because now everyone who owns the camera is left in the air as to how long they can use the camera usefully.

Kind of stupid, isn't it? You can use the camera as a video camera, as long as to don't use it 'too long'. What's that mean?

As a side note:

I was delighted to see that after Howdy Doody went off the air, Claribel the Clown got a job. ;-)

My best,

Mike

Hi Cary,

Don't take my comments as a "RTFM" - BTW, I didn't mean it that way. ;-)

I have done some plain vanilla tests with my camera - set it up and let it run, 2 hours and 40 minutes (20 minute-clips, on-off) without a break, and it didn't miss a beat.

I didn't bookmark the video where the fellow made the comment about the sensor heating up and acting up on the video, so I can't point it out to you. It was referring to a Canon camera.

There's a lot to dislike about the captures, too. Lack of zebras to know how the exposure really is, trying to focus on the LCD, audio totally sucks (for any kind of serious audio, one would really need to capture on a remote device and mix in post), and of course, SLRs aren't the easiest moviemaking devices - anything you use to support is jerrybuilt. Not to mention that you can't even monitor audio - but it sucks anyway.

I like Vegas a lot. It is the easiest NLE to learn and use. You'll find that you can use the audio timeline from the D7000 to sync from a remote audio stream (I use a TASCAM DR100 - a great solid state recorder) by using the wave forms - the visual graphs will be enough to line up and get perfect synchronization on the timeline quickly.

Good luck on your next shoot!

My best,

Mike

Mike Gunter said:
From what I've read in the manual, a warning indicator will come on, then the Live View will shut off and not come on or function until it is cool enough to work.

It has worked well for me for some time, over two hours in 20-minute bursts , without any problems.

I viewed a video in which a Canon user suggested 90 minutes or so with the Mark 5 as being a limit he would use. I think he was referring to a noisy sensor, which well may be a different thing altogether.

My best,

Mike

Mike,

Interesting. I guess I missed that part in the manual. I always read the manual front to back, especially with a new body(not so much on new lenses).

I used one of the D7000's for about an hour yesterday, shooting nothing but video, in 95 deg weather and didn't run into a single problem. I was shooting test footage to play with my new Sony Vegas wares. I'm going to shoot a minuture film using my 620 whp Mitsubishi Evo VIII as my subject. This would make my first attempt at real filmaking(last night made me realize that I should stick to still photography....lol).

CaryTheLabelGuy said:
Mike,

What happens when the sensor does over-heat? Hot-pixels become an issues? Excessive noise levels? I've never really had a problem, but i don't shoot a lot of video. I've taken over a thousand shots in a very short time period and never once had the sensor give me any issues. I have two "Stuck" pixels, but those seem to always be there, and are very easily removed. They look like very small white crosses.

From what I've read in the manual, a warning indicator will come on, then the Live View will shut off and not come on or function until it is cool enough to work.

It has worked well for me for some time, over two hours in 20-minute bursts , without any problems.

I viewed a video in which a Canon user suggested 90 minutes or so with the Mark 5 as being a limit he would use. I think he was referring to a noisy sensor, which well may be a different thing altogether.

My best,

Mike

alchse said:
So after my first experience with a grip one thing occurred to me.

Why don't they change the shooting hand to the left hand when shooting portrait?
(i.e. put the 2nd shutter button on the bottom left corner as opposed to the bottom right)

This would make the transition smoother as you wouldn't have to re-grip and the viewfinder would be on the top half of the camera as opposed to the bottom half.

You could probably still use the normal dials with your right had as well.

And I'm sure lefty's would love it

Just a thought.......

So if you use two hands to shoot does that mean you can double your frame rate? :D

Just kidding. That actually is a great idea. Not sure why.

So after my first experience with a grip one thing occurred to me.

Why don't they change the shooting hand to the left hand when shooting portrait?
(i.e. put the 2nd shutter button on the bottom left corner as opposed to the bottom right)

This would make the transition smoother as you wouldn't have to re-grip and the viewfinder would be on the top half of the camera as opposed to the bottom half.

You could probably still use the normal dials with your right had as well.

And I'm sure lefty's would love it

Just a thought.......

CaryTheLabelGuy said:
Yes, i do it all the time. You just have to set camera up in the menu to pull power from the grip first.

That's cool. It'll help with the "not removing the battery grip" issue.

poster said:
Am I the only one who find the design of this grip to be pretty stupid?

Couldn't they just make the battery grip fit 2 batteries? This combination of "one in the body and one in the grip" is pretty stupid in my opinion. If both of my batteries die, I have to take off the whole grip just the change the battery.

