Purchasing -- Should I buy D7100 (cheaper) or D7200 (more features?)

algmiyazaki

Senior Member
Hello,

I'm about to purchase a new camera body. I'm upgrading from my D5100, which I've been using for almost 3 years. I'm on a budget and I'm pretty sure I want either the D7100 or D7200 (have a couple DX lenses and not enough money to replace them with FX, so not getting an FX body yet).

The D7100 is almost $400 less than the D7200 on Amazon.

My question is -- is it worth investing in the D7200 and paying the extra few hundred, or is the D7100 just as good? I could get another lens with the price difference but are the extra features on the D7200 worth getting instead?

Thanks!
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Hello,

I'm about to purchase a new camera body. I'm upgrading from my D5100, which I've been using for almost 3 years. I'm on a budget and I'm pretty sure I want either the D7100 or D7200 (have a couple DX lenses and not enough money to replace them with FX, so not getting an FX body yet).

The D7100 is almost $400 less than the D7200 on Amazon.

My question is -- is it worth investing in the D7200 and paying the extra few hundred, or is the D7100 just as good? I could get another lens with the price difference but are the extra features on the D7200 worth getting instead?

Thanks!
There's no one correct answer here... Only you can decide if the D7200 is worth the price difference or not. I can tell you I'd take the D7100 over the D7200 and put the extra money toward REALLY good glass because I feel the D7xxx series cameras demand truly top-end glass. But that's just one person's opinion.
....
 

coolbus18

Senior Member
Hiya!,

Well I can't speak to the 7200 but I can to the 7100. I'm not a pro but an enthusiast.The 7100 is a remarkable camera. I haven't had a buffering problem because I don't shoot in high speed mode a lot. The sensor is remarkable so I don't think they tiny bump in mp's is significant. If you're not gonna go full frame then I would go for the 7100.The bodies only are imho a super buy. I use manual focus lenses with mine also so don't discount their use, the beauty of the Nikon lens mount. So save the bucks and get a lens 'cause you can never have enough of them! Best to ya'!
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
I own both, and here are the advantages of the D7200 in my experience:

1. Better focusing in dark lighting.
2. Faster and more accurate focusing in general.
3. Better buffer for burst shooting. (Important to me for wildlife and sports.)
4. Greater number of exposures in autobracketing.
5. Lower noise at high ISO settings.

The focusing and noise differences are subtle. The buffer difference is significant.

So, as others have said, the decision is dependent on your needs. :)
 

Nero

Senior Member
As others have said the D7100 is an amazing camera with a small buffer being the only real downside though if you don't shoot animals then that won't be an issue anyway. With the D7200 out you can get it for a really good price nowadays.

With the D7200 you can get some subtle but noticeable improvements and a few bigger ones. @Woodyg3 has already listed most of these though I would like to add that if you have a smartphone with NFC then the fact that the D7200 has both NFC and built-in Wifi might be of some benefit to you as well. Not only do these things make it easier to share share images to social media (if you're into that sort of thing) the fact that the Wifi is built-in kind of offsets the difference in the price between the two cameras because now you don't have to spend 90 bucks on a transmitter whereas the D7100 does not have Wifi built-in.

Just something else to factor in when you make your decision, you really can't go wrong with either camera. On the other hand though if you save money by getting the D7100 then you can use the money you saved to get better glass which many people will tell you has a bigger effect on IQ than a better body but the features and improvements on the D7200 are very helpful too.

If you can afford to get the D7200 and better glass later on then definitely do it but if not the D7100 will serve you almost as well.
 
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algmiyazaki

Senior Member
Thanks everyone for the advice so far! It's looking like I will probably go with the 7200 for the buffer. I do have the money for it, I will just have to wait a few months to buy a new lens.

I own both, and here are the advantages of the D7200 in my experience:

1. Better focusing in dark lighting.
2. Faster and more accurate focusing in general.
3. Better buffer for burst shooting. (Important to me for wildlife and sports.)
4. Greater number of exposures in autobracketing.
5. Lower noise at high ISO settings.

The focusing and noise differences are subtle. The buffer difference is significant.

So, as others have said, the decision is dependent on your needs. :)

The buffer is huge for me. I shoot both macro insect and telephoto wildlife photography and use burst mode a lot. I noticed the 7100 buffer is actually worse than my current 5100, which I wouldn't be happy with. However, the 7200 buffer is better than my 5100.

That might convince me to wait a couple of months to save up for a new lens and use that to buy the 7200 for now.

Thanks!
 
