The MB-D100 is a beautifully designed adjunct to the Nikon D100 professional digital camera. But at more than £200, it's not an impulse buy.What the MB-D100 offers is four features which will appeal to professionals and to the very, very serious amateur.
First off, the hand grip adds a duplicate set of controls for shooting in vertical mode. This may seem a bit of a luxury, but if you do a lot of portrait work you find that the main shutter release is in exactly the wrong place.
Secondly, the pack allows you to run two Nikon EN-EL3 rechargeables at the same time, which of course doubles your battery life. Crucially, though, it also allows you to put in a set of regular alkaline batteries. There's no advantage to doing this in terms of battery life - alkalines have nowhere near the capacity of the rechargeables. But it does mean that you can quickly nip into the shops if you suddenly run out at a key moment.
Third, the MB-D100 has voice recording features. You can put a one to twenty second note on each image. The audio quality is nothing to write home about, though it's substantially better than my Palm Pilot's recording. If you've ever stood notebook in hand trying to capture the names of streams of political candidates or school children, you will recognise the usefulness at once.
Finally, the unit gives access to Nikon's multi-function 9 pin cables for automated photography and all kinds of other goodies. Personally I feel I am unlikely to ever use this feature, as Nikon Capture Control offers me more functionality through USB.
The MB-D100 is a lovely piece of design. To use it you have to remove the clip on the regular battery holder and also remove the rubber cover. I winced when I realised this the first time, until I read the manual and discovered that Nikon have actually created holders for those items inside the MB-D100. As an addition it's surprisingly light, although it does help a little to balance out a long lens. It adds nicely to the overall height of the camera, though, which is a real bonus if you are shooting with a long lens in portait mode.
So, is this worth buying?
Well, if you can see the attraction of at least two of the four features, it's probably worth the money. If you want three of them, then it's a relatively easy choice. If you want all four - well, just ask yourself, did you want the features _before_ you saw the specifications, or are you a sucker for marketing?
For myself, I'm delighted. (Or was that just the marketing? ... hmm ...).
