D7100 to D7200 or D500

Ton14

@mhedges Not really the noise, but the IQ for me (just for me) in dark surroundings, becomes too low. We can do a lot in Lightroom, Photoshop and/or Capture one. When you have enough light and need high shutter speed, higher ISO's are possible.

FF I go to maximum ISO 3200 and, all that other high ISO's are useless for me.

HankB

I know nothing about the D5500 but for the D7200 there are so many control customization choices and tradeoffs available that I don’t know where to start. You will have to experiment. And while experimenting, be aware that most of these settings can be saved in U1 and U2 for special shooting situations, and the whole camera configuration can be saved to an SD card.

But the setting that stands out for me where I can’t see a downside or tradeoff:
Turn “f6” ON to allow you to just momentarily press then release any of the many setting buttons rather than having to annoyingly keep it depressed during adjustment with the Command dials. That setting mode is then turned back off with a half press on the shutter release, second press of the original setting button, or it will timeout. This feature makes it less cumbersome to see setting changes and values through the viewfinder while held to your eye.

In addition to the customizable PV, FN and what I would call “Back Button Focus” buttons, you can even assign the Movie Record button (menu item “f9”) to a different function when it is otherwise non-functioning while not in the movie mode. I chose “ISO” so I could quickly toggle “Auto ISO” on and off and set its value by momentarily pressing a button that falls right under the index finger without removing the viewfinder from your eye. For PV & FN I usually use Spot Metering and “My Menu” respectively.

mhedges

Can I ask what you use spot metering for? I've found the normal metering to be very good.

As far as other settings - I tried BBF on my D5500 but didn't really like it. I may try one more time on the 7200. I noticed the default value for distortion correction was off, which seemed strange to me - I would think most people would want it on.

HankB

Agreed, the normal matrix metering is remarkably good, as is the dynamic range. That's why I always leave matrix metering ON. So I call up Spot infrequently, and then only while holding down the Pv button. You can even use it as an ad hoc bracketing tool.

I am too lazy to bother with RAW, so I leave some dynamic range potential on the table. And I refuse to carry anything longer than 200mm, so some subjects may occupy a smaller portion of the (metering) field than if I were to use a longer lens. Both of these factors may increase the utility value of Spot metering, but I can't see how it isn't an advantage to anyone to have that tool instantly available right under your middle finger.

Perhaps you could find a better use for the Pv button, but personally, I think its namesake function, "Preview", is totally useless (though maybe it would be useful with a mirrorless camera's video viewfinder???). I think Preview function is just a holdover from film days when each shot was precious, unreviewable, and the subjective depth of field just seemed more obvious on the film camera's focusing screen (and my eyes were younger)

HankB

Agreed, the normal matrix metering is remarkably good, as is the dynamic range. That's why I always leave matrix metering ON. So I call up Spot infrequently, and then only while holding down the Pv button. You can even use it as an ad hoc bracketing tool.

I am too lazy to bother with RAW, so I leave some dynamic range potential on the table. And I refuse to carry anything longer than 200mm, so some subjects may occupy a smaller portion of the (metering) field than if I were to use a longer lens. Both of these factors may increase the utility value of Spot metering, but I can't see how it isn't an advantage to anyone to have that tool instantly available right under your middle finger.

Perhaps you could find a better use for the Pv button, but personally, I think its namesake function, "Preview", is totally useless (though maybe it would be useful with a mirrorless camera's video viewfinder???). I think Preview function is just a holdover from film days when each shot was precious, unreviewable, and the subjective depth of field just seemed more obvious on the film camera's focusing screen (and my eyes were younger)

spraynpray

@mhedges: You need to remember that upping the ISO doesn't suck more photons down the lens, it only boosts the output from the sensor in the camera. There is no substitute for fast glass AND a decent body for low light, but it is mainly the glass. I shot a competition winning shot with my D7100 FOUR stops down to save losing the sky and it brightened OK because it was a bright day. The actual noise performance depends very much on the amount of light around. Moonless night shots taken during astronomical darkness are much noisier than those on even a dull day so it is hard to quantify noise performance meaningfully.

HankB

mhedges said:

Can I ask what you use spot metering for? I've found the normal metering to be very good.

As far as other settings - I tried BBF on my D5500 but didn't really like it. I may try one more time on the 7200. I noticed the default value for distortion correction was off, which seemed strange to me - I would think most people would want it on.

Agreed, the normal matrix metering is remarkably good, as is the dynamic range. That's why I always leave matrix metering ON. So I call up Spot infrequently, and then only while holding down the Pv button. You can even use it as an ad hoc bracketing tool.

I am too lazy to bother with RAW, so I leave some dynamic range potential on the table. And I refuse to carry anything longer than 200mm, so some subjects may occupy a smaller portion of the (metering) field than if I were to use a longer lens. Both of these factors may increase the utility value of Spot metering, but I can't see how it isn't an advantage to anyone to have that tool instantly available right under your middle finger.

Perhaps you could find a better use for the Pv button, but personally, I think its namesake function, "Preview", is totally useless (though maybe it would be useful with a mirrorless camera's video viewfinder???).

