Battery Grip for D500

I am working towards saving up for a D500, but definitely will not be able to afford the Nikon MB-D17 grip, which is $599 in Canada. I have no idea why Nikon prices them so high. I know all the stories and opinions on the Chinese knock-off grips and I am somewhat reluctant to purchase one, but still would like to ask for people's experiences with these knock-ff grips on the D500 and which ones (if any) worked okay?  What were the pros and cons? I know about the plastic vs metal construction and the connectivity issues, but do some brands work better than others? Are there any brands that have worked well for people for many years? For example the NSN store sells Phottix and B&H sells Vello. These are fairly reputable stores, so are these brands any better or more reliable?

In the US right now, the Nikon grip is free with the purchase of the camera - FYI...  Might make it worth it to buy one south of the border.  The price has also been dropped by $200 so $1800US gets you the camera and grip and an SD card.

Yes, I know that, but I cannot buy a Nikon USA product here in Canada, unless I am okay with no warranty or any servicing (which I am not). Unfortunately, the same deal is not being offered here in Canada. The best price I have seen up here for the body alone is $2099, but most of these sale prices ended last Tuesday. it is going to be at least two or three months before I can swing just the price for the body alone. Here we are again being screwed by Nikon's ridiculous warranty and repair policies!

Here in the US, Nikon has recently relaxed that policy a bit since they are actually the ones dumping cameras on the gray market to move them from other parts of the world where DSLRs no longer sell.  Are you 100% sure that Canada won't honor the warranty, and if it doesn't, why not ship it to LA for repair?  Just trying to figure out a way to get you in on the deal

BTW, some of my Vancouver friends (city - I realize you are out on the island), drive down to Blaine, WA to ship and receive stuff within the US.  It has made the UPS store in Blaine the busiest one in all of the USA. 

Thanks EJ . . .  I appreciate the thought

AFAIK, unfortunately here in Canada they have not relaxed that policy. The last time I talked to Nikon Service, they said they would not even touch a Nikon USA product, and they also will not supply any Nikon parts to a local camera repair store. So in this whole Country we have one and only one place where we can send Nikon gear for servicing. The cost and delay times to ship to the USA would not be very appealing for me. I had one friend, mind you this was a few years back, who sent all his Nikon gear ($20,000+) to the USA service center in LA, and when it was shipped back to him Canada Customs confiscated all the gear. It took him almost a year to get it back from them and that was after he had to hire a lawyer. Getting to Blaine would cost me around $200 round trip, but there is a ferry to Port Angeles that has a walk on fee for under $20. The problem is that I would be hassled by Customs for proof of purchase and stuff.

Anyway, any comments from anyone regarding the knock-off grips? Are any brands better than others?

Tim,
You might want to look on the FredMiranda buy/sell board, as these will likely be sold as new by people who purchased the D500 and received a grip w/ the purchase. I recently purchased a second D500 and immediately sold the grip on FM for $260 to lower the cost (and bulk) of my investment... by the time I was done, I paid less than $1500 for my body.

bruce

I've purchased a few lenses from Canadian dealers, and when I have had warranty work to be done have returned the item to the dealer who then forwards it to the repair center. I had to designate on the customs form that the item was "Canadian goods returned for repair". Don't know if this can be done the other way around.

Hi Tim, I have the Vello grip on my D810 for over a year and have had no problems.

Hey Tim , I have a Vello on my Canon 7D for years no problems. When I bought the D800E the grip was really expensive so I waited a month and found one on Kijiji in Montreal brand new 150$.

As Bruce said, there's going to be a glut of these grips on the used market in the US. You could probably get a brand new one from the US for fairly cheap and who cares if the grip doesn't have a warranty...

Personally, I wouldn't even bother with a Nikon brand grip. Bought a knock-off (ended up being Vivitar) from Amazon for my D810 and haven't looked back. Works wonderfully. I think I bought it for $67 including 2 extra batteries. The battery door latch did fall off, but the tray stays in fine. For the price I paid I could easily just buy another if this one fell apart beyond use.

Thanks guys for the feedback on those other grips  I didn't know that Vivitar was making them as well. Are these knock-off grips all different manufacturers, or is it possible that most of them are made in the same factory with just a different brand name placed on them? Anyway, that's two votes for the Vello so maybe I will consider that one when the time comes. I would have to think that Greg would only sell decent products through the NSN store. Anyone have any experience with the Phottix?

Phottix generally makes pretty good stuff. Their flashes are very good, especially for the price. BTW a lot of these are the same thing with different names. For example, Vivitar no longer makes anything. It isn't the company you knew way back when, it is the name being used now to market some third party products,

I checked out Vello and Phottix and neither of them appear to make a grip for the D500 yet. I guess it will take some time before that happens. Hopefully around the same time I can afford a D500

I had a phottix on my D800, I had a Nikon grip on the D800E, Whilst they looked the same the shutter button lacked 'feel' and i only used it as a back up camera so had little use before it failed just after i had had it a year, I personally would not get another

Dave

Recently bought a Vertex Pixel grip for my D500....and am not very impressed....the joy stick doesn't work as it should... the grip battery is not always recognised by the body... I'd rather save and buy the original Nikon grip - where you have the added benefit of being able to use a D5/D4 battery.
I have 2 Nikon grips - for D700 and D7100 - never had any issues.

Here is another vote for Vello.
I had Canon grips fro my EOS 3 and the 40D and both had problems. On the one for the 40D the wheel to tighten the grip to the body broke loose after a few weeks of use, and on both cameras the grip eventually stopped working in the vertical position. So when I got the 7D I decided not to spend a lot of money for something that breaks anyway and got the Vello grip. I never had a single issue with it.

I had the Vello grip on my D7200 and had zero problems with it. I tried to get a Vello for my D500 and, just like your experience, was told they didn't make them yet. I decided not to wait so I reluctantly got the Nikon grip. No issues, as expected, from the Nikon, but I would have gotten the Vello in a heartbeat if it was available.

Thanks guys . . . . . . Vello it is Now I just need to save up enough to get a D500.