Hail China – or: How the chinese battery grip for the A7 II series costs a third/fourth of the Sony, is better quality and includes a wireless intervalometer

[agolex]

Anyone notice that the Neewer Battery Grip for the Mk IIs is a little bit better quality, has better grip, includes a wireless intervalometer and costs 80 € instead of 230+++? And it smells so much better!

Really, Sony should cut it with the Apple mentality or they'll get eaten by the chinese Supermen one day.  In general, the chinese products have become so good and other countries tend to lose their quality standards. Exciting future ahead.

Nevermind the fact that the Sony grip is produced in China, as well.

[BrorSvensson]

Got one for my a7, its very solid and works great.

[Hitfabryk]

Where can I find this?

thanks

[Cinegain]

AliExpress for example. Today (11.11) is a special day over there too.

Gotta love China indeed. Even visited the Hong Kong Electronics Fair and Shenzhen around this time last year, because they just amaze me what things are possible for such low prices.

 

- Though, fair warning, I'd say possibly 90% of the stuff out there is actually that cheap for a reason. Stuff can be good for cheap, if they put in the effort to get it right. Doesn't mean this is always the case. Most of the times it's just something half-assed to look the bizz, but in all actuality is far from it. So you got to know your stuff/read into it or be adventurous and trust your own good judgement. I'm a fan of Chinese brands though. It usually means something if they're willing to put their name on it. But still, for stuff like batteries or so, better buy something legit (don't have to buy original, but you can get a good B-brand (I like Patona for example)) than to fry your expensive gear looking to save a few pennies (almost lost my GH2 on a Chinese DSTE battery).

[Gregormannschaft]

Heard good things about the Neewer grips before, I'll be grabbing one for Christmas.

[BrorSvensson]

Where can I find this?

thanks

you find them on ebay, just make sure to buy from china and not some reseller that sell them way overpriced

[kaylee]

slightly off topic, but i just bought a bunch of these (and all of them work?!) from amazon

super cheap, uses all kinds of batteries including sonys and AAs, [somewhat] dimmable, gelable, lousy build quality but so lightweight you can tape them to anything, and hey theyre borderline disposable at $30~!

i just needed a bunch of rim lights for an outdoor shoot i did recently, and amazingly, they worked out great~! everyone got a kick out of the box lol

good to kno about the grip!!

[Cinegain]

On the cheap I recommend the Amaran AL-H160 panel!

Durable too, as Nitsan showed.

[Kristoferman]

On the cheap I recommend the Amaran AL-H160 panel!

Durable too, as Nitsan showed.

nitsan is cool. He really likes the pixapro 100d led lights, which coincidentally are rebadged and sold by neewer in the states. 

I'm wary of the cri of them but nitsans videos look nice.

[Cinegain]

Yeah, if you follow Nitsan Simantov, Alan Besedin and Simon Cade, you get some cool suggestions for gear, character and shooting skills. The Brits are great!

The Pixapros look cool, but personally I'd rather look into these two options:

Or...

Of course depends on required mobility, output and what kind of light you're looking for. If you work with matteboxes in a studio setup, part of your shoot is taking stills, the Pixapros might be the more obvious choice.

[Kristoferman]

Oh yeah those Aputures are nice. The Westcott flex are a bit out of my price range but look like they would be awesome

[The Chris]

I have one of the Neewer grips with the remote trigger as well. Its good, plastic feels cheap, buttons feel really cheap, but for 1/3 the price of the Sony, so what. It functions perfectly. I have my A7rII setup with BB AF and the grip does whatever you have the AEL toggle set to, so for me its great, I can use it for BB AF or engaging eye AF depending on where the toggle is set. 

[Don Kotlos]

My dream Chinese product is a battery grip that also connects to the hdmi port and allows prores recording to a secondary SD card. 

[agolex]

Its good, plastic feels cheap, buttons feel really cheap

It doesn't feel cheaper than the Sony, the Sony just looks a bit more polished. And imho the buttons are more tactile.