Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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51 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I like it a lot! A nice accessory for the D80, November 24, 2006
This is a very nice accessory for the D80 camera. The main deal with it is that you can either equip it with two D80 batteries, or you can use it to power your D80 with several AA batteries--a nice thing to be able to do in a pinch.
The MB-D80 is built from strong impact plastic of the same time of which the D80 is made. This makes it relatively light, which is nice. You can add this to the D80 without making your camera unduly heavy and unpleasant to carry. And having two batteries rather than one is nice when one is taking a lot of pictures in locales where it is not convenient to recharge one's batteries frequently. And I like the shape of the MB-D80--it provides a nice shape and heft that makes the D80 more nifty to hold. Portrait shooters will appreciate the extra command dials and the vertical shutter release.
The thing that I especially like about the MB-D80 is that it provides the D80 with metering for each battery; one can see precisely the status of the batteries in the D80 when using this grip.
Overall, many serious D80 photographers will enjoy and appreciate this fine accessory.
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33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must for D80 Owners, January 23, 2007
Update: I've been using the MB-D80 for about four months and recently bought the Nikkor 70-300 VR lens. I want to underscore what others have said about battery use: the D80 alone uses a lot of power, and the VR lens only increases the drain on the battery. The MB-D80 with two Nikon EN-EL3e batteries is really the only way to go if you want to be sure not to run out of juice while shooting. (Note: the MB-D80 does not come with a battery.) The unit completely runs down one battery before switching to the second, so you can pop the discharged battery out of the pack, put it in the charger if AC power is handy, and keep shooting on the second battery; the first battery will be charged in a couple of hours. If you manage to go through both Nikon batteries during a shoot you can pop in AA batteries with the extra holder included with the MB-D80.
As I mentioned in my review of the D80 itself, if you're accustomed to the pro Nikon cameras of old (F2 through F4) and are moving to digital by purchasing the D80, the new camera may seem too small and too light. Now this mostly applies to people with larger hands/longer fingers (like me); those with smaller hands will likely find the D80 just right. This logic applies to the MB-D80 as well: people with smaller hands should think twice about throwing an extra $135 into their investment (maybe put it toward a lens or filters) since the battery pack does increase the overall bulk of the body significantly---say between 25-30%.
If the above is not a concern, then the MB-D80 is well worth the money. It is well-made and conforms beautifully to the shape of the camera body. In fact, while using the camera without the battery pack I often felt that something was missing and that my right hand didn't have enough to grab onto. The MB-D80 solves this for me. Nikon replicates the shutter release and command dials on the vertical grip of the MB-D80 so that vertical shots (portrait shooters take note) are now almost as fluid as horizontal shots. It's sometimes easy to accidentally trip the second shutter release, but if this is a problem you can just switch it to the off position.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Get A Grip., March 26, 2007
definitely a nice add-on to the d80, if you can justify the cost.
pros:
-despite being made of plastic, has a solid feel.
-adds weight, but balances out the camera, especially with a big lens.
-really helps with portrait (tall) orientation. i got this because too many of my shots were horizontal due to awkward ergonomics of changing orientation. now it feels more natural to flip the body 90 degrees and hit the grip shutter button.
-the grip is nice and grippy.
-lockable grip shutter (you need this) and AE-F/AE-L button
-command dial and sub-command dial
-runs on 2 batteries or 6 AA's. havent had a chance to check out the AA's, but two fully-charged el-e3e's means you can flash with confidence.
-works with d80's battery meter to give you accurate info on shots taken and battery strength.
-has tripod attachment plug on the bottom
-seamlessly integrates into camera body; removing the grip and taking out the AA carriage or inserting Li-ion batteries is painless.
-if you drop the camera on its bottom, it could cushion the fall. it's easier to replace a grip than a body, after all.
cons:
-increases the dslr bulk factor considerably. camera wont fit in nikon softcase with attached grip.
-cost. at still over $100, with no third-party alternative so far, it's yet another expenditure for a camera that wasnt cheap to begin with. if you don't already have an extra battery, you have to buy that too (but why wouldn't you want a backup battery?)unless you want to run it just off of AA's, which, unless you want to switch batteries every time you shoot, then means you have to spring for six ni-mh rechargeables and a charger for that, too...
- the grip shutter release button is entirely plastic and feels fragile, compared to the body's metal-reinforced shutter button. nikon should have sprung for a stronger part here. the button sits in a recessed groove, which is a nice touch, but moving it requires a hard twist. only time will tell if it holds up to field use. looks like this could be a design flaw, good thing it's covered by warranty.
-if you're not careful and remember to lock it, the grip shutter can trigger when you don't want it to. that's why there's a lock. this is more of an annoyance, really.
-the grip shutter has a highly-sensitive hair-trigger that's not as forgiving as the one on the camera and sometimes fires before you can compose the focus. another design flaw?
-the dial which locks the grip to the camera can loosen if you're not watching it
-the grippy rubber surface would be even better if it extended to the back of the grip.
-would have been better with a metal-composite body instead of TMP.
overall, probably less of a questionable purchase and more of a must-have for portrait shooters who take a lot of full-body shots, folks who use battery-draining VR lenses and/or external flashes a lot, people with big hands, and travelers who might not be able to recharge their li-ion batteries on a trip. also, it looks cool and "pro-style," but you might get tired of explaining to people it's not an autowinder.
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