D7000 to D7100

<p>First, I'd like to say that I love my D7000 -- it is a great camera. Sure there are things I wish it had (faster and larger buffer), but it is a joy to use. However, I do crop my images and at times wish for a denser sensor. I'm considering moving to a D7100. Could any of you have made this move plea tell me how you feel about it after having made the move? Was it all you expected? Would you do it again? The move would cost me about $600 USD. I'm happy with the lenses I use and have the computing horsepower to deal with much larger images.</p>

<p>Thanks, John</p>

<p>Today I am shooting a sporting event. I am taking a D3 and a D7100. I am in love with the D7100. It is a fun camera. Having said that. I wonder if you are going to see that much difference. You will get more ability to crop for sure. The D7100 has the 2x crop mode which is convenient too. </p>

<p>If you find yourself cropping a lot why not consider your lens selection too? You may need to get something that allows you to compose in the camera better. Lenses are for ever. Bodies, not so much. My suspicion is that the difference between 24 and 16 MP will give you little practical advantage. </p>

<p>Do you make really large prints? Is the issue on the long-lens side? Just as a thought. If you are using a 300 mm lens now on your camera, giving you 450mm (old style) then you are looking at 1/500 to hand-hold. If you could give us an idea of why you feel under-gunned and what you like to shoot we can offer better suggestions. </p>

<p>I have a D5100 which uses same sensor and a D7100. The D7100 does have noticeably more pixels which definitely help with cropping IF........you are using a tripod. All those pixels will quickly show blur if you are not. The AF system is noticeably faster on the D7100, and it will focus in much lower light. The images are a tad sharper because of no AA filter, but again if you aren't using a tripod you will never see that. The ISO seems to be about the same.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>I upgraded one of my two D7000 bodies to a D7100, primarily for the faster and better autofocus. As nice as the D7000 is, the D7100 is significantly better, It feels better in my hands, I can't accidentally change the mode dial, and when I'm shooting low light or trying to follow hummingbirds in flight, the autofocus system is a big help.</p>

<p>However, on the basis of your portfolio, I'm not sure this would be a good upgrade for you. Assuming you make prints of those lovely landscapes, the D610 would be better despite the lens upgrades it might require. Just one opinion, of course, but I think you'll be happier with a larger sensor.</p>

<p>Good luck. I like your photographs.</p>

<p>Those aren't his photos, they're just his favorites from different photographers on the site.<br>

But like Kent, I went from a D5100 to a D7100. Cropping is much better, the system is much better, but you'll find that the D7100 will resolve every flaw in your lenses if you're not using good glass. You don't always need a tripod. It depends on what you're shooting, because VR can come in handy on the handheld shots. The most important thing is good, fast glass.</p>

<p>I went from a D80 to a D7000. After a couple weeks I decided to spend the $600 and just upgrade to the D7100. Its not that I didn't like the D7000, but I hadn't had a truly "up to date" camera in years, and I thought, why not? The D7100 was just out and it was "cutting edge" technology. I haven't regretted the upgrade one bit. I am delighted with 24 mp for one thing. That's like having 4 D70 images stitched together (my first digital camera was a D70). That translates into a 300 ppi print of 13.3 x 20 inches! I like to make 10x15 prints, so I am always downsizing a bit, meaning I gain sharper, less grainy prints just from that. I never got to do any side by side comparisons with the D7000, but I find that the D7100 has amazing color no matter what the light source. I like sharpness so the lack of an AA filter appeals to me as well, even if the difference is probably very slight. People mention this camera revealing the "flaws" in lenses because of the high pixel density. I find that my older AiS lenses never looked better. I also find the 18-105 kit lens that came with the camera is a very usable lens for general shooting, from portraits to landscapes. I have a pretty good copy. I now shoot indoors routinely at iso 3200 and can deal with the grain easily with minor adjustments in PSCC. I have done very usable photos in a pinch at iso 12800 as well. As mentioned, the D7100 focuses very quickly, which is great for moving targets. I don't do sports, so I don't need a huge buffer. You mentioned cropping, and yes, 24mp gives you a lot of room to crop if need be. You could cut the image in half and still have 12 mp, which was standard in many pro cameras a couple years ago. So, if I were you I would just go for it. You are going to be using it for years, so you might as well start with up to date technology.</p>

<p>So what you say is that you can get about $500-600 for your D7000? I think it's too expensive for the move.</p>

<p>Rich, those are my photos (except for a few shot by my son) ...unless you were looking at my favorites file. I don't use my 70-300 all that often. I use my wide lenses most of the time. I frequently will use my wide lenses and wish to extract (crop) a portion of the image. As you may have noticed, most of my images are highly processed. The potential for extracting more content from the larger sensor is attractive. I do use a tripod (a fifty year old one I used to use in my studio) and a monopod frequently. I tend to keep my gear until I actually wear it out to the point that it is cheaper to replace than repair. This has been true for years -- back to the early Nikon F days. I also tend to capture at least a dozen images of any subject. I have about 40 TB of storage (half RAID), so lots of images are not an issue. I have liked the build quality of the D7000 and assume the 7100 is the same. My son broke the glass cover on the display on one of his D7000s while deployed, but that is the only casualty we have had with the bodies. </p>

<p>Rich, my error. Most of my landscapes are posted at http://500px.com/john_ellingson... I thought that might be what was being referred to.<br>

Thanks to all for your thoughts. It pretty much confirms my own thinking. I do appreciate it.</p>

 

<p>The "build quality" of the D7100 seems to be better than the D7000, especially with sealing.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>