I think Preview function is just a holdover from film days when each shot was precious, unreviewable, and the subjective depth of field just seemed more obvious on the film camera's focusing screen (and my eyes were younger)

Try BBF for a few days. You may like it once you get used to it. It gives you so much more control

HankB

spraynpray said:

@mhedges: You need to remember that upping the ISO doesn't suck more photons down the lens, it only boosts the output from the sensor in the camera. There is no substitute for fast glass AND a decent body for low light, but it is mainly the glass. I shot a competition winning shot with my D7100 FOUR stops down to save losing the sky and it brightened OK because it was a bright day. The actual noise performance depends very much on the amount of light around. Moonless night shots taken during astronomical darkness are much noisier than those on even a dull day so it is hard to quantify noise performance meaningfully.

I suppose you used RAW for that. Night shots are almost the only time I bother with RAW (I already admitted I am lazy).

mhedges

spraynpray said:

@mhedges: You need to remember that upping the ISO doesn't suck more photons down the lens, it only boosts the output from the sensor in the camera. There is no substitute for fast glass AND a decent body for low light, but it is mainly the glass. I shot a competition winning shot with my D7100 FOUR stops down to save losing the sky and it brightened OK because it was a bright day. The actual noise performance depends very much on the amount of light around. Moonless night shots taken during astronomical darkness are much noisier than those on even a dull day so it is hard to quantify noise performance meaningfully.

Very true. I am learning not all shadows are created equal. I've been able to bring out dark areas nicely when they are just caused by lighting differences. But when they are dark because they are hard shadows (due to flash etc) there really isn't anything you can do.

HankB said:

mhedges said:

Can I ask what you use spot metering for? I've found the normal metering to be very good.

As far as other settings - I tried BBF on my D5500 but didn't really like it. I may try one more time on the 7200. I noticed the default value for distortion correction was off, which seemed strange to me - I would think most people would want it on.

Agreed, the normal matrix metering is remarkably good, as is the dynamic range. That's why I always leave matrix metering ON. So I call up Spot infrequently, and then only while holding down the Pv button. You can even use it as an ad hoc bracketing tool.

I am too lazy to bother with RAW, so I leave some dynamic range potential on the table. And I refuse to carry anything longer than 200mm, so some subjects may occupy a smaller portion of the (metering) field than if I were to use a longer lens. Both of these factors may increase the utility value of Spot metering, but I can't see how it isn't an advantage to anyone to have that tool instantly available right under your middle finger.

Perhaps you could find a better use for the Pv button, but personally, I think its namesake function, "Preview", is totally useless (though maybe it would be useful with a mirrorless camera's video viewfinder???).

I think Preview function is just a holdover from film days when each shot was precious, unreviewable, and the subjective depth of field just seemed more obvious on the film camera's focusing screen (and my eyes were younger)

Try BBF for a few days. You may like it once you get used to it. It gives you so much more control

For now I assigned the Virtual Horizon to the PV button. Mostly because I had a lot of trouble with my 5500 with things not being straight, and I thought that might help. But I think just having a larger and brighter viewfinder helps a lot. I agree that "Preview" is useless. It makes the viewfinder so dark that it is very hard to see what is and what isn't in focus. Much better to chimp.

Pistnbroke

oh you do put a big strain on your brains ..just go auto iso 200-6400 at f8 and let the computer do the heavy lifting ...concentrate on what in the frame ...KISS

Ton14

Here a recent blog about ISO and glass describes exactly what I mean.

https://backcountrygallery.com/amazing-high-iso-the-end-of-fast-glass/

dissent

Cool article Ton. Nicely explained.

Pistnbroke

F6 oh yes great ..the wife pushes a button without realizing then moves a dial without realizing ..total f up ...no no F6 and tape up the dials. She takes great pictures but does not even know where the battery is ..KISS

mhedges

Speaking of spot metering I must have somehow turned it on yesterday and it took me a while to figure out why most of my shots were severely underexposed.

Would it kill Nikon to explicitly state which kind of metering you are switching to? Meaning actual words on the rear LCD in addition to the little symbols? Expecially since the matrix and center weighted metering symbols look so similar. And also please use the same symbol in all the displays. Why the heck does the symbol that appears when you scroll through the modes look different from they symbol that shows up on the rear display when you just want to check status?

(Sorry - rant over now)

DaveyJ

I own all of the cameras discussed here. My preference for price, speed, quality, sharpness is the D7500. The D500 is more money and no on board flash. The single SD Card Slot in the D7500 has worked with absolutely no problems. I use that camera every single day! My D7200 is much slower to use. Keep my 16-80 lens on that as wide angle to normal usually does not require great speeds. Birds in flight is one of the single toughest specialties. Can’t say I am either infatuated with that quest, but have OK results of that especially with the D7500 and D500. Greatly depends on what the lens you are using. The new Nikon 500 AF-P 5.6 lens at right around $3,599 looks good, but the 200-500 is what I own and use a lot. At least with the heavier 200-500 you can use the wider end. 500 is pretty tight to too much at times. BIF users say the 500 is about right.

pictureted

I went DX D90, D7000, D7100 before getting a D810. I bought the D500 for it's strengths: AF, Buffer, FPS, build quality and Pro controls. I prefer the round eyepiece and same connectors as the D810. The D810 gets used most, but for birding or action the D500 is better, particularly if the light is good.