Should I get a d7100 or wait until end of month for d610

spraynpray

TBH I am kind of spiraling in the decision making process of my next camera body. Ideally I want a D610/D800 hybrid but as that doesn't exist, I started to think about the D610 over the high mp of the D800. I don't print so huge that I need 36mp and I figured the FX low light improvement over DX is more important to me than outright resolution, but I can't - just can't - get past the small AF field in the viewfinder of the D610. I don't care about fps being slow on the D800, but the AF thing is blocking me. I said elsewhere they should have made a D610/D800 hybrid and called it the D710, and that would be brilliant, but it doesn't help because they don't.

That brings me to the part of my ramblings that is relevant to this thread - the D7100 has a great AF field in the viewfinder and it has 24mp but I lose the FX hi ISO/low light performance. I am trying a D7100 Tuesday evening for some low light shots in a one on one shoot out with my D7000. If it is enough better than the D7000, I could get the D7100 and blow the other £1000 on a better lens.

Spiraling...out of control...can't stop... someone help me... )

manhattanboy

I recently shot sports indoors in poor lighting and was considering the exact situation you are pondering, get a FF 610 or a 7100. I went with the later, because I primarily shoot tele. The ISO shots are not that different from the 7000, however, remember that you are gaining more megapixels, so when sized the same, the noise maybe better in the 7100. Look at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-d7100/13 and compare the 7100 7000 and 600. The 600 is clearly better. The problem I have had is in getting close enough where I could capture what I needed with a FF lens. The 2x crop mode on the 7100 is really nice because I can pair it with the 85 1.4 for an effective view of 170mm 1.4. The focus isn't always great shooting wide open like that, but you gain a little speed on CH in crop mode so I just shoot more shots hoping I get a few keepers. In general, the 7100 images are great at any ISO <1000. 3200 is the limit I set and those images need extensive post to become okay. One setup I have contemplated is to keep the 7000 as a backup (I was going to gift it to my family beforehand), and shoot with wide aperture primes indoors with different bodies. I'm no pro, but as time passes, I can begin to understand why they do what they do

dissent

Spiraling...out of control...can't stop... someone help me... )

I'll try to catch you to slow your descent, but, as I also jumped out without a parachute, I'm not sure how much good it will do.

Thinking of upgrading my D5100 body for the D7100. I'm getting to like the ergo on my D7000.

spraynpray

Thanks for your input guys, @manhattonboy: Your thoughts parallel mine in that my expectations of the D7100 are that the low light performance will be maybe 1 stop better, but I expect that will be subjective after taking into consideration the apparent improvement caused by the 8mp hike. I will also be keeping my D7K for a backup body. I would love that D610 because I don't need the crop tele-advantage but the AF? What were they thinking! I think that a better AF system was the number one hope when they replaced the ill-fated D600 with the D610 but no, disappointment happened. Thanks for the link.

@dissent: Yeah, one-wheelers aren't for me. Last one I had was the D5K - great lil' body, but tedious to operate.

manhattanboy

The autofocus of the 610 may be actually an advantage of being mostly in the center, as there will be less autofocus slip-ups where something else grabs the attention. I used to get so mad about this with the 7000 that I went for a time only shooting a single center focus point [-(
Just saying that having focus points all over the frame is not always what you would like when you need to get the shot off and make sure it is correct the first time!

rbrylawski

Congratulations! I think you made a great choice (said one D7100 owner to a future D7100 owner!). I know you'll really fall in love with your camera and your logic of getting great glass makes perfect sense!

Photobug

rbrylawski

said it best. Congratulations! I think you made a great choice (said one D7100 owner to a future D7100 owner!).

You will love the camera.

spraynpray

I have the test shots on my card, will report back later.

spraynpray

OK, well, I will keep this real world:

I only had time and opportunity to do a shot at each full ISO between 100 and 6400 ISO plus one of a lit textured wall with each camera, settings the same, same lens. I found that there is a inexplicable two stop difference in the exposures across the range - the D7100 being two stops brighter than my D7000.

The 'grainyness' of the noise seems to be two full stops better with the D7100, but the D7100's detail goes a quite 'plastic' at the higher ISO's. There was a low contrast sign board in the background which was almost possible to read with my D7000, but less so with the D7100 - don't understand that. Also weird was the textured wall looked BETTER out of my D7000 - so no improvement in detail with the higher mp.

The centre focus spot was brilliant on the D7100 though. I tried to focus both cameras on a black drainpipe on a brown wall in the dark - the D7k tried twice and missed, the D7100 nailed it instantly.

Overall, straight out of camera the D7100 seems like it would perform better in a church by two stops which would be pretty handy, but I need to use one in normal light before I would buy one. If there is a hike in normal light performance, then I will buy one over the D610 just because of the compromised AF on the D610. If there isn't a hike in performance in normal light, I will wait for the D400/D620/D7200.

