d7000 or d5300

randomguy27

Hey everyone,

I have been wanting to upgrade my old Cannon powershot sx10IS to a decent dslr for a while now and I am fairly set on either the d5300 or the d7000/d7100. But i am having trouble deciding on which one to get. Now i will predominately be shooting family portraits, holidays, travel and general stuff like that. I am also very interested in landscapes and astrophotography. I will be shooting mainly in manual as well. Budget around $900 Australian

I'm drawn to the d5300 as it is considerably cheaper then the d7100 and it has the same sensor, so in theory i should be able to take the same quality image with either camera. However Im not a fan of the button and dial layout. From my quick 30 second demos in store, setting changes seem like they could take a while going through the menus and stuff.

Now I can get a second hand d7000 (398 shutter count) plus a sigma 18-200 for only $650 aus. Now I quite like the ergonomics and feel of the d7000, as well as the added dial and additional buttons. My only concern is the low light performance compared to the newer cameras.

The d7100 is the best of both worlds but is out of my budget at the moment.

Unfortunately no where seems to allow me to hire the cameras i am interested in (only FX bodies) so im left with forums and user experience to guide me

So how good is the d7000 for low light and astrophotography? what are some of your opinions? Is it worth buying? At the moment I feel as if the d7000 is the best bet but I just want be sure that it is capable in the low light scenarios.

thankyou in advance

tcole1983

Since I just went through this I will add my opinion. I actually got the d5200 as there was significant cost savings. I didn't think the d5300 added much that I needed...GPS and WiFi. Picture quality from the d5300 and low light performance is going to be significantly better than the d7000. I have been pleased with my d5200. It doesn't have all the buttons that the d7xxx series have but there are enough to get by. It is much better than my d5000. If you set the fn button to ISO you can change the shutter release mode, ISO, exposure compensation, and flash mode with buttons.

spraynpray

You can't say D7000/D7100 like they are interchangeable as they are very different bodies. Similar in functions, but the jump ahead on low light hi ISO performance makes the D7100 a clear winner (I have both). You also get very good advantages in the settings advanced users use with the D7100 that you don't get with the D5300 along with better handling.

Pistnbroke

you would be best to go for the D7100 and keep away from other than Nikon lenses or you will hve compatibiliy issues ...Having lived in australia why dont you import or go to Monster OZ or find a refurb.

Photobug

Yes I agree with the last few post...the D7100 is much better with low light and focusing than the D7000. Since the D7100 NEW is out of your budget, go look for a refurbished D7100 from Nikon, Robert's, and B&H Camera. They will ship outside the US.

The D7100 is a better camera than the D5200/D5300 but staying within your budget is going to be a challenge if you want a D7100. Unless you are willing to buy a used one. Good luck and BTW, welcome to NRF.

randomguy27

Cheers for the replies guys.

I understand that the d7100 will be the better camera particularly in low light, but at this stage I dont really want to spend more then the $900. I suppose im not sure how much i will really get into photography, but i want a camera I can grow into so to speak (I guess I want my cake and to eat it too #:-S )

Unfortunately none of the camera stores near me have second-hand/refurbished d7100 available and if i were to import the camera it would still come out more then what I would like to spend


Has anyone used a d7000 for astro or low light kind of stuff? is it usable?

Pistnbroke

Everything is more expensive than you think ..cars women houses kids ..just suck it up our use credit for part of it

spraynpray

Has anyone used a d7000 for astro or low light kind of stuff? is it usable?

Yes. I do a bit of recreational low light stuff - night sky and star trails. Like I said, I have the D7000 and the D7100 and without a doubt, the D7100 is the only camera to use. You could possibly use a D5200/5300 but I don't have the knowledge of the feature set of the modern monowheelers to know if one would suit your purpose.

I bought a low click D90 that was used off ebay when I couldn't afford new and saved a lot of money. The camera was perfect.

randomguy27

Has anyone used a d7000 for astro or low light kind of stuff? is it usable?

Yes. I do a bit of recreational low light stuff - night sky and star trails. Like I said, I have the D7000 and the D7100 and without a doubt, the D7100 is the only camera to use. You could possibly use a D5200/5300 but I don't have the knowledge of the feature set of the modern monowheelers to know if one would suit your purpose.
.

damn I was hoping to be able to save some money get the d7000, then invest the remainder of my budget on good lenses

don't mean to be a pain, but if you wouldn't mind could you share some of your astro shots taken on the d7000 vs d7100? just as a real simple comparison ?

