| Author: | | Senior Member Registered: January, 2010 Location: Gothenburg, aka Göteborg Posts: 234 | | Review Date: August 10, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $55.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Price and looks! | | Cons: | Nothing worth mentioning, except it ain't water-proof and slightly plastic! | |
Now my camera looks really like a pro one, and the grip works just as advertised - just love it!
Improved the K-7 quite a bit, but sadly it didn't improve the ISO range :-)!
Addendum:
It is now fitted to my K-5, and I just love it more and more!
Addendum, late January, 2010
===================
Still works perfect, and I have it on the camera, all the time! No
problems yet!
Addendum II
===========
A year later still working perfectly! The text on the buttons long gone, but thats the only 'con'!
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: October, 2008 Location: Greensboro,NC Posts: 503 | | Review Date: September 14, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $38.99
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | cheap, all buttons work, vertical shutter button, makes camera easier to hold | | Cons: | no wr | |
I think I got the more robust knock off grip with the metal pins on either side that help it line up with the body. So far so good, all of the buttons and wheels work and it seems to have okay build quality. It doesn't seem to match the build quality of the camera but its close enough, the plastic has a different pattern and feel to it, but honestly that is just being picky. It serves the purpose which is to better balance the camera with larger lenses and make vertical shooting easier. I give it an 9 because it functions, would of gave it a 10 if it had slightly better built quality. For the price one can't complain much.
The ebay ad originally said it was WR but its obviously not and I wouldn't trust it if I was out shooting in the rain.
Here is the link to the ad where I ordered mine: http://www.ebay.com/itm/251305614400?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT | | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2012 Posts: 5
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 3, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $52.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Low Cost - Works | | Cons: | - | |
Bought this to be able to use AA batteries with a K5ii ( In an emergency ):
DSTE D-BG4 DBG4 Battery grip For Pentax K-7 K-5 K7 K5 SLR Camera from Amazon UK.
Picked this one because the picture showed 4 circular rubber inserts , one oval rubber insert ( Just like the genuine item )
The Type 2 generic grips all seem to have locations for these but nothing is fitted on most.
There also seemed to be some sort of seal around the gold multiway connecter pin and the single black vertical pin.
When it arrived it's just like the photograph - those items do seem to be some sort of seal so the contacts in the camera base probably have some ( limited? ) protection, but there's no sealing rubber where the battery tray meets the grip body!
( The instructions say it's weather sealed but they are such a close clone of the Pentax original only a few minor variations in the text and layout prove it's not a photocopy of the original!)
The buttons all work!
( The instructions , like the genuine pentax ones advise to jiggle the e-dials ( Camera / Grip ) if they do not work with the grip attached )
I was worried about the battery insert latches but to be honest they seem to be metal and appear no more fragile than the latch on the camera battery compartment! Just need to gently press the battery tray home before twisting the latch !
Mission accomplished ?
The battery holders accept batteries , fit well and the batteries are recognized !
All seems well with AA batteries! ( Manually selecting the battery type ( Alkaline / NiMH / Lithium ) seems to work best )
There is more to grip ( But it weighs more )
The buttons all work when the grip is switched on but no batteries fitted!
 | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: March, 2010 Location: Chiang Mai, Bologna, Amsterdam Posts: 1,198 | | Review Date: April 21, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $37.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Cheap, cheap, cheap | | Cons: | None | |
I own the less robust version, with plastic pins and just two screws close to the tripod mount.
It came from an Ebay vendor, and was labeled as "ALPHA Digital D-BG4 for K-7". It was the cheapest choice, maybe the vendor was not even aware that it works with the K-5. It came at 29.99 euros, shipment INCLUDED.
From another source I purchased a couple of 2000mAh batteries, which were extremely cheap as well.
The two purchases are between the best I ever made.
I use the grip to better balance the camera, and for the extra juice it provides. I tried to adapt to the new layout of buttons/wheels for vertical shots, but it didn't become second nature. I still reach for those on the camera.
Though I testedat length eachand every command on the grip.
What I found wasthat none of them was loose, not working, or felt as it could break any moment. Absolutelyno ccomplaints about that.
I don't know if I'm plain lucky, or if the quality of the components improved a bit over those used time ago.
The build is cheap, OK. And it's not weather resistant. It's not such a big fault, though.
If the grip is set to off, it's practically impossible to damage the camera, and even if it's turned on, I highly doubt you could find a way to permanently affect the camera.
The only problem I had with a grip, was with the original OEM version mounted on my K200D. The on-off switch was set midway, and the camera behaved in a weird way (for example when I pressed the Menu button, the display went off after 1 or 2 seconds!
The grip of my K200D is better built and WR, but I prefer this one, cause at least it duplicates all camera commands.
The only caveat is that the sliding battery housing is weak. It's thin, the plastic is not the best one, and the locking mechanism is poor.
Not as poor as the lock of the battery compartment of a Pentax ME II winder... which broke down just by looking at it! :-)
I guess my grip will last a lot, because with a modicum of common sense, and with average fingers (not sausages!), it should be quite easy to keep it in working conditions.
