I reviewed the original version of this grip on the D850 blog page. It came up a little short, mostly because the grip didn't quite settle into the contacts enough to reliably maintain the 9 fps shooting mode.
I can now report that the redesigned version works correctly out of the box. What's different in this new version?
Well, the big change is on top. The position of the rubber cover holder has been moved, there's a more aggressive lip that captures the grip end of the camera, and the positioning posts have been lengthened slightly. The electrical connector seems to have less play in it now, as well.
The thumbstick has added direction markings on it and sticks out more (easier to find with the thumb). The AF-On button, however, has been moved up to next to the Rear Command dial, which doesn't feel like the right position. On the other hand, the original grip kind of felt "fat" where you palm encountered it, and now Vello has notched the grip at that point and it feels much more comfortable in the hand. Likewise, the thumb arrest area has been expanded so that you have something more natural to grip onto with your thumb. The soft material on the grip is a little more "rubbery" than on the original.
All in all, the grip fits both the camera and your hand better than the original. Other than the move of the AF-On button, everything Vello did seems to be a big plus to me. Now the AF-On button is a bit of a stretch for my short right thumb (damaged a bit doing construction as a teen).
So now a low cost 9 fps kit for the D850 consists of:
- Vello BG-N19-2 Grip
- DSTE BL-5 Battery Door Chamber
- Watson EN-EL18A replacement battery
- Kastar EN-EL18 dual fast charger
Yes, folks, that last one is true. I ordered one to find out if it works, and not only does it work, it's smaller than the other EN-EL18 chargers and can be run off my solar panels, though a bit slowly.
So, a viable "make my D850 do 9 fps" full kit is now going to set you back only US$247.94. Which is a far cry from the US$950 that Nikon wants to charge you for their all-Nikon label version. And, I note, that version doesn't tend to stay in stock for very long anyway, as Nikon didn't make many thinking demand would be low.
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