A few months ago I purchased a Nikon D7000 and MB-D11 battery grip from Amazon.com. The order was fulfilled by ANATOLIAN BOOKSTORE, INC and two days ago I figured out that this grip is actually a fake. Check out the full post to see high res images from every angle of this grip.
Once I figured out that this grip was fake I started searching the internet and I found this exact grip WITHOUT Nikon branding on Amazon made by "Neewer". This grip only costs $42.00 (which is quite a good deal). If you have been sold any fake gear, let us know in the comments below.
Youtube version:
![[Editorial] Why Does The Nikon MB-D12 Cost So Much?](https://cdn.fstoppers.com/styles/small-16-9/s3/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/mb-d12-cost.jpg)
I saw these 42 dollar knock-offs all over eBay last week and I wondered if it's safe to use with my camera.
with Nikon branding?
No branding I think. Actually, I didn't look closely at it but I do remember the price of the MB-D11 to be about 60 or 70 dollars including a battery.
I wonder how the boxes were, i mean could this be a case of someone buying a real MBD11 and then selling off their old grip as the genuine article, in a real box with warranty and manuals, maybe even the case.
the design on the box is slightly different, see the big MBD11 is a similar but slightly different font.. and the pouch has a different fabric.. which means everything was re-made and designed completely, except maybe the manual, that would be just too crazy!
oh man! that sucks
Sorry to hear about your experience with the fake goods. Hopefully, you were able to get a refund.
I just bought the Neewer D7000 grip (actually arrived in today's mail) from Amazon, based on the mostly positive reviews. I really couldn't afford the MB-D11 grip at over $200. I had a Zeikos grip for my D300 which I had to send back for a replacement due to some issues with it. But the replacement worked fine ever since. I think that grip ran about $75 a couple years ago.
I can say, from experience in selling products like this for cars a lonnnng time ago - it gets super risky for manufacturers to brand fakes. You'd think that with the prevalence of it that everyone's doing it, but they're not. It's just a few major factories that are very secretive about it. Raids occur all the time when Chinese factories are creating branded fakes. But if they're unbranded, there's much less risk of any retribution.
I guess what we can all learn here is to not shoot Nikon. Hehe
yes - i once bought some fake goods. i was looking for some batteries for my 7D. i found a place on ebay that was selling two batts and one grip. i didn't trust them, so i actually went back and found the part numbers and did a search on amazon again with those part numbers and the same item appeared. i looked at their pictures i even tried comparing them from ones i found online, and they looked okay. it even had the battery part number on the boxes and the grip seemed legit. once i got it, same thing, the wheel to screw on the camera was very lose, the trigger button seemed very stiff, i couldn't feel when the camera focused and shot. i hated it. i emailed the seller and they tried sending me a replacement, but i told them i wanted my money back instead. (granted, i knew it couldn't be real, the whole thing was selling for $80, the 1 batt alone is $60) long story short, i finally got my money back and sent those things back to them. never again, i know the real things can be pricey, but i figure they are investments, and i want to feel comfortable at night knowing they'll work the next morning.
just curious, did you approach Amazon about the fake and if so what was their response?
I literally just asked to return it and the automated system just gave me a return label. Not sure I'll ever get to speak to a human but I should get my money back.
you should call amazon and report them.
amazon is VERY VERY VERY good about their A to Z buyer's protection policy and they don't tolerate fakes...
sorry you had to deal with this bullshit!
I bought the cheep knock off for $50 for my D7000, I really just wanted it for the extra battery life, it works fine,
Is the knock off you bought made of metal? I believe the real one is.
So, how can I be sure you're the real Lee Morris .... ? :)
I'll bet your local B&H boys have got a big grin on their faces right now. Thanks for the video, Lee ... I'd hate to think how many people would have bought this item and been none the wiser without your keen eye.
The real Lee Morris has the patented "too lazy to shave" facial hair. Don't be fooled by imitations.
Good work Lee, you're a valuable member of Team Nikon.
yikes, here I am sat and wondering if my Nikon D7000 is in fact the real thing. my pictures are still not as amazing
Just curious... have you contacted Nikon? That would be my first move, and give them them the "serial number". I'd be interested in their response. I would hope they would make efforts to track down and stop the sale of fakes.
Yes I called them before making the video. They said it was probably fake but the girl I spoke with didn't really seem to care. It's just like any big organization, she was just paid to help people figure out their cameras and I'm sure she has no connection to those who would care about this fake grip.
They'll soon care if this goes viral..
That's why when I buy stuff on Amazon, I only buy if it's FROM Amazon, (or Adorama through Amazon)... otherwise I just wait or buy elsewhere..... A lot of people don't realize Amazon also works as a marketplace for other vendors, and sometimes those other vendors aren't so legit.
I'd actually purchased a MB-D10 few mths back from ebay and was really ecstatic since I won the bid for $200. But after seeing this video, my suspicions grew and checked. And yes, found out my purchase was a fake. Pretty infuriated(though it works really well) cos of being cheated. Went back to ebay to email the seller, found out he has stopped selling for few weeks now. Have mssged him(just giving him the benefit of the doubt and seeing if he does reply), so lets see how this unfolds. Fingers crossed that I can get back a refund.
Lesson Learned Don't Buy on AMAZON From now on??
Wrong. Amazon is the BEST online retailer there is but make sure it says FULFILLED BY AMAZON. @RLMorrisPhoto:disqus you should of waited for Amazon to stock it. Case in point - I bought a D7k from AMAZON I got it next day it was defective. FOR FREE they overnighted me a brand new one and are giving me 30 days to return the other one to them. This is how they do business, B&H or Adorama wouldn't do that. They would say "Bring it to Nikon" - plus they close on Friday and Saturdays AMAZON never closes.