All in all, quality Vs price, it's a 9.
| | | | | | | Forum Member Registered: July, 2013 Location: Sahuarita, AZ Posts: 63 | | Review Date: January 15, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $43.95
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Works as good as OEM | | Cons: | Not WR | |
I have an OEM grip on my K-5 II and a generic one on my K-7. I had more problems from the OEM one than I have had with the non-oem grip. First one of the pins got stuck with the OEM grip and I had to literally dissemble it to get it fixed (it works now). With the generic grip (I have had 2), like the rest of the crowd, I too have had issues with the dial straight out of the box. Solution, get some electronic cleaner and spray up into the notch where the dial are and then move the dial real fast back and forth. Let dry and use. I did this to one about two years ago and to another about 6 month ago. Haven't had one problem since. One gripe I do have is the markings on the generic grips do wear off pretty easy and the finish is not as nice as the OEM grip. Other than that, good value for what you pay for.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: November, 2010 Location: Hueytown, Alabama Posts: 1,508
1 user found this helpful
| | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2011 Location: Kent Posts: 4 | | Review Date: July 13, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Price, general build quality, handling. | | Cons: | Button quality, battery door catch quality. | |
Bought this to balance my K5 as while the K5 is impressively compact it can feel a little front heavy with bigger glass. I did extensive investigations into this grip vs Pentax's prior to my purchase.
Whilst I have never handled the OE Pentax grip I was stunned to find out that it is apparently moulded from plastic which is very similar/identical to this Chinese copy. I had assumed it was manufactured from mag-alloy. Investigations over!
Anyway my mind was made up and I saved myself £200+ including a Chinese Li-ion battery to put in myChinese made grip. Build quality is great, very solid. As mentioned by others the only small problems are with the rotary power button (feels slack), the battery door catch (flimsy) and lack of weather proofing. The only other issue I have found is that when using AA batteries the camera doesn't show full power in the grip even with fully charged batteries. (?connection or K5 problem, unsure)
I plan to buy some self ashesive foam strip to seal both the grip to the K5 and the battery door to the grip and smooth some clear sealant along the joints to seal the other joints on the unit. As the controls/buttons are clearly not sealed I am limiting my efforts to this. Apart from this I plan to get some matt clear laquer to attempt to protect the ink that identifies the buttons purpose as others have mentioned that this wears away easily.
I am very happy with my purchase and feel if I had seen one of these grips AFTER spending a whole load of cash on the Pentax grip I would be absoloutely sick! | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: January, 2009 Location: East Bay Area, CA Posts: 6,620 | | Review Date: July 9, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $49.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | price, metal tripod plate, feel in hand | | Cons: | on off button feels cheap | |
i read the reviews of the various versions of this item before ordering one from amazon.com for my K-5. For $48, i was prepared for the worst, having previously purchased the offical grip for my K10 and K20 and being quite familiar with the quality of the genuine article.
I was pleasantly surprised to find this knockoff grip to be of reasonably good quality, an enormous value at this price point. It has the gold contact pins, metal fit posts, interchangeable tray for using six AA batteries, and a metal tripod plate mount.
I do find the ON/OFF dial to feel less substantial compared to the one on the K5 itself, but so far it works just fine. all the other buttons function just fine.
Mine says "dust/weathersealed" on the box but i found no evidence of any gaskets nor foam sealing tape as seen on my BG2 official grip.
regardless, this costing 1/4th the cost of the Pentax version, i am prepared to take my chances with the weather.
recommended!
edit: 2/4/12 this morning i shot in some crashing waves and my gear got quite wet. when i got home, i removed my grip and there was not only water inside, the little wells where the rubber cover and plastic cap are stored were both completely filled with water. hoo boy. i hope this thing survives.
[EDIT update 4/23/12 : OK, i've shot thousands of photos with this grip and it has proven itself worth the risk. After a couple of trips to the beach where it took on some sea water, i decided to open it up to look inside and found some salt residue from evaporation inside the plastic shells but no corrosion on any of the electronics. Some of the external housing screws are rusted, but i would expect some of that.]
[EDIT: update 5/25/13] another year passes and this grip is still working beautifully. No issues. Well worth the money, no question]
| | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2010 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3 | | Review Date: November 18, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | adds lot of extra juice plus AA power | | Cons: | I lost the little pin cap | |
It's not OEM, but it sure works out pretty good especially in light of what I paid for it.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: January, 2008 Location: NJ Posts: 187 | | Review Date: July 29, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $69.99
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Good shutter release button | | Cons: | None | |
The rubber material on the grip feels a little different than the K7 but it's not a big deal at all. After a while, you won't even notice. The shutter release button is nice and confidence inspiring. I actually prefer it to the K7 shutter release button on the camera.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: February, 2007 Location: Aurora, CO Posts: 6,340 | | Review Date: May 6, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $55.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Price, excellent copy of original item, works fine | | Cons: | no weather sealing, lower resale value | |
I agree with all of the details in the first review. I can't add too much, only that if for some reason you don't believe him, it works the same for me. I can't find anything to fault or complain about. The weather-sealing issue is not important to me.
