Beginner questions about 7200.

Plainsman

Senior Member
Hi everyone. I'm new to DSLR cameras and looking at buying a 7200, but I have some questions.

My family and I (wife and 3 kids) do a lot of camping, hiking, exploring etc. We like to take lots of photos while we are out, and recently I've had an interest in wildlife photography. We live on a large lake with lots of opportunities for daily viewing birds, deer, coyote, fox, etc.

I've been using a Nikon AW100 for several years, and my wife uses a D3100. She has 2 lenses, the kit lens and a Nikkor 55-300. When I began my interest in wildlife photos, I started borrowing her camera and mucking about with it. I spent $200 on a like new Tamron SP 70-300 and have been pretty happy with my results.

I think its time I get my own camera and have set a budget. My absolute stretch up to amount is $800. Looks like I could get a refurbished 7200 from B&H, or a brand new 5600. I think the 7200 would be better for me, but would I be better off with the newer tech of the 5600? Or should I look for something altogether different?

Thanks so much!
 

nickt

Senior Member
D7200 hands down for me over the d5600. I actually leave my d7100 body on my sigma 150-600 all the time. Its fine. I have the Tamron SP 70-300 as well. Nice sharp lens.
I vote for the d7200 for the controls. I find myself shooting wildlife in manual mode. I pick the minimum shutter speed that I am confident hand holding and I will stop down the lens 1 or 2 stops from wide open to give me the best sharpness. With those settings, I also set auto iso. I switch up focus area modes and other settings as needed. Sometimes I will lock in iso rather than use auto. Sometimes I'll use flash on backyard wildlife. All this is much easier done on the fly with the direct access controls and top lcd on the d7200. The menu system of the d5x00 would be a pain for the way I shoot.

edit: this morning I saw the d7200 refurb for $710 at Adorama and $730 at Cameta with a 1 year warranty. Both good companies as is B&H.
 
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Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
D7200 hands down for me over the d5600.
Agreed. This is not even a contest in my mind.

Unless you have an absolute fetish for touch-screens, the feature set of the D7200 buries the D5600 with its top LCD, dual-card slots, weather sealing, faster shooting, longer battery life, prism viewfinder, auto-focus motor...
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

You can't go wrong with the D7200. It is better than the D7500 for less money, which is really a crippled D7200 designed to sell more D500s.
 

Texas

Senior Member
I can't see why anyone with a tiny bit of research or knowledge would buy a 7500. Maybe its just folks who assume the latest and greatest is what they ought to buy. Especially if that is all they have on display at Best Buy or Costco. That is often something to consider, but not in the case of the 7500.
 

Plainsman

Senior Member
Is Adorama safe for buying used? They have the 7200 for $499. Would the refurb be worth the extra $200? Always more stuff I can throw in the kit!

Well cancel that, looks like the used ones are gone.
 
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Texas

Senior Member
My 7100, six months ago was $550 Adorama refurb with only a couple hundred on the odometer. Still happy I went with it instead of the refurb 7200 since I don't use the clunky wi-fi the 7200 brings.

Some say the 7200 makes better low light shadow detail but I shoot with plenty of light. I like fooling around with multiple lenses, some are manual focus. They are not useable on the 7500 ! That's not progress.
 

nickt

Senior Member
I'd go with a refurb over a used. I believe refurbs are early returns, like during the first 30 days. Maybe they had a problem, but more likely somebody just didn't like it. My d7200 was a Nikon refurb bought from Adorma. Nothing on the shutter count when I got it. It looked and smelled new. I couldn't find any signs of prior use.
 

pnomanikon

Senior Member
I've had my D7200 for one year and have had only limited opportunities to use it, but like it so far.

That being said, one issue that may be of concern to you is weight. (I know it's my only major beef with the camera.) You mention you like to hike and explore. Before you buy a D7200, hold one in one hand with your wife's D3100 in the other hand. Which would you rather schlep on a long hike?
 

rob shearing

Senior Member
7200 all the way!
I upgraded from a D5200 which is an earlier version of the 5600 and haven't looked back. The viewfinder is bigger and brighter, the autofocusing is awsome for sports/wildlife and I'm happy pushing the ISO to 3200.
Oh, and the "you don't need two SD card slots" reason to get a 7500, I had a card fail and was sooooo glad I had the second card as a back-up!
Rob
 

Dawg Pics

Senior Member
Adorama, KEH, Cameta, B and H are all reputable.
People are usually pretty happy with their used Adorama purchases from everything I have read. Usually, better than described from what I can recall.
 
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Andy W

Senior Member
Welcome to the forum!


I'd go with a refurb over a used. I believe refurbs are early returns, like during the first 30 days. Maybe they had a problem, but more likely somebody just didn't like it. My d7200 was a Nikon refurb bought from Adorma. Nothing on the shutter count when I got it. It looked and smelled new. I couldn't find any signs of prior use.

I bought a D7200 body just before Christmas while on sale. I decided that I "needed" the DX 18-140mm lens that came with one of the 7200 kits. To get it at the sale price I had to return the one I bought, then purchase the kit with the lens I wanted. The was nothing at all wrong with the one I returned, it's just how they had to do it.

Does anyone know if Nikon has mothers day sales?
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Does anyone know if Nikon has mothers day sales?

B&H has some of the new Nikon DSLR bodies (and bodies with kits) on sale right now. It's rare for them to be on sale more than twice a year. And usually around Thanksgiving/Christmas is one of those two times.
 

Danno

Senior Member
My D7200 was a refurbished body. Less than 50 shutter clicks. It is a great camera. I would not hesitate to buy one again. There are a number of things I like but the two things that I like most are the built Autofocus motor that allows me to use older, less expensive lenses, without built-in focus motors and the fact that operation is more from buttons than menus.
 

Plainsman

Senior Member
Thanks for all the input everyone!

I ordered the refurb D7200 from Cameta today. I'm super excited to get it and will post some thoughts when it arrives. Thanks again!
 
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