Vivitar Deluxe Power Grip for Nikon D5000

The addition of this power grip had an immediate impact to the quality of my hand-held shots. It provided a tighter, steadier grip for which translated to clearer prints and better print quality.

It is such a hassle and awkward when taking a handheld portrait shot with your arm hanging over your head. With this addition to my bag it has made what I enjoy doing that much easier. Comfortable, light weight, and great added stability.

Vertical battery grip looks great and works the same. Fits flush with the D5000 and looks like it came with the camera. For me, makes the camera balance and feel better and looks 'cool', kind of like a full-frame model. Downside: only works with one battery even though it's made to hold two. Plenty of battery life IF you do not use the LCD and 'live-view'. Really wears them out if you do. Putting two batteries in produces 'Battery cannot be used. Choose battery designed for use in this camera'. Both of my batteries are identical: Nikon EN-EL9a's and each works in the grip, but just not together. I keep the 2nd one charged in the backpack and have yet to have to resort to using it in the field. Really good battery life, many clicks. Call to Vivitar customer service was useless, make that less than useless, I eventually hung up the phone. Just keep a charged back-up battery and you won't have any problems.

Product works but, I can only get it to work consistently with only one battery installed verses using 2 battery's. I get errors at times stating to use only the approved batteries for the camera. Other downfall is that Nikon did not include the contacts in to the battery slot for the PG instead you have to have a additional cord from the PG to the camera. After contacting Vivitar, they state they do not support this product anymore!