Affordable Nikon D800 Grip Option Now Going Pro Route with Magnesium

Affordable Nikon D800 Grip Option Now Going Pro Route with Magnesium

Phottix has had their BG-D800 grip for the Nikon D800/D800E on the market for a while now. However, a new BG-D800M is now available, featuring a higher-quality magnesium build. While the BG-D800M is currently listed on their site for $200, the BG-D800 (the regular one) is listed for $150, but can be had for $90 on Amazon. The BG-D800M isn't yet available on Amazon, but this post will be updated as soon as it is.

Via NikonRumors

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Adam works mostly across California on all things photography and art. He can be found at the best local coffee shops, at home scanning film in for hours, or out and about shooting his next assignment. Want to talk about gear? Want to work on a project together? Have an idea for Fstoppers? Get in touch! And, check out FilmObjektiv.org film rentals!

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10 Comments

Interesting, will you do a review of it? And compare it to the other model you reviewed? Please.

Thanks for the interest. Knowing what people want us to review always helps. I hope we can, but no promises... If I get one of these myself (which I probably will soon, I will do a review, though).

 If you do get one please do write a review, I bought a cheap eBay one for my d800, and it's a bit flimsy for my liking. Still i'm too cheap to buy the real deal.

Out of curiosity (so everyone reading can keep track), can you post the brand name of your grip, even if generic?

 Sure, it's a very generic one but it says DTSE on the box. It's a chinese ripoff i think.

On the same note, i bought a Meike grip for my old d300 and that grip is actually really decent.

I bought the Meike grip for my D800. First day I used it, I was climbing out of a safari Landcruiser, the camera hanging in its strap over my shoulder. I touched the car with tha battery grip by almost no force - it died. One of the "aligment pins" was broken and the grip was useless.
From the pictures, the new grip from Phottix  seem to have at one pin made of metal...
The Meike grip is just to fragile for normal use. 

 Perhaps i should specify that i almost never use my d300, Hmartin might be right in that it's rubbish. Last time I touched the camera was when I put the grip on it. :)

I got the Pixel grip for the D800, which is good but the button feels cheap and the whole thing felt a bit light.

Thank, Tobias and the rest, for the info. I was curious how that meike one performed...it's one of the cheapest. At that price, you could buy replacements as they break :-)) (Note: that's not a serious recommendation...I'm really curious to see about the new magnesium one from Phottix)

The BG-D800M Looks great and has a professional feel to it, the finish is almost identical to the camera grip, mounts snug to the camera body. Only major downside is the shutter button feels flimsy and no were near the quality of the original shutter button, it requires a lot more effort to press and shoot and sometimes doesn't respond . The navigation toggle switch is over sensitive and always overshoots the target or the intended focus point, I find myself not using it at all. The two function dials seem to work fine. The BG-D800M works well for what you pay, although more effort should have been put into the shutter button as this is an important function for vertical shots. If your a casual photographer Im sure you will be fine with this Phottix Grip, if your a serious shooter then I suppose you already have the original Nikon grip and probably not reading this review.