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Archive 2017 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts

  
 
Lance B
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


Just managed to piece together my MB-D18 battery grip, EN-EL18b battery, BL-5 cover and charger. By piece together I mean exactly that, each part was bought either at a different store or had to wait for each part as they were not all available to buy in one go. Took about a month!

So, to the way it all works. The grip + battery adds about 400gms to the camera so not a big deal. I spent the day yesterday with the 200-500 f5.6 VR mounted, it is perfectly balanced, a fantastic combo for general wildlife photography etc. I do not find the combo heavy it is so well balanced and goes together so well, it's almost perfect for that sort of thing as far as balance and ease is concerned. The only drawback with the 200-500 is the slowish AF, acceptable, but I wish it was faster. I'd even pay a premium for a fast AF version if it were possible.
With the 70-200 f2.8E FL VR attached, again very well balanced and great to use. With my 400 f2.8E FL VR attached, again very well balanced and makes the 400 a little easier to use and manoeuvre. There is no doubt that a larger camera on the larger lenses really works and works well. Even on the smaller/shorter lenses it is still a great combo. With the 105 f1.4 of 24-70 f2.8E VR attached it is very well balanced and I think makes the combo a little easier to handle, albeit a tad heavier.

AF speed? I have not used it long enough to say whether AF speed is faster due to the higher voltage EN-EL18b battery, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it does in a small way. I think that the AF speed of the 400 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8E FL VR are blindingly fast, possibly faster than without the grip - marginal though. I am not so sure abut the 200-500, but I did get some decent BIF shots with it which was much more difficult with the D810. I had not used it with the D850 yet. The problem with trying the AF with and without the grip is that you can never be sure as to whether there is an actual difference as it is generally subtle. The only real way is to have a good idea of previous keeper rates under the same conditions however, as I rarely used the 200-500 previously I would be guessing at best as to whether the grip is an advantage. The seat of the pants belief is that it does help. However, I have used the 400 a lot previously on the D850 and D810 and will endeavour to make a better judgement once I have used it more with the grip.

The D500 is a wonderful wlldlife/sport camera and much of this is due to it's responsiveness - AF speed and fps etc. I love the D500 due to this responsiveness, but also for it's excellent IQ. The D850 without battery grip went a long way in almost matching that responsiveness, just that it was 7fps instead of 10 fps of the D500. However, with the grip, 9 fps basically matches the D500 and thus makes it a true FF match for the D500.

Spent a day shooting and took about 400 images and the battery hasn't even moved from fully charged on the indicator! The Battery Info in the menu states 85% charged after 470 shots so, it would seem you could get about 3,000 shots from one charge - quite impressive. I must say that I am very happy with the grip, a big help for those heavily into sports/wildlife.

Some BIF and some static shots. Unfortunately, the birds weren't do cooperative for BIF shots so I didn't get many. I was also trying a few different AF methods, mainly AF-C, Auto AF with face detection on.

A few BIF shots

1) Silver Gull

D850 + 200-500 f5.6 VR, 1/4000s f/8.0 at 330.0mm iso500



2) Darter

D850 + 200-500 f5.6 VR, 1/4000s f/7.1 at 500.0mm iso1000



3) Pacific Black Duck

D850 + 200-500 f5.6 VR, 1/4000s f/7.1 at 500.0mm iso720



Static

4) Superb Fairy Wren

D850 + 200-500 f5.6 VR, 1/800s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso640



5) White-faced Heron

D850 + 200-500 f5.6 VR, 1/1000s f/8.0 at 360.0mm iso200



6) Bar-tailed Godwits all in a row.

D850 + 200-500 f5.6 VR, 1/800s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso200




Nov 21, 2017 at 05:25 PM
Teak
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


For the BIF against the sky, did you try the 3D Tracking?


Nov 21, 2017 at 06:00 PM
butlerkid
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


DANG! Pretty darn impressive! The gear is good - but the photographer is outstanding! Very well done! You verify Steve Perry's comments about upping the shutter speed for BIF. The feather details in #4 are over the top!