They apparently did that on purpose?

There's a better explanation here- they did it with the MB-D10.

http://imaging.nikon.com/history/scenes/21/

People didn't like the D200 grip because it had the massive battery chimney. The MB-D10 was designed to aid packing. I guess they had that in mind with the D7000 grip.

I guess I see it from their perspective, but it could be stupid design too.

Am I the only one who find the design of this grip to be pretty stupid?

Couldn't they just make the battery grip fit 2 batteries? This combination of "one in the body and one in the grip" is pretty stupid in my opinion. If both of my batteries die, I have to take off the whole grip just the change the battery.

NSXType-R said:
Could you power the camera with just one battery in the grip only, with no battery in the camera?

Yes, i do it all the time. You just have to set camera up in the menu to pull power from the grip first.

Could you power the camera with just one battery in the grip only, with no battery in the camera?

Mike Gunter said:
Hi,

Thanks alchse for the report!

I'm on the fence for now. I am contemplating moving to the D7000 for our movie business as well. It's a small, but important part of what we do, but the D7000 is as good as the HVX200 for 'video', if carefully lighted, and we have the audio equipment to do that externally.

I just finished a few clips for a tutorial for a training company and the video looked and felt like 35mm film. I actually had to do a reshoot since it was too narrow a DOF and I didn't have my Hoodman with me (it was a shoot of opportunity). I was utterly surprised at the fantastic quality.

What I'm unclear of is, how long it will take for the sensor to heat up to make the video unusable - whether it will matter to have two batteries of power or not, or to switch to another body, and how long will it take to cool?

I've tested one battery for 2 hours without incident, but that was in a coolish environment, and I'm reasonably sure that matters.

I'm guessing many variables matter.

Moreover, the D800 will also have similar, if not better video, and certainly improved FX DOF, and those same senor heating questions will apply.

My best,

Mike

Mike,

What happens when the sensor does over-heat? Hot-pixels become an issues? Excessive noise levels? I've never really had a problem, but i don't shoot a lot of video. I've taken over a thousand shots in a very short time period and never once had the sensor give me any issues. I have two "Stuck" pixels, but those seem to always be there, and are very easily removed. They look like very small white crosses.

I prefer to use the MB-D11 at all times, it never comes off our two D7000's. It doesn't matter if we're shooting with our 80-400, 80-200 2.8 or any of the primes, the body just feels better and very balanced with the grip. I actually love using it in portrait mode, as the controls are absolutely perfect. I hold the camera by the grip with my 80-400 and 80-200 2.8 all the time, and I've never felt un-easy about it breaking off, or even coming loose. It's very sturdy and solid.

Does the knock-off have any weather sealing? The Nikon MB-D11 is actually pretty decently weather sealed, like the body.

Also, I've found that using the 6 AA battery tray adds a pretty significant about of weight to the grip, as opposed to the standard battery tray. I actually prefer the extra weight, as it does make the body balance even better with heavy zooms. I bought some decent Duracell Rechargeable (Pre-Charged) 2000mAh HR6 NiMH batteries and they seem to last forever on one charge, in the grip. I'm still testing them, so i don't have any hard numbers as of yet. But, I'm very impressed.

Mike Gunter said:
Hi,

Thanks alchse for the report!

I'm on the fence for now. I am contemplating moving to the D7000 for our movie business as well. It's a small, but important part of what we do, but the D7000 is as good as the HVX200 for 'video', if carefully lighted, and we have the audio equipment to do that externally.

I just finished a few clips for a tutorial for a training company and the video looked and felt like 35mm film. I actually had to do a reshoot since it was too narrow a DOF and I didn't have my Hoodman with me (it was a shoot of opportunity). I was utterly surprised at the fantastic quality.

What I'm unclear of is, how long it will take for the sensor to heat up to make the video unusable - whether it will matter to have two batteries of power or not, or to switch to another body, and how long will it take to cool?

I've tested one battery for 2 hours without incident, but that was in a coolish environment, and I'm reasonably sure that matters.

I'm guessing many variables matter.

Moreover, the D800 will also have similar, if not better video, and certainly improved FX DOF, and those same senor heating questions will apply.

My best,

Mike

I remember reading that it was something like 20 min before the sensor overheats etc.

The cheapo battery grip must feel the same as the original battery grip for D200 felt like. Totally unbalanced, felt cheap and i was afraid to hold the camera plus 80-200mm just by the grip itself.

Meh I will pass.

Hi,

Thanks alchse for the report!

I'm on the fence for now. I am contemplating moving to the D7000 for our movie business as well. It's a small, but important part of what we do, but the D7000 is as good as the HVX200 for 'video', if carefully lighted, and we have the audio equipment to do that externally.

