Stepping up from D7200

brads

Senior Member
I'd lke to move up from the D7200 I currently own. I also have MANY lenses for the camera. If I could find a camera body that will accept these lenses then I would be pleased.
I like Macro and general photography. All comments welcome.
Brad
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
I also own a D7200 and consider the D7500 largely a step down. The D500 is an excellent camera for action and wildlife photography, but I would keep the D7200 for your type of photography. Since you have a nice selection of DX lenses, the only option I would consider at this time is up to a mirrorless Z 50 camera.
 

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
I love my D7500. Love it. You couldn't go wrong upgrading to it except if you needed a vertical grip or dual memory cards. If that is your budget, its a sweet camera- jump all over it. The D500 is obviously the best choice if you can swing it. Even though it's older, the sensors are the same in the D7500 and the D500 but you get a whole lot more focus points in the D500 than the D7500. If you need those for tracking birds, get the D500. Anything not a bird, get the D7500. Tracking is still really good in the D7500 though. You also gotta choose if a pop up flash is important to you. You get one on the D7500 even if you don't use it. You want one on the D500 only when you really need it. Then there's the Z50. Basically a D7500 with a Z mount. If size is priority, grab this- its tiny. Technically your lenses would probably work with the FTZ adapter but to really unlock the purpose of the Z's, (why get a tiny camera if you gotta pack around a bulky adapter AND lenses) you need the native glass. If any of your lenses are the older screw drive, (which focus just like normal on a D7500) they turn into manual focus only on the Z. Plus you're back to a single card and no battery grip and also no native Nikon macro lens yet. Speaking of macro, I prefer my D7500 for macro shots since the screen can be set to be your shutter, just tap it and the shutter closes. Really handy for macro. The newer Nikon app, Snapbridge is so much better than their older app, WMU I think it was called. I didnt think I would use this feature much, but it comes in handy when I do and since it works so well, it gets used more and more. Plus there's another way to do macro since you can use your phone to change settings and take pictures through the app. Don't be quick to write off the D7500 because of the negative publicity. I still feel like its 95% of the D500 for 50% of the cost.
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
The D7500 is great, the D500 is the best ASP-C sensor sized camera made, in my opinion. The question is, though, is why you feel you need another camera. Is the D7200 limiting you in some way?

Also, which lenses do you have? Are they all DX lenses, or do you have some FX lenses. Full frame sensor size could give you a small step up in terms of low light abilities, and significant boosts in resolution. I nthat case something like the D750 or 850 would be possibilities, along with the new Z series mirrorless cameras. The new Z cameras require an adapter for older lenes to work, but that's another option.

All this said, the D7200 is a very capable camera, so it depends on what features you are looking for that the D7200 is missing.
 

mikeee

Senior Member
I bought a D7500 and kept my D7100. I have a good number of DX lenses and if Nikon stops making DX dslrs, I have 2 cameras in case one smokes.
D7500 is great for wild life with 8 FPS and a great buffer. I have the grip and dual card slots on my D7100. Best of both worlds!
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Are you looking to stay with DX, and are your lenses predominantly DX? If so, you really only have two options for DX which are the D7500 and D500. Both of these have the same sensor so it's the best sensor in the DX line. The D7500 has just one SD card slot, a buffer that is slower than the D500, and Nikon doesn't make a grip for it (I believe there are aftermarket grips available, but the body lacks the customary connection at the camera's base). The D500 is capable of capturing fast action with an incredible buffer and 2 card slots. One slot is for an XQD card. The second slot is for an SD card.

On the D7500, Nikon changed or removed some of the features that are on your D7200. But if shooting fast action isn't something you'd do often, the D7500 might work well for you.

The other option is to move up to FX or even mirrorless. There is a difference in bokeh between DX and FX bodies with the FX bokeh being slightly more creamy. FX offers better low light performance over DX.

With macro I haven't compared differences between DX and FX, but each one has its advantages. DX will allow you to be back further simply because its'a crop sensor body. But FX produces creamier bokeh although a close shooting distance (if keeping the subject 1:1 on the sensor). But if you have DX lenses, they will work although will probably require cropping. FX glass tends to cost more than DX if you were to upgrade to FX lenses.

These are just some things to consider to help narrow down your preferences. :)

EDIT: I'm not knowledgeable enough to give you any ideas on mirrorless. Hopefully someone else can weigh in with more information.
 
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mikeee

Senior Member
If you were looking at the D7500, this review compares features with the D7200. https://www.dslrbodies.com/cameras/current-nikon-dslr-reviews/nikon-d7500-camera-review.html
I do find the touch screen helps find things quicker or review photos.. Also the metering is 180,000 dots and not 2016 like the D7100/D7200. I only paid $549 for mine as a refurb.
You may find it's not worth the new camera price to upgrade. Also I came from the D7100 which has the buffer constraint.
 

Danno

Senior Member
My thoughts, since you prefer macro and general photography, I would think the next logical step would be to full frame. The only question is are all your lenses specifically DX lenses or are they FX lenses. I only had one DX lens when I changed over to full frame and it was a Sigma 10-24 f3.5. All the rest were FX.

My original plan was to go to the 850 but I ended up going mirrorless and bought a Z6.

The next question is your budget. If you have the budget I am partial to the Z cameras. I like the Z6 because of the low light performance and high ISO abilities. The Z6II is a bit more but it does have a better auto focus system for action. You may also want to look at the Z7II with the Higher resolution. It gives you more room to crop the macro shots. There is one more cool thing that is available in the Z6 and Z7 both original and version 2 and that is focus stacking in camera. It is slick for macro and landscape.

If you want to stay with mirrors. I would go with the 780 or 850. If you want to stay with DX I would go with the D500. I would not make the move to the 7500 because glass would be a better investment in my mind.

I wish you well in this adventure. I hope you have a local shop were you can handle these different cameras. That is really important.
 
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