Is it me or does each new body feel to be of lesser quality 'feel' wise than it's predecessor? The D7100 plastic looks and feels cheaper than my D7000 - more like a blinking Canon dare I say? They need to stop that nonsense!

PB_PM

I agree spraynpay, the quality of the plastics is slipping. I can only assume it is Nikon trying to improve profit margins.

kyoshinikon

It probably is cheaper. The D600 and D7100 feels like a toy compared to the D7000 or D200 buth which were part plastic fantastic.

tiCreativeMedia

ok, I'm sending my D7100 back tomorrow because of several issues in function regarding shooting and freezin. I'm considering upgrading to D610. I only see one thing about AF but don't see that reference.

Stick with 7100 or go to 610? I'm dumping the 18-140 lens that comes with it anyway, so upgrade or just keep the 7100 and use FX lenses?

Ironheart

@ti, did you have the freezing issue with more than one type of card?

tiCreativeMedia

@Ironheart yes. I started with the SanDisk 16GB SDHC Extreme Class 10 UHS-1, then switched to the 32 gig SanDisk Extreme Pro

rbrylawski

I guess only you can know what you need, but you should ask what the 610 will give you that the 7100 doesn't/can't. I for one don't buy into the "we all have to move up to full frame' BS out there. There's just nothing wrong with the DX format and in a capable body can take stunning pictures. I'm sorry you've got issues with your 7100, but you could also have issues with a 610. Just sayin.......

dissent

All things considered, I'm really sorry that I missed the Amazon Black Friday deal of a D7100 for 800 bucks.

spraynpray

@dissent: I wish we even HAD that kind of deal over here - I was going swivel-eyed looking for a D7100 on the cheap.

I have to say that the difference between FX and DX is now smaller than it has ever been in terms of low light noise, but FX still has one stop over DX. DX has differences in DoF that will help in some circumstances, FX has a DoF that helps in others and of course there is the drop factor advantage of a 50% boost in focal length.

For me though, as I said above, the spoiler that stopped me thinking the D610 is worth the extra cash is the D610 has the D7000's DX AF system in its FX viewfinder, whereas the D7100 has a far more capable and sophisticated one well spread in its DX viewfinder. Bizarre when you think they are both placed similarly in the DX and FX ranges. The smaller focus point layout in the D610 is severely compromised for me, as I move the single point to the subjects eye and having such a cramped focus point placement means not being able to do that which results in poor composition, larger cropping in post and sometimes even results in missed focus.

If the D620 only gets a better (FX) AF system, I will be sorely tempted but for now, I will go 7100 as it shines out like a star.

Msmoto

tiCreativeMedia asked…..
I'm sending my D7100 back tomorrow because of several issues in function regarding shooting and freezing. I'm considering upgrading to D610. I only see one thing about AF but don't see that reference.

Stick with 7100 or go to 610? I'm dumping the 18-140 lens that comes with it anyway, so upgrade or just keep the 7100 and use FX lenses?

And, my thoughts:

In general, the move to FX will require more expensive optics. And, for the vast majority of images, a crop sensor image cannot be distinguished from full frame until one enlarges to a significant extent. However, one of the nice aspects of full frame is the ability to crop and still have some quality. Obviously less crop room in DX.

Some think the D7100 has the best sensor for sharpness as no AA filter exists.

dkbrenda

I had to send my new d7100 back for financial reasons, but then found a deal for black friday saving 200.00 and could not pass it up. I will have to deal with making payments for awhile. Since I sent the initial one back I regreted decision. It was shipped out today and cannot wait. I did continue to review the d7100 vs the d610. I am happy with my decision as it has a lot of features in the d800, and still having the crop sensor which I wanted. I know my photos will be better yet. I am also very pleased with the sigma 24-70 2.8 I purchased earlier. I am sure with the new d7100 with this lense I will be very happy over my d 5000 camera. will keep the d5000 as I attempted to trade it in but was given nearly nothing for it and will keep it for beach outings and a back up if ever needed.

thanks to this forum for all the input provided. I am sure in 2014 there will be yet another camera but for my purposes enthusiast heading towards professional one day this camera will provide me more than I need to perfect my skills.

seems like there are many like me with the decision between the d7100 and the new d610 replacement over the d600. personally with what happened with the d600 and purchasing a refurbished one and out of the box having oil spots and dust, purchasing the d610 did not seem right.

I will not look back. I am happy with my decision. cost was 1/.2 of the d610 which is a factor for myself. I guess those who are fortunate not to have financial constraints your situation is different, but good glass helps and that was proven with my d5000 having the sigma 2.8 24-70 lense.

thanks again.

brenda

Msmoto

@dkbrenda

If a photographer has any financial considerations shooting a D7100 will be just as good as any other Nikon Body. There may be a very few venues where more convenience is obtained with one of the pro bodies, but I seriously doubt if I would be hampered by shooting a D7100 over a D4 in all but a very few settings. The savings on the body can be placed into good glass, the essential ingredient in your kit.