Another Plea for help D7100 or D610???

josephp732josephp732 Posts: 0Member
edited January 2014 in Nikon DSLR cameras
Another upgrade question… help with the thought process…..
My current digital camera is a D100 (please stop laughing I can here you) that I bought new for about 2k on its release date…. Up to that point I was a film shooter with my F5 (still own it and use it for B&W shooting).

My current inventory of equipment is:

Cameras;
Nikon D100 with Nikon battery grip
Nikon F5
Nikon 8008s
Olympus SP-35s Range Finder
Panasonic Lumix DMC-Z510 (Point and shoot)

Primary Lenses for digital shooting:
AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II (my primary walk around lens for the D100)
AF-S FX VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED (used for indoor sports – long range from the bleachers)

Lenses from my F5/8008s film days:
Nikkor 28-200mm f3.5-5.6D IF AF (my walk around F5 lens)
Nikkor 24-120mm f3.5-5.6D IF AF
Nikkor 28-85mm f3.5-4.5 Macro AF
Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AF (Prime Lens)
Vivitar Series 1 28-300mm f4.0-6.3 AF
Tokina AF 270 28-70mm f3.5-4.5 SD AF
Tokina AT-X 840AF SD 80-400mm F4.5-5.6 (seems this one has some value on ebay – my primary F5 zoom for sports)
Sigma 90mm f2.8 Macro AF (I still use this lens for F5 B&W film portraits)
Sigma 500mm f7.2 APO AF (seems this one has some value on ebay - I never really use it to slow)

Flashes:
SB-800 (F5 and D100)
SB-26 (8008s)

All on my stuff is in great shape and I have all boxes, manuals and warranty cards…. So I am just getting back into this and now what do I upgrade to? A D7100 or D610? Primary shooting will be low light indoors in a high school gym – basketball and volleyball. Then some portraits and general outdoors and family stuff. My D100 WITH the SB-800 and the AF-S FX VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm does an ok job in the gym at 640 ISO…but that is using the flash…

If I go to D7100 I would keep the current VR DX and FX lenses and just get a body… If I go with a D610 I could keep the AF-S FX VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm and sell the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm replacing it with the AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR – giving me the FX bottom end range …. Or I could sell both and go to a single general lens the AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR…. And use some of my older F5 glass to round out certain situations…

Price wise the D7100 is the cheap way to go… $964 for the body…

The D610 I can get bundled with the AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR for $2,000 (less the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm ~$300) all in at $1,700

The D610 I can get bundled with the AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR for $2,600(less the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm ~$300 and AF-S FX VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm ~$350)all in at $1,950


Can I get thoughts…pro’s / con’s ! Advise!!! Best Value…best overall general outfit… max is a $1,000 difference between the high and low…so I don’t consider that to bad… just looking at the best set-up for my use…

Comments

  • PB_PMPB_PM Posts: 4,494Member
    edited January 2014
    On a modern DSLR most of those FX lenses you have now, Sigma Macro, 50mm 1.4, and 70-300mm VR aside, are sub par. If you've been happy with the D100, just about anything you get now will be a huge improvement. My suspicion is that the D7100 would be a better buy, based on how you use your equipment.
    Post edited by PB_PM on
    If I take a good photo it's not my camera's fault.
  • WestEndBoyWestEndBoy Posts: 1,456Member
    I would buy the D610 as the low light performance will really help. Combine thay with your 50mm 1.4 and you will almost never need a flash.

    Buy body only. A kit lens will only duplicate what you already have. In fact, you have lots of duplication. Figure out what you don't need, ship it all to Adorama or B&H and put the proceeds towards your D610 and a 70-200 2.8 VR2.

    To me, that or a similar strategy sounds like a no brainer. More advice will require more information.

    It sounds like you have a decent budget so don't buy a DX camera. If you want more reach, put a teleconverter on the 70-200 or consider the 80-400 3.5-5.6 with VR.
  • manhattanboymanhattanboy Posts: 1,003Member
    My suspicion is that the D7100 would be a better buy, based on how you use your equipment.
    I agree. Shooting action indoors with the 70-300 on the 7100 will already push the ISO up to the thousands. An FX I'm sure is better in this (ISO) regard, but only with a large tele to get the same FOV; I think you will find the 2x crop mode in the 7100 is your best bet.

    Happy shooting.
  • MsmotoMsmoto Posts: 5,398Moderator
    edited January 2014
    This thread has been covered here:
    http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussion/1686/should-i-get-a-d7100-or-wait-until-end-of-month-for-d610/p1

    and

    http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussion/2040/buy-d7100-or-d610-for-real-estate/p1

    Please do a search before starting new threads. I hope you all will follow up on one of the other threads.
    Post edited by Msmoto on
    Msmoto, mod
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