Upgrade question...

Hello everyone.

My friend offers me new D7100 for my D7000 and some money, but I would like to know is it really an upgrade, or maybe it is better to skip this and go for some next model.

Again, I do not think the gear is that important so we need to rush and 'upgrade' to a new model just because it has one number more in its name, just my D7000 is almost 2 years old, I do not have waranty anymore, and besides that I would like to have more precise focusing system as stated in D7100 manual.
Other than that, this camera was few times at Nikon service, first time when two days old for faulty yellowish display, then for autofocus calibration, I feel this camera does not like me.

Is it worth to upgrade, I need your subjective opinion so do not be afraid to tell me whatever you think about this.
He will buy my D7000 for 500 Euro, and I need to pay 340 Euro more for D7100.
It is $670 for my camera, and $450 more for D7100.

Thank you all...

Why is he selling?

Here are some comparison prices in the UK which may help you.
This is from a Nikon approved dealer which offers a 1 year guarantee on second hand gear.

D7000 body-only mint condition 3200 actuations: £495 (€625)

D7100 body-only mint condition 1223 actuations: £695 (€878)

D7100 new price: £799 (€1005)

At €840 for the D7100 from a private seller, I think that you would be paying too much. The price for your D7000 appear reasonable. Why not visit a Nikon dealer in your city & ask them how much they would give for your camera in exchange for a second hand D7100?

Thank you.

My friend is a private seller, his prices are very good, not just for this camera. He gives 2 years warranty at official Nikon service for D7100.
If I understood well, you think that 500 Euro for my 1.5 years old D7000 with 10 000 actuations is good price, and 840 Euro for new D7100 is the good price as well?

Other than that, what do you think about camera it self, is this really an upgrade, or just D7000 with 24 megapixel sensor, as some people like to say?

alfaholic said:

Thank you.

My friend is a private seller, his prices are very good, not just for this camera. He gives 2 years warranty at official Nikon service for D7100.
If I understood well, you think that 500 Euro for my 1.5 years old D7000 with 10 000 actuations is good price, and 840 Euro for new D7100 is the good price as well?

Other than that, what do you think about camera it self, is this really an upgrade, or just D7000 with 24 megapixel sensor, as some people like to say?

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IQ wise, the camera is an upgrade. The only complaint is for people who uses higher fps, they are disappointed since the buffer is not that good.

Investment wise, camera bodies are not the best investment since they depreciate in value as time goes by unlike a good f2.8 zoom lens.

You can get a grey import from Hong Kong, if you want to get a cheap camera. A brand new D7100 is £570 in the UK, including 2-year warranty. This is about €720, though I'm not sure if they can send a camera to Serbia and don't know about warranty.

The D7100 would be a useful upgrade to the D7000. I would wait until after the European Photokina show just in case Nikon release something to depress (reduce) the D7100 prices. Such as a D7200 or D9100.

Nikon D7100 Review

Gorf said:

The D7100 would be a useful upgrade to the D7000. I would wait until after the European Photokina show just in case Nikon release something to depress (reduce) the D7100 prices. Such as a D7200 or D9100.

Nikon D7100 Review

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Any reduction in 7100 pricing might also result in reduction in 7000 pricing (value).

I wouldn't buy an expensive camera as a grey import.

I've had grey imports in the past, but only for cheaper cameras or lenses. If it's a more expensive item I'd go for the uk model every time. It costs that bit more but piece of mind with a genuine warranty is a winner for me every time.

Tamron is a good example of this. Get a grey import tamron, get 1 maybe 2 years unofficial warranty. Get a uk model, get 5 years manufacturers warranty without any hassle.

The D7100 is a better camera than the D7000 but the question is if it's worth you paying for the improvements?

If I had a choice of my D7100 or my friend's D7000 I'd have my D7100 every day of the week. But if I had to pay a few hundred to upgrade from one to the other I'm not sure if I'd wait to see what's around the corner.

Will the D7100 make a big difference to you? What exactly are you paying for?

Would you benefit for waiting for the next model up to get even more of an upgrade route for your money?

If it were me, I'd consider the second option.

I am not sure you want to spend that kind of money for D7000 to D7100 if your current camera is working perfectly fine. I would spend the extra $ on lens. If you need to upgrade, the next logical move is FX.

But there were many who feel beside D4, the rest isnt really a big upgrade. I would think the least of an upgrade for you would be D600/D610

I don't agree that the next step is always full frame. For many there's no need to go FX.