I just finished a few clips for a tutorial for a training company and the video looked and felt like 35mm film. I actually had to do a reshoot since it was too narrow a DOF and I didn't have my Hoodman with me (it was a shoot of opportunity). I was utterly surprised at the fantastic quality.

What I'm unclear of is, how long it will take for the sensor to heat up to make the video unusable - whether it will matter to have two batteries of power or not, or to switch to another body, and how long will it take to cool?

I've tested one battery for 2 hours without incident, but that was in a coolish environment, and I'm reasonably sure that matters.

I'm guessing many variables matter.

Moreover, the D800 will also have similar, if not better video, and certainly improved FX DOF, and those same senor heating questions will apply.

My best,

Mike

I haven't tried it with my zoom yet but with my prime I prefer the camera without the grip

Maybe if it had some metal in there like the OEM it would be better balanced ...but as is, it feels top heavy to me....very noticeable when shooting portrait (I guess this would be left heavy).

And this is with 6 AA batteries...probably worse with rechargeable

I also don't like how high you have to hold your hand (above eye level) when shooting portrait to be able to both reach the controls and use the viewfinder.... but that would be true of the OEM as well

Like I said "crumple zone".

Honestly, I would prefer to keep an extra battery on me rather than have a bulky battery grip. Though I bet the camera balances better with bigger lenses. I don't use my 80-200 2.8 too often so that's not a big deal to me.

How does the battery grip balances when used with normal lenses (primes, normal zooms etc.

The dials are not bad at all...they are definitely have a more "plasticy" feel compared to the dials on the camera witch have that nice rubbery texture....but the action is actually quite nice.

Same for the shutter button...not quite the same but overall has a good feel to it.

The finish is not bad to the eye.....you probably couldn't tell it was a knockoff till you held it in your hands and really inspected it

I'll try to post some pics at some point.

alchse said:
So I got my knock off grip and overall I'm not impressed.

Everything attaches and works as it should....but its clearly not in the same ball park as an OEM, build quality wise. (I've never actually seen an OEM grip but I think its a safe assumption)

it is 100% plastic with rubber gripping that is actually not terrible.

Overall I would say stay away unless you really need the extra power

Just curious, how are the controls on the knock-off version? Are they smooth? Also, regarding the finish, is it a good match for the body or "way-off"? If somebody isn't concerned about the material used, maybe this will be a good alternative.

So I got my knock off grip and overall I'm not impressed.

Everything attaches and works as it should....but its clearly not in the same ball park as an OEM, build quality wise. (I've never actually seen an OEM grip but I think its a safe assumption)

it is 100% plastic with rubber gripping that is actually not terrible.

Overall I would say stay away unless you really need the extra power

Hi

@CaryTheLabelGuy - Thanks!

I didn't think about the fact that it's magnesium and that the two batteries wouldn't really add too much weight - it's more attractive already.

During some of my shoots I run through two batteries, and I would like the option to switch to AAs (but will likely just opt for additional Nikon batteries). That's not too often. The batteries last a long time, the longest lasting batteries I used.

I see that it holds 1 battery with 1 in the camera. The manual says that the MB-D11 and the battery is 11oz.

Hum.

My best,

Mike

Mike,

Also meant to add that the weight of the grip is very little, even with an additional battery in the body. But, the weight with the grip and optional AA battery tray, is slightly heavier.

Mike Gunter said:
Hi,

The weight of the camera as is, is fine with me, my age has it's own limits. Heavier gear is troublesome to me.

However, I do need to power the camera for Live View for video for some video work that is a small, but currently profitable part of our business. I'm looking at a AC option or the battery pack option. Obviously the battery pack is portable, and would be mobile. I see nothing on the net that is clear to overheating times, but I should think a two-battery limit would be sufficient.

If anyone knows if the MB-D11 is the ticket - that would be a blessing to hear.

My best,

Mike

Mike,

I have 2 D7000's and two MB-D11 battery grips. They are awesome in every way, except for price. I have seen no over-heating issues with long photo shoots and the ability to run AA batteries in a pinch really is a great addition. The cameras handle SO much better with the grips and the fact that they're made of Magnesium makes the bottom of the camera much more durable, should something happen. With the grip, the only non-Magnesium plate is the front one. I can't shoot without them now. It really makes the D7000 a professional body(in my hands) and I would have it no other way.

I am curious to see how these knock-offs will perform and what they're actually made of. I don't need one, but maybe they are decent alternatives to the expensive(albeit awesome) Nikon version.