Experience with D5XXX and D3XXX Vertical Grips?

<p>I'm looking at possibly getting a D7100 or D5300, which will be used mostly for botanical macro work and general landscape photos. </p>

<p>For the flowers - especially short ones in boggy and muddy places - it's really nice to have a flippy screen for focus and composition; it keeps me dry and keeps my 6 ft+ self from having to lay down on possibly rare things. I've have an angle finder, too, but the flippy screen involves fewer contortions on my part to see what I'm doing.</p>

<p>I also like using a vertical grip for hand-holding and having more surface area to steady the camera on the ground.</p>

<p>The above leads to my quandary - the D7100 is built to use with a grip, but has no flippy screen, while the D5300 has the screen but requires a third-party workaround for a grip. Does anyone have experience with the latter? How did it work out? How solid is the connection for the wire that's necessary to trip the shutter in vertical orientation? How likely am I to crap up the other connections on the side of the camera if I lay it down on its side? Any limitations on the camera's functionality when using the wired grip?</p>

<p>Thanks.<br>

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<p>I have a very inexpensive Flashpoint grip I bought from Adorama for less than $50 last year. I use it on my D3100 with no problems. The connection is very solid, and I don't use the wire for tripping the shutter in the vertical position. I shoot very few verticals anyway, and having to use the camera's shutter release instead of the one on the grip is no problem for me. I don't know what you mean by crap up the other connections on the side of the camera. I never lay the camera on the side. There are no limitations on the camera's functionality that I can see.</p>

<p>One interesting observation: I found out by accident that even though the grip is designed for two batteries, the camera will function perfectly with just one battery in place.</p>

 

<p>There's been many conversations about third party vertical grips, and in most cases they are considered very good.</p>

<p>Just saw the cable for the grip now. I dont know what to say but I think there could be a potential problem. maybe the connector will get tired and loose and a hit to the side would cause problems. but there are no other options for it. did nikon release a grip for this?</p>

<p>Will - thanks for your reply. My concern is for the other connections (microphone, hdmi, etc.) that are usually covered along with the shutter release. With the cable in place they're exposed, and my camera often ends up on its side on the ground when I'm shooting the really little stuff.</p>

<p>D7100 grip doesn't need the extra wire into the GPS slot. But I did own the one that did with my D5100. It didn't bother me. It was very sturdy. I never took it out. My friend has one, but doesn't use the cable. He just wanted more heft.</p>

<p>I use one on my D3200. The camera is just to small for my hands. I needed the extra grip space for my fingers. The vertical shutter button is crap compared to the camera shutter button, but it serves the purpose. I tried the camera without it once, and promptly put it back. As for the cable, it looks OK to me.<br>

The double battery slot is an extra bonus. </p>