EXACTLY my point, make sure its sold BY amazon, not THROUGH amazon.
no other camera store online has the same awesome customer support that amazon has... assuming you purchased from amazon.
my d7000 is not taking good pictures like chase jarvis's
wonder if its fake :p
It probably is then. All great images come from the most expensive true gear ;)
Exactly... just ask Nikon's facebook team!
The only "real" difference that i spotted is on the bottom of the grip, on the right, where the real has the joint in the middle and the fake has it on the bottom. Other than that, the differences is only on the "feel" of the materials as far as i can say...
Scary stuff.........
Really sorry for what happened, tho. They are so identical!
i got scam.. nooooooo... :(
damn, i actually got the fake grip.. the seller lie to me too.. :(
one is plastic and one is metal. should be a dead give away. the weight should completely different.
I must admit, I never even noticed either. The grips don't have a heavy metal feel to them so it's easy to mistaken them especially if you are used to the weight of the D300s/700.
It could be possible that it's not the seller's fault, and they got scammed by a buyer themselves. E.g. someone bought both the Nikon original grip and the 3rd party, then put the 3rd party one in the Nikon box and returned it. This way they got to keep the original but paid only for the 3rd party. It would explain all the Nikon packaging.
I don't think anyone would be able to spot this, so it could happen even if you had bought this from Amazon themselves instead of a merchant. (Do you think the people handling returns at the Amazon warehouse know what an original MB-D11 grip is supposed to look like?)
Why does the fake grip have nikon branding on it then? It's not just th packaging ....it's th grp itself
Yes, you're right. I didn't notice that the fake had Nikon branding but the other 3rd party one doesn't.
I bought a $70 NEW fake MB-D10 for my D700 on Ebay, it has all the Nikon Branding, serial number shows THAILAND for the origin of manufacture. I have a REAL MB-D10 as well and they look virtually identical. The REAL one is heavier and as Lee said on the MB-D11, the mounting wheel is far looser on the fake, but my aperture and shutter speed wheels are tight and work in the correct direction. The battery insert seems a little lighter and appears to be more fragile than the REAL version, but overall, the ONLY concern I have is that the tripod socket may not be as sturdy as the REAL MB-D10, except for that concern, the grips look and feel virtually identical, the REAL one is a tad heavier and I feel more secure with the tripod mount. I really wanted to see if the drive could be built cheaper and still be the same quality. Thailand came close, very close. My complaint is this. If they could reverse engineer the grip to the point they were virtually identical, why could not they spend the few pennies more per grip to make the wheels and tripod attachment secure? They could still have halved Nikon's price and had an identical product.
They have serial numbers on them... and any camera retailer will check this. The scam you speak of is decades old and retailers have long grown smart to this. Even Walmart!
As they say, "a sucker is born every minute." I am a sucker at times. :( Bought a grip for just over $100 on Ebay, even though all the grips I saw from reliable sources were over $200. Ordered it anyway, noticed that it was 100% plastic rather than the metal alloy it is supposed to be, and knew for sure it was a fake. Filed a complaint with Ebay, was refunded the entire purchase amount, and not required to send the old one back to China. I really like have it on my camera, and sooner or later I'll pony up the dough for the real deal. I do have to say that the fake one looks 99.9% like the original... amazing.
This just happened to me! I hate that I'm now "sucker." How did you manage to get your money back from Ebay, AND keep the knock-off mb-d11? I'm having trouble doing just that. Any advice is appreciated :)
Wow...never thought I'd get scammed at Amazon. Just checked it. Mine is a fake and I had bought the supposedly real one for $220. I have gotten so used to it I can't be without it. Called Amazon. They are giving me my money back but I have to send it in via a print-return label....then after that I have to decide if I want the fake one for $40 which I had gotten so used to or the real one...but now Im worried bout where to buy it. Uggg..this is gonna take over 2 weeks to get over.
I tried to tell everyone months ago See the one star review on "How to spot a counterfeit grip and not get ripped off" Dated 25 May 2011- http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-MB-D11-Multi-Power-Battery-Packaging/product...
I bought one, called the clown selling it and he played dumb, when I told him it was a 50 dollar grip he offered to send me the difference. I also turned him in to Amazon, good job Amazon for letting your customers get ripped off for the past 4 months.
Yes, it is a VERY close copy. it's actually all plastic and not metal, the other thing that's east to noitice is the lack of weather sealing.
man.. i'm starting to 'Questioning' amazon for stuff that they sell, just now i bought a rode video mic pro with the dead cat something( the wind cut fur) they send me the mic without the deadcat, i have to email them like 3 times.. at first they told me they send me both of them, after i told them my friend checked the box and everything and they didn't find anything then they said its been a problem and they will send the deadbeat.. and before my friend bought a book and she didn't get the book.. she lives in syd btw....
The real grip has metal in the base that you can clearly see, and is much much heavier. I had a fake from ebay, and the seller straightened it out and even paid to have it returned to China. Got a real one from Abe's of Maine in NJ - they have the best price around.
Hello everybody! It is so pity to see Nikon's goods so good faked!!!I have also seen an faked battery EN-EL3, it was realy identic like a real one, only the write NIKON was made with a little bit different font.
F@ckIng china's workers....
We hope that only the MBD11not the unit.. thanks for sharing Lee..now i am aware of that.
Fake Nikon batteries are another thing. Got cought. The answer is to weigh them and you'll be surprised
Amazon gave me my money back on that fake grip that I paid full $220. I miss the grip alot on my D7000 though. I can not seem to find the REAL grip though...Adorma and BH dont have it in stock. Anyone know where I can order the real on? Is Cameta Camera a reputable dealer? Thanks guys.
Amazon will refund that item if it is fake. Call them.