I bought a low click D90 that was used off ebay when I couldn't afford new and saved a lot of money. The camera was perfect.

yeah I will have to keep looking, unfortunately there isn't much on gumtree or ebay under my budget at the moment, just have to wait i guess.

on that note what is considered to be a low shutter count? how many is too many when buying second-hand?

once again thanks for the input and advice

Photobug

on that note what is considered to be a low shutter count? how many is too many when buying second-hand?
once again thanks for the input and advice

It's relative. I think anything under 20,000 shutter activations to be a low shutter count. But that is just me. If some one says 10,000...sure what ever. Depends upon the manufacturers rating. Does the camera shutter have a rating...like 100,000, 150,000 or 300,000?

Local dealer sold 8 used D800 and the shutter count varied from less than 500 to 29000. All but one was less than 25,000.

tcole1983

Honestly with the type of photography you are interested in there is nothing wrong with the d5300. You aren't in a fast paced environment that requires the buttons and quick changes that the d7100 offers. I wouldn't not consider it.

spraynpray

I can't share D7000 night shots because it s sooo crappy that I wouldn't use it period. Really. here is one of my D7100's shots - bare in mind it was so dark (moonlit night dark) I couldn't find gear in my bag and had to shine a torch on the subject to allow me to manually focus:



Not bad for a DX under the worst of conditions. It is shots like this that make me so annoyed with FX snobs saying that DX is so inferior for low light hi ISO work. There weren't many photons around on this night!

tcole1983

And the d5300 is going to have equal or possibly even better picture iq and low light performance.

tcole1983

Sorry to keep pushing the D5XXX cameras, but they shouldn't be counted out unless there is a specific reason someone needs the D7100 over the D5300 as image quality wise they will be equal.

Advantages of D7100:
More pro features, commander mode for flash, in body autofocus motor for old lenses, additional buttons and wheels for feature adjustment, 51 point autofocus

Advantages of D5300:
Tilting screen, cheaper, wifi, GPS, same sensor and picture quality.

The OP says landscaped and astorphotography...can both be done with the D5300. Shooting all manual is obviously easier with the D7100, but I have always managed to work through the menus and really you can use the fn button to set whatever you use most so that you don't always have to go into the menus. Also I hardly shoot manual...I almost always shoot in A or S. If I can shoot a wedding with a D5200 and D5000 then it is possible to do any type of photography with them.

On that note here are some pictures with the D5000 at night or in low light...it really doesn't have anything to do with ISO. You just take longer exposures with a tripod. I shoot mine at ISO 200 (lowest on the D5000).

This is ISO 1250, but it was handheld so I didn't have a choice.


this was highly cropped...I am anxious to try again on my D5200 with twice the MP

dkookymonster

The D5300 is a pretty darned good camera for an entry DSLR, but apart from sensor features you might consider also the 5300 doesn't have an internal motor. If you come across a great deal on a used AF lens, you'll have to focus manually. The D7000 has that motor so will drive that older lens. Also; Mirror Lock up and shutter speeds. I'm not sure also if the 5300 has a feature called 'mirror lock up' or not?? The D7K has this; for astro or landscape shots, or shots you want to make sure there is zero camera shake, that's a great feature....push the remote once, mirror comes up, vibrations go away, hit the remote again, take the picture.

I believe the D7K has 1/8000 shutter speed, 5300 is 1/4000. Not to mention the D7K body is "sealed"...weather resistant. Good luck!

Photobug

Nikon Store is selling refurbished Nikon D7100 for $809.96. This is an excellent deal when compared to the $746.95 price for a new D5300. Well worth the additional $63.

Msmoto

Just a note about posting images for comparison… my eyes cannot see much of anything unless i can link to a 3000px image, like on Flickr…an example:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fantinesfotos/15558322826/sizes/o/

In this image, admittedly a D800E, but cropped heavily, one can actually see noise (or over sharpening)

Or, one can see noise here as well at ISO 3200, albeit there is a lot of cropping.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fantinesfotos/15395968367/sizes/o/

My point is, if we are looking at comparisons, it easier for me to see the difference on a large image. Also, both of these images could be done with a D7100, quite easily IMO. The only difference between DX and FX, IMO is that one is smaller…… I think I might jump on a refurbished D7100….

Photobug

@MsMoto - IMHO Nikon is sitting on a refurbished D7100 with your name on it. :-))
Great idea.
I agree, this would be an excellent addition to your pack of tools.

tcole1983

Msmoto needs more gear anyway...