I ordered when the grip was in-stock, so shipping time was typical for Deal Extreme items, I think about 10 calendar days total. It was an impulse buy. I hadn't really tried one before and wasn't likely to at Pentax prices. My only experience with one was at a K-7 Road Show event, about a minute total. This grip is a much better price if you're simply curious.
Although the grip does make the camera larger and heavier, a direction I'm not in favor of, it does improve the handling for some situations. It even makes the camera easier to set down. I like the additional flexibility of using AAs as well. I'll keep it for a while to see if I use it.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: January, 2010 Location: New York Posts: 198 | | Review Date: April 1, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $55.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Almost identical to OEM but without weathersealing | | Cons: | No weather sealing | |
For the $55 I paid for this grip I can't complain. It looks and feels like the OEM grip but it's 1/4 the price. I bought mine from Deal Extreme for $54.77 including shipping (back order and shipping from Singapore required a lot of patience however; more than 6 weeks).
It has the same button and control layout & function as the OEM. The button quality is very good but might not be quite as good as the OEM. This grip also has the metal pins rather than plastic ones that the other non-OEM grips have. There isn't any weather sealing so that's the only major difference I noticed besides the price. It looks great on my K7 and provides the extra handling capacity I wanted. Overall I highly recommend this item to anyone who can make do without weather sealing.
There are many posts in this forum about this grip, this thread is very comprehensive:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/camera-studio-accessories/84154-battery-g...2454-77-a.html
It's a long thread but one post several pages in provides a detailed comparison to the other non-OEM grips with excellent photos.
I'd be surprised if anyone who has purchased this grip regrets it.
I gave it a 9 because it doesn't have weather sealing and the buttons might be of a lower quality than OEM. I'd give it a 10+ for value and function.
UPDATE: (11-25-10) Just noticed that the on-off switch wiggles a bit. It still works fine. I rarely use it. However, I would bet that the OEM grip will have a much better switch mechanism. I also notice that the printing on the EV and ISO button has faded off considerably. Operationally the grip is still doing all that it's suppose to do and is still worth $55.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: May, 2010 Location: Hong Kong / Irvine, CA Posts: 636
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 18, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | cheaps, working good | | Cons: | build is not as good | |
It is worth the money if you have large hands.
Everything is working.
The buttons does not feel as good as genuine one.
The wheel is even very bad.
No weather sealing.
For that kind of money, it does its job.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2010 Location: Somewhere in the Southern US Posts: 12,285
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 27, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $39.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Works, inexpensive, comes with both battery trays | | Cons: | NOT weather sealed at all | |
I own the OEM D-BG4 but it developed a fault in the shutter button so I sent it in for repair. I bought this because I am so used to my K-5 with the grip that I found myself fumbling without it.
There appear to be two main knock-off versions of the grip available. Mine is the one that does not have the circle of screws visible on the attachment side of the grip and is marketed under the name MeiKe. Based on the reviews here the main difference appears to be that the other versions battery trays will work in the original OEM D-BG4, those with the MeiKe version will not.
For an analysis of the differences between the two main knock-off grips see this post here on PF:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/82642-pentax-k7-3...tml#post850074
My comparison of the Meike and Pentax Grips:
- The trays are NOT interchangeable between the two grips.
- The covers for the pins and the base of the K-5 do fit in either grip for storage.
- Both have an SD Card slot on the D-Li90 battery tray.
- Both have the same buttons and wheel layout.
- Wheels are a bit more abrupt in their movement on the MeiKe version.
- On-Off switch moves backwards on the MeiKe from the OEM version.
- Fit & Finish on the OEM is better overall but this MeiKe version is not bad.
- Both fit snugly to the body, but the OEM unit is better contoured and fits the hand better.
- OEM has steel placement pins to guide fit to the body, the MeiKe version has plastic pins
- Both have offset placement of the tripod point on the bottom.
- Packaging was fine with each, box, bubble wrap, warranty card, and instructions.
Overall, this is a great buy for $39 if you do not need WR for the grip. I'm annoied that the D-BG4 from Pentax failed after only a few months but it was turned around by CRIS in
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2011 Location: Melbourne Posts: 307 | | Review Date: January 3, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | looks 100% identical, 1/4 of the price. | | Cons: | Other than no weather seals, the dials buttons don't have the same positive feel as the original | |
The Hong Kong version form fleebay came with 2 x 2000mh batteries
it also has metal location pins like the original and metal tripod hole, which I noticed in the inside is attached to a solid metal base. so it look like a very good replication.
what I don't like about it is that the dial are clunky and the rear dial is difficult to operate, it sits in to far.
the on/off dial feel loose in the on position.
the connector cap is a little loose on the connector and in the stow-away compartment, there that potential to loose it easily.
overall I'm happy I got it, it will take me a while remember that when I am in portrait mode that the grip is there instead of throwing my are over the top.
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