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Battery grip for Nikon D850

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 1:01 pm
by Karl Egressy
I'm shopping around for Battery Grip won't pay for the Nikon one.
I wonder if anybody tried a third party grip for example Vello BG-N19-2
and a Watson EN-EL 18c battery.
I can't find a charger for the battery.
Thanks for your time.

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 1:30 pm
by david fletcher
Not sure about those items Karl but believe they have been mentioned to good effect on FM.

In the UK, I acquired an Mcoplus grip and use ExPro battery's and Expro charger as well as a Mitsuru battery, all fine over the last 13 months... (and yes that combo provides the 9Fps)...

You probably already know it'll need the BL-5 chamber cover. The last Nikon grip I bought was the MB-D12 in 2012. Been no ill effects so one could say I have had my monies worth.

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 2:37 pm
by Bob Ettinger
Vello N19-2 works fine. Wasabi charger works fine as well

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:14 pm
by Tim Zurowski
Hi Karl

While I do not own a D850, I do have the Vello grip for my D500 and I have no complaints at all about it. Works great! I will never purchase another Nikon grip again. :)

Re: Battery grip for Nikon D850

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:19 pm
by whitedog2
There has been a fair degree of discussion about this on the Fred Miranda Website under the Nikon Thread.  To summarize, the -2 battery grip works fine, the off market batteries also, you do need the special end cap, and the wasabi (dual battery) charger works fine also.  I only have one battery and the thing drives the camera, and a lot of pixel peeping all day when shooting birds....sometimes 3,500 shots a day.

There are some drawbacks.  Seating the battery can be iffy.  Apparently the end cap to battery grip dimensions are just slightly off and occassionally you will change the battery and get a big zero on the battery status on the camera.  Its not consistent, and you may need to reseat the cap/battery combination in the battery grip several times to resolve the issue.....but once you get a full battery indication on the camera you are good to go.  It seems to give a full 9fps, with I really appreciate when shooting birds and at rodeos and dog shows.

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:24 pm
by Anthony Medici
Do those third party grips bring the frame rate up also?

Re: Battery grip for Nikon D850

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 7:01 am
by amp5213
I have the velo grip for my D850.  I think I paid 99 dollars at B&H as opposed to $400 for the Nikon grip. Its well built and attaches solidly to the camera unlike the Nikon grip I had on D-810.  To answer tony's question, the Velo grip does raise the frame rate just like the Nikon grip if you use the En-EL18c Nikon batteries.  The velo grip only works with the newest version of the Nikon En-El18 batteries. The batteries have the c at the end of the number  The older batteries don't work in it.

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 8:35 am
by Baywing
I had a Vello-2 on my second D850. I replaced it with the Nikon grip as it always seemed loose, there was some play between the grip and body that was very obvious on a tripod. The Vello-2 did give me 9fps, I only use Nikon batteries as I have a D4, D5 so it makes my life simpler to deal with just one type of battery. The ENEL18 and 18a would not work in the Vello-2 grip but will in the Nikon. The 18b and 18c will work in the Vello-2 as well as the Nikon. There is a bit of a snag when installing the 18 battery into the grip, it does not slide right in, it seems to have a catch. Once seated it works fine. Others have been happy with the Vello-2, I am not. B&H recently reduced the price of the vello-2 to the point my lightly used one is virtually worthless. YMMV.

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 8:36 am
by Baywing
I had a Vello-2 on my second D850. I replaced it with the Nikon grip as it always seemed loose, there was some play between the grip and body that was very obvious on a tripod. The Vello-2 did give me 9fps, I only use Nikon batteries as I have a D4, D5 so it makes my life simpler to deal with just one type of battery. The ENEL18 and 18a would not work in the Vello-2 grip but will in the Nikon. The 18b and 18c will work in the Vello-2 as well as the Nikon. There is a bit of a snag when installing the 18 battery into the grip, it does not slide right in, it seems to have a catch. Once seated it works fine. Others have been happy with the Vello-2, I am not. B&H recently reduced the price of the vello-2 to the point my lightly used one is virtually worthless. YMMV.

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 9:11 am
by Gary Irwin
The original Vello (Vello-1?) was junk IMO. The shell was weak around the latch area and if you squeezed the grip in the wrong way, the mechanical door latch would disengage the mechanical switch that told the camera to bump up the FPS because the grip was attached. I ended up tossing it in the garbage. My understanding is that the second version seems to work OK (better all-round construction)....but perhaps not? Personally I went with the OEM version and have never looked back.

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2019 7:28 pm
by Karl Egressy
Thank you all. I will go with the Vello 2 for $99 only.