I flew to Japan to find the Best Nikon Zf Grip.
I flew to Japan to find the best grip for the Nikon Zf, but first I had to try every other grip on the market.
Some were good - one was terrible - but I didn’t want to settle.
The mythical ZF-GR1 - the official Japan Exclusive Nikon grip was my last hope and I looked in10 camera stores across 5 districts amidst the chaos of tourist-season Tokyo before I found it, which begs two questions:
Is the Nikon ZF-GR1 the best grip for the Nikon Zf and
Am I obsessed?
Do you even need a grip with the Zf?
My hand size are on screen if that helps, and yes it’s a little cramped for my fingers.
But one hand on the lens and a good camera strap? It should be fine. The top dials need two handed operation anyway. I am a dad though, always holding someone’s keys or bags, so it tends to be a one-handed shooting motion for me.
The Zf weighs over 1 kilo with a lens attached, so my hands do get tired, which is why we’re all here in the first place:
Grip 5 - Unbranded Leather Halfcase
Pros - it’s very light, doesn’t add too much height to the camera - an extra 1 cm or 0.4 inches - so it doesn’t change how its fit inside camera bags. The texture of the leather moulds to your hand and makes the camera less slippery, and even though it doesn’t add much to the front grip, the leather wraps around and adds a back grip of sorts.
It doesn’t cover any ports, has a nice leather flap to access batteries and SD cards.
Cons - there’s no integrated tripod mount, as a street shooter I almost never use tripods but could be a dealbreaker for you. This is mass-produced, so the leather mould isn’t a perfect fit, not reinforcements metal, so it will bend over time. It doesn’t add that much of a grip at all, so your hands will still get tired - but this is the most stylish option out of the 5.
***
Map Camera is in the heart of Shinjuku, I was already heading there to pickup my Leica, so why not two birds in one stone? Amazing inventory for every brand across multiple levels, including a dedicated basement level for Leica, but Nikon? All the Voigtlander lenses for Nikon? 40mm f.12, 50mm f1.0, 50mm f2 APO?
Sold out, just like the ZF-GR1 grip.
***
Grip 4 - Neewr CA063
Neewr and they’ve gone for a stripe of red to stir up the nostalgia of the F3. It even comes with a free shutter button. Not just style over substance - integrated quick release Arca Swiss plate, attachment points for straps, and a few quarter inch threaded holes.
It adds quite a bit more size to the camera than the leather halfcase, and it comes down to this grip - 103 grams, combination of plastic and metal, and it curves around the side of the camera by 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) while still providing access to the command dials.
The Neewr’s ergonomics are OK, a little awkward as it curves around, even if it does look cool. The bottom corner the grip is smooth and doesn’t jut out into your wrist. The fit and finish is decent, not perfect - about what I’d expect from a third party grip.
They got all the basics right, which I assumed was easy to do.
Until I tried the next grip.
***
Right next door to Map Camera was Yodobashi Camera - 5 of them in fact.
There’s one for everything - appliances, games, toys, watches - and that’s just on the east side. The main flagship store a few blocks away in Shinjuku West.
But none of them had the Zf-GR1 in stock, either.
***
Grip 3 - JJC
JJC are usually great with accessories, but this is the worst out of the bunch, except for one feature. The front grip it provides is decent, rounded in shape for an extra centimetre of handling.
More metallic than the Neewr, an integrated arca Swiss quick release plate, quarter inch holes like you’d expect.
That one feature?
It’s the only grip to have integrated AirTag storage. Fantastic idea - although why cameras don’t have touch or face ID built in I don’t know - but it can’t overcome its achilles heel.
It’s terrible to hold.
The bottom corner of the plate juts out at an angle and pushes the whole weight of the camera into the palm of your hand. Immediate wrist pain when I pick up the Zf with this grip attached. It could just be my hands, but every other grip smoothed out the bottom right corner except this one. It’s also the tallest grip so far - adding an extra half an inch to the height of the camera, and too heavy - 122 grams.
A big swing and a miss.
***
While I came up empty at Yodobashi Camera, I tried their biggest competitor BIC camera. Tax-free shopping, extra 5% off if you pay with Visa or Mastercard. There’s a massive one in Shinjuku - but the size of building means nothing if the grip’s not in stock. I’m out of time. The next week was blocked out for family fun, no time to go store to store tracking down some silly camera grip.
The hunt will have to wait.
***
Grip 2 - Smallrig
Nikon worked with Smallrig at launch, and it really should have been my first pick. But for me they’ve always been too metallic, too industrial, while adding too much height and weight.
But this time they fixed it.
Quick release Arca Swiss base plate, strap attachment, quarter inch threaded holes, but the base plate is super thin. It’s the shortest grip I’ve tried - only adding 0.7 cm or a quarter of an inch to the height of the camera, and weighs only 96 grams.
The back corner of the baseplate is tapered and smoothed out - so unlike the JJC it fits in your hand without digging into it. The handgrip is actually a rubber silicone composite that is soft to the touch, a lot more comfortable than I thought it would be.
But the texture doesn’t match the camera perfectly - inconsistencies in the fake grain, and the branding’s too obvious for my taste. I’m just nitpicking - Smallrig made a great grip, but is it the best?
I was running out of time on the trip to find out.
***
For the next few days we visited different districts for every reason other than cameras.
Happy wife, happy life.
But across Yurakcho, Ueno, Nihonbashi, Shibuya, Skytree - wherever I saw a camera shop I would duck in and ask:
“Nikon ZFdesu gurippu wa zaiko gozaimasu ka?”
It wasn’t until day 8, when I had a spare hour. I set my sights on one of the BIC camera stores in Ikebukuro.
The salesman did seem a bit concerned at how desperate I must have sounded:
“Nikon ZFdesu gurippu wa zaiko gozaimasu ka?”
There was just one left and I couldn’t wait.
Right outside the shop, on the street, I put it on my Zf.
But was this worth the wait?
***
Grip 1 - Nikon ZF-GR1
The ZF-GR1. You can’t get this outside of Japan unless you pay double retail from a reseller, so is it worth it? I used it with the 40mm lens, and also the bigger 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm f1.8 Z primes. These lenses are around 400-500 grams in weight, and the grip did its job. It comes with a super thick quick release base plate - the thickest out of any other grip, with a cutout to access to the batteries and SD cards.
The front grip it adds is minimal but it still adds more depth to the camera than the Smallrig (0.9 cm rather than 0.8 cm) because it comes with a backgrip. More of a ridge for you to rest your thumb, a smooth tapered back corner to rest the palm of your hand, it changes how you hold the camera completely.
The texture matches the camera perfectly, and the whole thing is metallic. But would I pick it over the Smallrig?
If I’m being honest with myself, the best part about the ZF-GR1 is how hard it was to track down. It does have great build quality, but it’s too heavy. 122 grams, enough to make a heavy camera like the Zf feel even heavier. The metallic ridges of the grip are smooth, but I prefer the soft silicone of the Smallrig for overall comfort.
It was the obvious option right from the start, but sadly I’ve learnt that I like making things more difficult for myself.
The best grip was the obvious choice all along - Smallrig.
*UPDATE: Neewr just released a new version of their grip, which seems to improve the shape while adding the back grip of the ZF-GR1. Early reviews seem to say it’s the best option for the price, will update once I get this in for testing.
Happy shooting everyone, talk soon.
Jack.
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