D7100 would this be a good upgrade to a D5200

I've got a chance to purchase a new camera.

i was looking at a Canon and using it specifically for astrophotography as they seem better supported thru BYEOS.

but then i took a shot with the D5200 and realised that i don't really need that astro camera with the fact the nikon took such a great image.

having found the frustrating issue with the D5200 not having a focus motor in the body cutting lens selection down.

Would the Nikon D7100 be a good choice? I'm not ready for full frame and deffo not good enough for the expense laid out.

i would only be buying the body and using my existing lenses?

any info opinions greatly accepted before i unload the money

My D7000 died so I replaced it with the D7100 and it is not good for astro/moon photography. The liveview (used to zoom in to focus) on the D7000 showed what you had dialed in (settings) but on the D7100 nothing alters on liveview, it does not show the settings that you use. I'm probably not explaining this very well, but if you try to focus on the moon all you can see is an overexposed blob on the d7100 liveview and altering the settings, exposure iso etc will not alter this. It uses a generic setting for liveview. This seems like a downgrade from the D7000. I had to upgrade to the FF D750 as this has the feature of turning on/off liveview exposure preview. Also when trying to focus on less bright objects eg stars when you zoom in there is so much noise showing on liveview that it is hard to make out the stars to focus on. So if you coulkd live with 16MP and the D7000 would be better suited for night/astro. There is not much difference in noise at ISO1600 30 secs f2.8 the D7100 does have slightly less noise but is marginal at these exposures. Hope this helps.

the D5200 does the same unless you turn off everything associated with movie mode once this is done you can alter all the settings in live view

thanks for your comments

I like the D7100 and the D7200 cameras. Either would be an excellent choice. I think the D7200 does a little better in low light but that's me. When I went on the search I started out with my eye on the D7100 until the D7200 came out and the wrestling match ensued. I ended up buying a refurbished body from Nikon with less than 20 shutter clicks on it for a very good price, less than $800.

If I were you I would look for a good deal on both and than just way the cost difference.

RobHD said:

the D5200 does the same unless you turn off everything associated with movie mode once this is done you can alter all the settings in live view

thanks for your comments

Click to expand...

Could you elaborate a bit further please. In movie mode in liveview I can adjust the shutter speed and iso and it shows the relative exposure on the screen. But when live view photography is selected I can change all the settings SS ISO F and it doesn't show any changes in the brightness/dimness on the liveview screen.

Go into the menu and turn off associated attributes for movie mode, this then releases full function on D5200 at least for live view , the camera no longer thinks your shooting movies

RobHD said:

I've got a chance to purchase a new camera.

i was looking at a Canon and using it specifically for astrophotography as they seem better supported thru BYEOS.

but then i took a shot with the D5200 and realised that i don't really need that astro camera with the fact the nikon took such a great image.

having found the frustrating issue with the D5200 not having a focus motor in the body cutting lens selection down.

Would the Nikon D7100 be a good choice? I'm not ready for full frame and deffo not good enough for the expense laid out.

i would only be buying the body and using my existing lenses?

any info opinions greatly accepted before i unload the money

Click to expand...

If your primary consideration is that the 5xxx bodies don't have an internal focus motor then yes, I'd say the D7100 is a good move.

You'll gain some other nice features by moving to the 7100 such as the weather sealing, the magnesium-alloy body, some additional buttons (less menu diving), the top-mounted LCD, dual command-wheels and dual card slots of course. While there's a slight advantage in dynamic range on the D7100, I wouldn't expect to see any significant improvement in overall image quality as compared to your current D5200.

Hope that helps.

RobHD said:

Go into the menu and turn off associated attributes for movie mode, this then releases full function on D5200 at least for live view , the camera no longer thinks your shooting movies

Click to expand...

I've just looked at the manual for the D5200 and there is a live view switch which takes you in and out of liveview. On the D7100 there is a liveview button surrounded by a lever which you choose between video and photography. I have looked into this before and the conclusion was that liveview exposure preview is not possible in the photograph mode with the D7100. I must try to get focus using the movie mode and then switch to photo mode and the relative settings to take the photo. If we get a clear night that is.

Try it, you never know, if that is the case why have a limited photography live view, would put me off the camera if it wasn't available.

i got very frustrated with the D5200 until I found out bout the settings

I will give it a go. As [MENTION=13090]Horoscope Fish[/MENTION] pointed out there are a lot of good features over the D5200 but coming from a D7000 (with liveview preview exposue) to a D7100 (without liveview exposure) it hampered my night shooting so much that I had to get a D750 (which I couldn't really afford). I will let you know my findings as when I got the D7100 I assumed it was the same as the D7000 in liveview and if I had known it wasn't it would have been a deal breaker for me.

Horoscope Fish said:

If your primary consideration is that the 5xxx bodies don't have an internal focus motor then yes, I'd say the D7100 is a good move.

You'll gain some other nice features by moving to the 7100 such as the weather sealing, the magnesium-alloy body, some additional buttons (less menu diving), the top-mounted LCD, dual command-wheels and dual card slots of course. While there's a slight advantage in dynamic range on the D7100, I wouldn't expect to see any significant improvement in overall image quality as compared to your current D5200.

Hope that helps.

Click to expand...

+1 on the above quote, adding to it that the D7100 is a bigger camera that feels more solid in your hands. I found shooting with a camera that feels good in your hands can also improve your shots as well.

i never bought the D7100 or 7200.
Infact i bought nothing.
Im waiting for works bonus then i am going to take the leap and get a full frame for everyday shooting.
i will keep the D5200 as back up and night time shooting as im impressed with its low light capabilites.

Now to decide which full frame i can afford and with what lens, im going to have fun