D7100

Ironheart

What happens? Do you get an error or a beep? Or when you press the record button does absolutely nothing happen? Thanks

DaveyJ

The Manual Movie Mode works now on my D7100. Apparently it got seriously re-adjusted while my grandson was using green screen special movie effects. Mike Gunter's posts to me finally provided the catalyst to reread the D7100 manual ( I usually get to use the spanish version and my other guys use the english) so even that wrinkle is solved. Now it is off to Manhattan with my son. The D7000 is on vacation with my grandson. Leaving me with the older DSLRs. I am hoping when the D400 becomes available I can afford one. I also feel the 80-400VR is really worth buying and I hope the pricing softens somewhat. Thanks to Mike Gunter!!

MikeGunter

Hi all,

@Daveyj - No hay de que. ;-)

My best,

Mike

JJ_SO

That's a problem with those highly customizable cameras: There's a high amount of posssibilities to misadjust some settings with no intention to do so. Reset to manufacturer's defaults is one solution. The other is, to save your settings from time to time to a cheap memory card and maybe store them on your computer. I know, nobody does, too complicated, only for paranoids... I'm not paranoid (okay not much... :-S ) but I feel unable to reconstruct all the settings out of my memory. And I like to have a save place to start up fresh, without adjusting all those parameters i only understand half of what they do

Adn when you get D400, DaveyJ, it becomes the camera of your granddaughter? I find it a noble way to spend money on the kids and grandkids, but I hope you still have some fun with your toys, too?

spraynpray

When the D400 comes? Maybe great grand children...... \:D/

Photophun

Just bought the D7100 and it doesn't work properly. The Perfect mode, Amazing mode, Scenic mode, and the Mystery mode suck and there are no little images that resemble what I am about to shoot. Wink Wink.

This is an amazing step up from my D3200 and am looking forward to learning the full potential as well as limitations of this camera.

JJ_SO

Then you should try Ultramagic-Modes 1 and 2 .

dissent

Continuing the drift . . . Does it have a dial that can be set to "AA" (Ansel Adams), "HCB" (Henri Cartier-Bresson), or "KR" (Ken Rockwell; shoots jpeg basic only)?

Photobug

Never understand why KR shoots JPEG basic and sets color to Vivid. Whats with that?

Anyway, back on topic for this forum. How are you D300 users liking your new D7100?

ricochet

Anyway, back on topic for this forum. How are you D300 users liking your new D7100?

Love the IQ, hate the buffer.

Photobug

Where are you running into buffer problems? When shooting sports, wildlife or???

Photophun

If your not using scandisk 95M read and write cards you are complaining to the wrong crowd. I set my D7100 U1 & U2 modes to large JPG and Raw with a lot of the optional stuff turned off. No issues and just learn to time your shots and that JPGs are for spray N pray.

ricochet

Where are you running into buffer problems? When shooting sports, wildlife or???

Mostly wildlife. Animal interaction sequences often last several seconds and occur without warning. Even with the fast cards I notice the difference from D300 performance occasionally. Its not a deal breaker, the D7100 is my go-to for most situations, but it definitely leaves room for a D400 on my wish list. Sacrificing features and shooting jpegs are options, of course, but I didn't have to do that, other than shooting 12 bit RAW instead of 14, to get acceptable performance with a D300. Since the question was about D300 users moving to a D7100, for me the buffer is the most noticeable handicap. I can live with it, but I'd rather not.

DaveyJ

Photobug is right! There is a lot of room for a D400. Hopefully it will not be so packed with advanced features it pumps up the price too high. Anything over $2,000 and I'd just as soon go FX.

donaldejose

Good point on going FX if the D400 body costs over $2,000.

JJ_SO

I'd say that depends. High frame rate at FX is costly. if they developed a body with 8-10 or higher fps, that could be worth over 2k$.

At tHe moment I'm hoping for a firmware update. The battery consumption is IMO too high at D7100. Especially with the battery grip and Eneloop rechargeable batteries I didn't find a setup in the menu which doesn't show "empty" after 200-300 shots.

ricochet

Not sure why there would be a difference but I've taken 600-700 photos in a day without seeing the low battery symbol. And that was using a VR lens and no battery grip.

Ironheart

@JJ_SO, I'm sure you are aware, but certain camera settings can have a deleterious effect on battery life. Do you use live view extensively? Do you use the Nikon charger? Have you changed the timeouts on things like picture display? Built-in flash?

Photobug

Ricochet said: Mostly wildlife. Animal interaction sequences often last several seconds and occur without warning. Even with the fast cards I notice the difference from D300 performance occasionally. Its not a deal breaker, the D7100 is my go-to for most situations,

I am not surprised it was wildlife.

Also thanks for the comment on the 600-700 shots with this camera/battery charge. I am surprised it's that low, the D300 and my wives D90 are much better. The way I use the preview drags down the number of photos. Any way I wonder about those getting far fewer shots.

JJ_SO

@Ironheart can't swear but I don't think I use LV more often than with D7000 or D800. Nikon charger - as long it's for EL 15 battery, sure. For the Eneloops I use the same charger as for all battery grips - and still the D7100 is sucking them empty in no time. Timeouts are changed as well but are so on all the other bodies, too. Flash? Hardly, I'm a big fan of available light or, if it has to be, I use an external flash. All your ideas are fundamental, I'm happy I didn't forget them. But still, I've no explanation. Another friend with D7100 tells me the same and is about to exchange the battery. Also, I don't make movies with it. VR is not more in use than on other bodies as well.

I learnt the GPS unit is also exhausting the energy source - but I use it with the other bodies more and their batteries last longer. So far, the D5100 with it's smaller battery was the fastest coming back to the charger, now that has changed. Maybe those big files need a lot of power, but the D800's are even bigger.

I really have no clue.

DaveyJ

When I use the D7100 I use live view way more than even our D7000. I keep a watchful eye on the battery charge on especially the D7100 which uses more battery power faster than any other nikon I own. We have used every DX, the only FX we owned was the D700 which is a GREAT camera. Still my assessment is the D7100 uses more battery power. I do not think swapping batteries will do any good?

BrucePhotography

For Daveyj: I've noticed it too but now I use the vertical grip always and I change/charge my vertical grip daily and I never have run out.

DaveyJ

@BrucePhotography: Well that will get me to check out the D7100 vertical grip ASAP. I have been wondering in a place like Alaska (where I go there) when it could be a couple of days of even a week without charging, a camera that runs through batteries is a logistical nightmare. On the other hand one reason I want to go back to my favorite places there is precisely to use the better video of that camera.

JJ_SO

I also planned the D7100 for a trip to Russia and don't want to carry a lot of chargeable batteries. I think, I'll have a go with Lithium batteries, if Nikon doesn't fix the power consumption. At least, the Lithium ones are lightweight, but environmentally stone age. Ok, steam age.

Also, I think of sending in the grip. I was expecting more of it, but I saw, the Eneloops have also only 1900 mAH - same capacity as EN-EL 15 and ± the same voltage.

Battery insert with Eneloops: 202 grams
Battery insert with Lithium batteries: 136 grams and 1.8V higher voltage
Battery insert with EN-EL15: 130 grams
EN-EL15 alone: 87 grams
Lithium cells alone: 84 grams

I think I should try Lithium cells for once.

Photobug

Lots of talk about battery life. Are you getting what Nikon claims for the number of shots per charge or slightly less or significantly less? Any one tracking this to provide this type of data?