Photobug

@randomguy27 said:
yeah I will have to keep looking, unfortunately there isn't much on gumtree or ebay under my budget at the moment, just have to wait i guess. on that note what is considered to be a low shutter count? how many is too many when buying second-hand? once again thanks for the input and advice

If your looking for a low shutter count on a D90, send me a private message.

randomguy27

Thanks for all the replies everyone! sorry i've taken a while to get back to you all!!

First of too spraynpray and tcole1983 they are some great photos! just shows that the d5300 can match the d7100 in terms of image quality. In regards to the d5300 it can obviously take great images, but like i said the ergonomics side of thing i'm not too keen on. But that is potentially something i could get used too, ill have to go try them out in store again i think

I can't share D7000 night shots because it s sooo crappy that I wouldn't use it period. Really. here is one of my D7100's shots - bare in mind it was so dark (moonlit night dark) I couldn't find gear in my bag and had to shine a torch on the subject to allow me to manually focus:

Really? ive done some hunting came across this, http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/41358459 I mean it isnt as good as yours or tcole1983 shots and there is some noise if you zoom right in. But still looks reasonable to me, especially considering what i am coming from.

Not bad for a DX under the worst of conditions. It is shots like this that make me so annoyed with FX snobs saying that DX is so inferior for low light hi ISO work. There weren't many photons around on this night!

I can see what you mean! DX looks fine to me

Thanks for the comparisons dkookymonster, the more i think about it, the better second hand lenses sound, making the motor a good investment

Nikon Store is selling refurbished Nikon D7100 for $809.96. This is an excellent deal when compared to the $746.95 price for a new D5300. Well worth the additional $63.

That is a great Deal!! Unfortunately that is only Nikon USA, The Australian store doesn't sell refurbished stuff (someone correct me if i am wrong?) And by the looks of things I wont be able to ship to Aus from the American store

Just a note about posting images for comparison… my eyes cannot see much of anything unless i can link to a 3000px image, like on Flickr…an example:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fantinesfotos/15558322826/sizes/o/

In this image, admittedly a D800E, but cropped heavily, one can actually see noise (or over sharpening)

Or, one can see noise here as well at ISO 3200, albeit there is a lot of cropping.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fantinesfotos/15395968367/sizes/o/

My point is, if we are looking at comparisons, it easier for me to see the difference on a large image. Also, both of these images could be done with a D7100, quite easily IMO. The only difference between DX and FX, IMO is that one is smaller…… I think I might jump on a refurbished D7100….

You raise a very good point. At this point in time I dont see myself making huge prints of my images (this may change) so iguess most cameras will produce similar images. Likewise an FX camera is something I dont really need at this stage.

If your looking for a low shutter count on a D90, send me a private message.

Haha not another option!! too many choices lol. How does the D90 compare to the others in low light?


Thanks for all the info everyone, I will deffinetly be looking in to what you have suggested and talked about

cheers

Photobug

randomguy27 said to my comment:
If your looking for a low shutter count on a D90, send me a private message.

Haha not another option!! too many choices lol. How does the D90 compare to the others in low light?
Yes I know another option. With out a doubt, the newer camera are much better than the D90 in low light situations. Don't get me wrong, the D90 is good but a couple generations behind current models.

gnoshme

To throw in another factor, both the D7000 and D7100 have built in focus motor (so work with any AF lens Nikon has ever made) and also read aperture rings for all lenses since 1977. It's nice being able to pick up cheap manual focus lenses for occassional uses / jobs (astronomy?). Personally I use the insanely sharp 55mm f2.8 micro for product photography.

K

manbag

I'm also torn between D5300 and D7100 but not because of the price tag.
I'm doing lots of videos (static interview situations) and was told the D5300 is currently the best video peformer in the DX line.
1. Can you guys confirm that the D5300 outperforms the D7100 in video?
2. I already know I can't see aperture changes for video in live view.
I will be using an external monitor connected via HDMI. Can I see the aperture changes live on my external monitor?

manbag

to answer my own question:
no - HDMI out just mirrors what you see on the display

spraynpray

Thanks for all the replies everyone! sorry i've taken a while to get back to you all!!

I can't share D7000 night shots because it s sooo crappy that I wouldn't use it period. Really. here is one of my D7100's shots - bare in mind it was so dark (moonlit night dark) I couldn't find gear in my bag and had to shine a torch on the subject to allow me to manually focus:

Really? ive done some hunting came across this, http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/41358459 I mean it isnt as good as yours or tcole1983 shots and there is some noise if you zoom right in. But still looks reasonable to me, especially considering what i am coming from.
s

If you look at those shots at large size and compare them, I am sure you will see a BIG difference. The other shot looks so full of noise to me that you can't seriously compare it for noise.