Let's remember that full frame isn't an upgrade as such. There are pluses and minuses to the format just as with DX cameras. Not everyone will be happy going FX.

Pebbleheed said:

I don't agree that the next step is always full frame. For many there's no need to go FX.

Let's remember that full frame isn't an upgrade as such. There are pluses and minuses to the format just as with DX cameras. Not everyone will be happy going FX.

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Really? I just wondered what are the minus points for FX against DX?

Gorf said:

Really? I just wondered what are the minus points for FX against DX?

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Lenses are bigger, heavier and more expensive.

Felisek said:

Lenses are bigger, heavier and more expensive.

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Thanks for your reply, but is that valid? The natural progression would be to say that a compact camera is therefore better because it's lighter & cheaper. A better quality system is always more expensive. We all have our budgets & aim to get the best kit we can for the cash available.

I am coming back to photography after a 15 or more year break. I was initially aiming for DX, but after reading many posts from photographers, I figured that most DX owners were eventually aiming to get an FX. It's what convinced me to jump straight into FX instead of DX.

Gorf said:

Really? I just wondered what are the minus points for FX against DX?

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There doesn't have to be any as far as the equipment is concerned,i upgraded to a D700 think it was for a week,for me it was no upgrade my subjects mostly dont fill the frame so i was cropping back to less than my D7000,i returned it and got the D7100 and use the 1.3 crop most of the time,that is an upgrade for me.
So its not just the gear its do you have a need and use for full frame.

Felisek said:

Lenses are bigger, heavier and more expensive.

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It is not totally true. In general most photographers prefer DX for fast FPS and long reach. When you go for long reach, there is not a single DX lense of professional quality. So lense weight is out at long end. Again at the wide end there may be dedicated DX lenses, but a 10mm DX has same FOV as a 15mm FX, and most of us use between 16 and 18mm at the bottom end -> 24 and 27 in FX land, of which there are plenty of variations available.

The only down side of FX; that I can see; is that you can spend much more buying FX bodies - D810 or D4S, than with DX.

Gorf said:

Thanks for your reply, but is that valid? The natural progression would be to say that a compact camera is therefore better because it's lighter & cheaper. A better quality system is always more expensive. We all have our budgets & aim to get the best kit we can for the cash available.

Click to expand...

I'm not aiming at FX. DX is my system of choice, not an intermediate step. I'm happy with the image quality it gives me. Three of my four lenses are DX.

And yes, there are plenty of people going for mirrorless, four-thirds or even smaller cameras. If we extend your logic in the opposite direction, we would have to say that everybody's final aim is a large format.

Each sensor size has its advantages and disadvantages. And bigger does not necessarily mean better!

It's sorta common knowledge that bigger sensors are better. Not sure why a smaller sensor would have any advantages over a larger one other than the reach.

Thank you all.

I often see people saying the same thing, the next step is FX, but I do not feel that way.
It all depends, and I would not generalize and say that FX is better all the time and for everyone. I would like to have it, mostly because of all that hype about full frame, but I am ok wih DX for what I need.

The reasons behind this idea is to get new body with 2 years of warranty, better autofocus, no LPF, maybe that 1.3 crop mode to play with when I need "more reach", and just maybe more MP just as an option for cropping.

The thing about warranty is because my D7000 was two times at the service, and few days a go it showed me ERR message, but that went off after I pressed the shutter button again. More than 100 photos later, it is still OK, I suppose it was the dust on contacts, or something similar.
My gear is always like new, and my D7000 is no exception, but this camera scares me a little bit because it had some problems when I bought it, yellowish screen, then autofocus calibration, now this ERR message, so that is just one of the reasons to "upgrade". Other than that it works well, I like the results, dynamic range is great, low light performance is good, for my photography it is very good camera.

As for FX, I do not think I will go to full frame any soon. I am a hobbyist, I still need to learn about photography and post processing, and I need to justify the money I spent on my gear, so selling everything, loosing almost 50% of the money I invested, and buying more expensive gear to use it at this rate, 7000 - 10 000 photos per year, I think I need to be crazy or very rich to do that.

I need to decide is it "safe" to keep my D7000, even if something go wrong with it after my warranty expires, or to buy D7100 and fill safe with 2 years of warranty.
I know some people have more than 170 000 actuations on their D7000, my with 10 000 is literally new, just I do not trust this one, maybe I am not realistic about this...

Sell off the D7000, and then after Photokina, buy a new D7100 with Nikon warranty. I am always apprehensive of warranties offered by stores, as they are honoured only by that store, so if you require service aoutside their location you are stuck.