where there’s smoke there’s forum fire
Has anyone bought one of the chinese copies? I was looking for some comment on the quality of the unit. I dont need a grip often enough to pay the nikon price but a $100 unit would be a worthwhile investment for use every so often.
Can someone please advise?
I was using the chinese battery packs in the past on d90 and d300s and never had any problems with them, neither haven't seen any big differencess between them and the original grip I had with d200. haven't seen the chinese copy of mb-d12 but once i will find a dealer I'll certainly get one.
Anyway - back to the question - I have used a couple knock offs and they are not all made the same. Some are better than others for sure.
The only concern I have had are stories of knock-offs (with other bodies and manufacture brands) that short cameras out. When it comes to power stuff for better or worse, I stick with the brand or high end accessories.
TaoTeJared said:
Anyway - back to the question - I have used a couple knock offs and they are not all made the same. Some are better than others for sure.
I stick with the brand or high end accessories.
Me to. I bought a cheap grip for my sons D90, because he wasn't going to need it that often, and couldn't afford the Nikon version. It was superb value and even came with two fake batteries which have lasted well and given him good service. It does however feel incredibly cheap (it is) in the hand, the battery flap latch has lost it's tension, and the AF/AE lettering has rubbed off of the secondary button. I have an original MB-D10 for my D700, and the difference is so noticeable. It is made of Magnesium alloy just like the camera, and even after 2 years of good use, everything feels tight and works perfectly. I think as you say Tao, there are some very good coppies on the market and some pretty poor ones too, the problem with buying from China or HK is that you can't really handle them to see which catagory the one you're buying falls in to.
first off all sorry Tao - I was sleeping :)
as for the brand I was using was Meiko aka Alpha - never had any problems like either You or SkintBrit described and was using it heavily (more than 20000 accusations on each of them) with both of this bodies. Moreover, considering the cost of the original grip, which in my case gonna be app 5x as much, for sure I'm gonna take a closer look on the Chinese replacement. Though, I'm gonna wait to see it in shop instead of ordering through e-bay as indeed there are different manufacturers and the quality varies among them.
PS:
SkintBrit - HK belongs to China :)
adamz said:
PS:
SkintBrit - HK belongs to China :)
LOL, once part of the empire always a part of it ! That goes for Australia, America, Canada, India........ Right now I've alienated myself from nearly everyone on the forum, and showed my utter ignorance of British history, I'm going in to my bunker wearing my tin hat, and I'm not coming out till it blows over..........haha, I suppose that makes me Italian? :-)
Italia, Italia!!! :)
adamz said:
PS:
SkintBrit - HK belongs to China :)
Careful SkintBrit - I live in the US -> family came through Canada -> From France. I think I am suppose to throw something at you. ;)
--------
Back to it - It is good to hear the manufactures names and model numbers of Good and Bad accessories. I know there are some great one's out there, but the Dogs really worry me at times. I have just heard too many awful stories.
TaoTeJared said:
Back to it - It is good to hear the manufactures names and model numbers of Good and Bad accessories. I know there are some great one's out there, but the Dogs really worry me at times. I have just heard too many awful stories.
Good idea for a new thread! Unfortunately we would probably fall foul of the forum rules, as members would need to start mentioning specific brands/dealers/URL addresses. Admin, would it be possible to have a one thread exception to the 'advertising' rule? The perfect way to stop it becoming 'spam central' would be to block posters who have not been registered for say 3 months, or who have a certain number of posts under their belt, but I don't know if that option exists? Most of the spam we get is from members who joined 5 minutes ago.
I look at the customer reviews (when they exist) on Amazon to get some idea if a knock-off works well or has caused serious problems.
This thread seems to keep looking at the Chinese supply line. While I have not purchased anything for a long time from the "online" only websites who push merchandise made in China, I think the critical issue is whether or not the supplier and ultimate retailer have credibility. As an example, with LEDs, f which I have purchased a lot... the supplier in China is obtaining the product from varied sources and the quality control is .... there is none.
So, what is critical is the final retailer....will they back up the goods or simply drop kick one to the manufacturer. A battery may fall under this as they are produced in larger numbers than possibly a grip. But, the final seller is the guy I am going to rely on.
msmoto - true, that the quality and reliance is important, but the question I always ask myself when buying not so genuine products is: will spending more money benefit me in any case? most of the time my answer is YES, but in some situations, i.e. battery grips I really don't see a difference; moreover, I had once the original (genuine) nikon grip for my d200 and it was one big piece of crap, which I can't say about both non-genuine grips I used on d90 and d300s, which lasted and lasted w/o any problems.
That's very true adamz, I agree that normally the OEM part is best, but I too have bought items including lithium ion batteries for my cameras and laptops, that have far exceeded to performance of their much more expensive original counterparts. There does seem to be a problem with identifying to cream from the dross. I bought my son a 50cc scooter to get to college on last year. All the Japanese makes we're around £3000, I found a very local importer of Chinese ones, nicely equipped but maybe 80% of the build quality, for £575! It's been superb and completely reliable, but I'm also sure there are Chinese imports that I'd not want him to sit on.
OK, on my D90 I have Vello grip and it seems fine... I think if one purchases the grip from a reliable company the results are better. In the past I have made some purchases from less than reliable companies, those without brick and mortar stores, and the results were poor. Cost me about a grand... Some of the Chinese goods may be made on the same line as a more brand name item. There are many areas in merchandising where an time is manufactured and a generic name placed on ti along with a price, then at some point, the brand of the item is changed and the price may double. Some manufacturers make there own "generic" drugs and this is done to cover the market so as to avoid another manufacturer taking part of the market.
It could be very possible the grip is made on the same line as the Nikon grip, although not highly probable.
So, sometimes, the "cheap" grip is actually cheap only in price. But, the final retailer will be the one who is the critical piece.
phottix make good after market grips, im sure i heard they were in the foray of making one for D800, ive used there grips on my D700, no probs, as many i think the grip nikon offers is a bit on the steep side that said it obviously will be built better but i don't use a grip often enough to pay 3 times or more the cost for occasional usage, just wait a month or so there will be reviews on and all over you tube.
what annoys me most is body wise there isnt a big diff body wise between D700 and D800, nikon could have quite easily carried on using MB-D10 on the D800 but as always its about the bottom line "rant over" lol
I bought an MB-D80 out of China that presented as genuine Nikon, for about $50 and I can't pick it from genuine. It had all the genuine packaging, paperwork, serial number, the whole gig.
It says Made in Thailand, so I've no idea whether it is just a high quality rip-off or what, but it works fine, and as I bought it with my D90 a ways into its life cycle, that cost was practical. $200 dollars for what is involved for the genuine one is just a rip-off, IMO.
Daryl
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