NIKON D800 6FPS with the MB-12 and EN-EL18

NIKON D800 6FPS with the MB-12 and EN-EL18

I was reading in the Nikon D800 Manual that it is possible to increase the cameras frame rate to 6 frames per second  versus 4 frames per second with some additional hardware. That happens to cost quite a bit.

If I understand Nikon correctly you can shoot 4fps in full frame mode at full resolution and 6fps in DX crop mode at full resolution. But if you want to go up to 5 or 6fps in full frame mode you can do it easily but at a very hefty price tag.

The first item needed is the NIKON MB-12 BATTERY GRIP at $412.00. The MB-12 is at the heart of increasing the frame rate of the D800. The MB-12 combined with at minimum a second EN-EL15 $79 will yield a maximum of 5fps.

If the $500 for the above solution didn’t scare you off the step to fps probably will. In addition to the MB-12 above you will need a NIKON EN-EL18 Battery $170 and a NIKON BL-5 BATTERY CHAMBER COVER at $33.50.

Now all that is fine but there is one more thing you need, a battery charger. The NIKON MH-26 $324.

That’s a whopping $959.00. While that price might be acceptable to professional photographers it is probably a tough sell to everyone else. The general consensus is the MB-12 is way over priced costing about$200 more than it’s stablemates or predecessors.  The MH-26 Battery Charger while prices is a quick charger and capable of charging two batteries at once, but still.

It’s my hope that NIKON wakes up and lowers the price of the MB-12 and maybe finds a way to make the MH-26 and EN-EL18 a little more economical or maybe offer a kit at a substantial savings.