I shot with the D5100 for a long time before moving up to the D7000 and then to the D7100. Big jump BUT the one thing that I did notice right off the bat was that the kit lenses from the d5100 (18-55 and the 55-200) looked worse on the D7000 than they did on the D5100. I had to buy better glass to git the quality jump I wanted. The one question I have not see anyone ask yet is what glass do you have now. Standard Kit lenses for the D5100 like I had? Then buy the D7100 and some good glass. If you have good glass already then get the D7200. I does have a few features that might make it a worthwhile jump now.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Not had the D7200 (came close) but did have the D7100,the improvements over the D7100 are slight but if your serious about wildlife then the D7200 is the better camera,if wildlife is birds amongst other things then FX may not be an upgrade any way,the D7200 will put more pixels in the frame than any FX camera cropped to DX including the D810,noise control on the D7100 is good but its a bit better on the D7200,the extra buffer is useful for BIF and action.
 

algmiyazaki

Senior Member
I shot with the D5100 for a long time before moving up to the D7000 and then to the D7100. Big jump BUT the one thing that I did notice right off the bat was that the kit lenses from the d5100 (18-55 and the 55-200) looked worse on the D7000 than they did on the D5100. I had to buy better glass to git the quality jump I wanted. The one question I have not see anyone ask yet is what glass do you have now. Standard Kit lenses for the D5100 like I had? Then buy the D7100 and some good glass. If you have good glass already then get the D7200. I does have a few features that might make it a worthwhile jump now.

I have some pretty nice glass for macro and telephoto (Tamron 90mm and Sigma 150-500mm; both have impressed me with their IQ) and some decent enough glass for wide-angle (Sigma 10-20mm) and mid-range (Nikkor 40mm). My next intended purchase is the Samyang 14mm for nighttime wide angle (such as galaxy). I'm not in a rush to buy that as I can photograph the stars whenever I want (not going to 'miss' a rare opportunity as I would with landscape or wildlife).

I've finally made the decision to purchase D7200. I did consider going FF (e.g., D610) but I don't have the money to be upgrading my glass for that, so it will be my next purchase in a couple of years, after I've already bought some FX lenses to use on my DX body (then I'll be ready for the FF body anyway). I think I'll be happy with the 7200 for wildlife, especially. I do photograph birds and moving insects quite frequently with my Sigma telephoto and I think the buffer and DX will please me.

Thanks everyone for the help!
 

Nero

Senior Member
I have some pretty nice glass for macro and telephoto (Tamron 90mm and Sigma 150-500mm; both have impressed me with their IQ) and some decent enough glass for wide-angle (Sigma 10-20mm) and mid-range (Nikkor 40mm). My next intended purchase is the Samyang 14mm for nighttime wide angle (such as galaxy). I'm not in a rush to buy that as I can photograph the stars whenever I want (not going to 'miss' a rare opportunity as I would with landscape or wildlife).

I've finally made the decision to purchase D7200. I did consider going FF (e.g., D610) but I don't have the money to be upgrading my glass for that, so it will be my next purchase in a couple of years, after I've already bought some FX lenses to use on my DX body (then I'll be ready for the FF body anyway). I think I'll be happy with the 7200 for wildlife, especially. I do photograph birds and moving insects quite frequently with my Sigma telephoto and I think the buffer and DX will please me.

Thanks everyone for the help!

Anytime. Hope you enjoy your purchase when you make it.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 4
 

nikon_mike

New member
I had the same debate and chose the D7100. It is now well over $300 less expensive for the body only. I applied the savings to get 2 prime lenses giving me more pleasing images. In the end it's a personal choice however I can't see the D7200 as a 'leaps and bounds' upgrade vs the D7100. I think for over 90% of enthusiasts the D7100 offers more than enough camera for the money. Cheers.
 

adot45

Senior Member
As others have said the D7100 is an amazing camera with a small buffer being the only real downside though if you don't shoot animals then that won't be an issue anyway. With the D7200 out you can get it for a really good price nowadays.

What does this mean xlDeMoNiClx? I'm angling toward a 7100 but I want to be able to shoot animals....and if they are standing still, or perched in a bird's case, what makes that situation different than a landscape (to the 7100)?
 

dave42

Senior Member
adot45, The larger buffer that the D7200 has enables you to shoot more continuous shots before the camera is over loaded with shots to process. The camera has to catchup with the information it needs to process. This comes into pay with moving or running animals or birds in flight where you might want to shoot we'll say 7 or more shots continuously.

I was deciding between the d5300 and the d7100. I picked up a 7100 a while back. Once you use it, it is so easy to make adjustments while out shooting. And you don't have to struggle to see that screen on the back in harsh light to make most all adjustments. Like nikon_mike said above, "I think for over 90% of enthusiasts the D7100 offers more than enough camera for the money."
 
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bigal1000

Senior Member
I just got a 7000 and I've decided to also get a 7100 at $799 USA it's a steal. I thought about the 7200, but in the end I went with the 7100. So I'm using part of the savings and getting a 35mm 1.8G lens.
 

adot45

Senior Member
Thanks dave42, I understand what is happening now with the use of the buffer....and when not shooting the camera works in the background to transfer the images to the memory cards? So it would be set to "do it again" if necessary?

I have been pouring over facts, info, digitutors, etc. pretty much reading all I can find about the 7100 and it just seems like a wonderful machine.
 

dave42

Senior Member
I understand what is happening now with the use of the buffer....and when not shooting the camera works in the background to transfer the images to the memory cards? So it would be set to "do it again" if necessary?

That's it. Like RAM in your computer. A DSLR needs it when shooting a lot of continuous shots.

Great price on a great camera. Use the saving like bigal1000 did.. on more gear :)
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
Unless you're "machine gunning" the camera, the D7100 will do just fine shooting BIF. As a matter of fact, my keepers for BIF were a lot higher on my D7100 then they are on the D750.
 
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