Nov 21, 2017 at 06:28 PM
Lance B
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


butlerkid wrote:
DANG! Pretty darn impressive! The gear is good - but the photographer is outstanding! Very well done! You verify Steve Perry's comments about upping the shutter speed for BIF. The feather details in #4 are over the top!


Thank you very much for your kind comment, Karen. Much appreciated!



Nov 21, 2017 at 06:57 PM
Lance B
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


Teak wrote:
For the BIF against the sky, did you try the 3D Tracking?


Not yet, but I have been reliably advised by a great BIF photographer that Auto and Group are the best.



Nov 21, 2017 at 06:58 PM
Gary Irwin
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


Excellent commentary Lance, much appreciated.


Nov 21, 2017 at 07:09 PM
nuclearjock
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


Lance B wrote:
Not yet, but I have been reliably advised by a great BIF photographer that Auto and Group are the best.


Try comparing 9 point with group. I think I like 9 point better.



Nov 21, 2017 at 07:24 PM
charles.K
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


Thank you very much Lance! Excellent review


Nov 21, 2017 at 07:35 PM
sandy27000
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


Thanks and excellent commentary as always. I’m going to give this combo + Nikon 500mm FL/300mm PF a go over the next 3-4 days, out for a birding trip. Will post once back early next week.


Nov 21, 2017 at 08:14 PM
gpelpel
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


Very impressive series.


Nov 21, 2017 at 08:41 PM
Charles Loy
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


Very interesting. Thanks



Nov 21, 2017 at 09:23 PM
rick2906
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


It looks promising!!! Thanks Lance for this short review!!


Nov 21, 2017 at 10:29 PM
Vinnie_VdB
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


Excellent post Lance, shows what good material can do in the hands of somebody that masters photography.
Curious to see a post with the D850 and your 400mm



Nov 21, 2017 at 11:30 PM
Lance B
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


Vinnie_VdB wrote:
Excellent post Lance, shows what good material can do in the hands of somebody that masters photography.
Curious to see a post with the D850 and your 400mm


Thank you, Vinnie you are very kind. Much appreciated.



Nov 21, 2017 at 11:34 PM
Lance B
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


sandy27000 wrote:
Thanks and excellent commentary as always. I’m going to give this combo + Nikon 500mm FL/300mm PF a go over the next 3-4 days, out for a birding trip. Will post once back early next week.


Look forward to your thoughts and results.



Nov 21, 2017 at 11:35 PM
cohenfive
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


These are really spectacular images. Thanks for sharing and for explaining..


Nov 21, 2017 at 11:39 PM
Lance B
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


cohenfive wrote:
These are really spectacular images. Thanks for sharing and for explaining..


Thank you for your kind comment. Much appreciated!



Nov 21, 2017 at 11:44 PM
Thang
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


thanks for the feedback Lance. Hoping to see 3rd party grips show up on Amazon early next year


Nov 22, 2017 at 11:23 AM
rick2906
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


I know i'll get flame for this but I am anxiously waiting for the Meike grip with integrated rf receiver and rf remote!!


Nov 22, 2017 at 11:55 AM
euroburm
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · D850 + MB-D18 battery grip. My thoughts


Thanks for sharing your first impressions, Lance!

I have a D850 on order (I was living under a rock, so I'm late to the party), and figure I'll give it a go without the grip for a while (I've never tried one before). I generally manage my battery life pretty well with a few extra batteries in my bag, so the big advantage to me for a grip would be upping that frame rate for wildlife and motorsports shooting (and maybe the ergonomics?). If I did this professionally I might care more about the incremental fps gain, but it's already impressive that this camera is hammering SEVEN 45MP frames per second through the buffer as it is!

By the way, that trio of Godwits is an awesome shot!

Chris



Nov 22, 2017 at 09:22 PM
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