D610 x d7100

[Marcel]

Jesus, you guys are quickly! haha
Well, gonna give more details:



To be fair I dont really wanna shot in studios, at first I'll shot people & pets at meetings, parks, etc....




As I said, one day I may need a studio or something, but for now I'll shot at public places or home.
I love animals, all of them, from insects to the big ones, specially dogs, so I may start and focus on common pets, like dogs, cats, etc... but, having in mind my limited budget, I cannot get a D610 + 3 or 4 lenses for get it all, for now, I can get a D610 + $500 lens, or, a D7100 + $1K lens(es).
I can live for a while with one lens, and I may be able to get other lenses in the end of the year, but for now, and for now I mean the next 4-6 months, $2k is my budget!
So, if I go for a FX, I'll get a 85mm lens at the begining, but I'll be able to get other lenses in the next 6 months, and if I go for DX I may be able to get kinda a kit with more lenses.
What a doubt, I'm almost going for D610!


Btw, thanks for your time!

When I mentioned flash, I didn't mean that you would be shooting in a studio. A portable flash unit with a diffuser could be more an advantage to you wherever you want to shoot people and animals. But this is only my opinion and maybe you know better. One thing I know is that the D7000 is a fine camera that is very capable of great pictures when handled properly and if you don't go over 3200 iso.

 

[Fortkentdad]

Faced this same question earlier this year.

Top of the line DX vs entry level FX.

In some ways the D7100 has some more advanced features over the D610 - you will see that in the comparison links listed above. There are some good YouTube vid's comparing the two.

I was really back and forth a lot on this decision. It ain't easy. In my case it came down to one thing my wife said to me while shopping for the camera. She said "Don't settle" (for less than what you want). I realized in our conversation that if I went with the D7100 I would always feel that I "settled" for the less expensive DX and didn't take the chance to go full frame.

"Is it worth it?"

Good question. And the answer is adult diapers. That is to say, it depends.

Having had my new D610 for a few months I can say I absolutely love it. Of course I can't say whether I would have also just as much loved a new D7100. In my case the difference in price was about $700 CDN. (D610 on sale that day - D7100 was not). Bottom line is that $700 - would it have been better spent on DX glass? I don't know. I do have a DX camera (D5100) which my wife now uses.

Yes new FX glass costs more (generally although there are exceptions). BUT you can 'settle' for used glass for a while until your glass budget can bear some nice new glass. I've bought just a couple of bits of used glass and it is serving me very well. I bought a Tamron 20-40 ($140) and a Nikkor 70-210 ($92). And I'm using some old glass I had from my film days. And my dear wife bought me a new 60mm Nikkor macro for my 60th birthday - love her to pieces.

I'm looking to fill my lens drawer with some more nice bits of old glass as opportunity and budget allow. But I should discipline myself to learn how to use the lenses I already have to their full advantage.

Your idea of the 50mm is good - I'm looking to get one of those sometime soon. For now my 60mm is close enough. I'm not sure what to make of the 50 not being a good portrait lens. Look at some reviews of that lens ( Just watched some comparative youtube reviews of Nikkors available 50mm options - I'm sure they can do grand portraits).

But if you don't already have a good speedlight you will want to get one of those. The SB-700 is obvious choice. If budget is tight look at the Yongnuo I don't have one but lots of great things about them on line. I went for a Metz, works for me and got a great deal on it. But if portraits are where you want to go you will want to learn as much as you can about lighting. Look at 'strobist" stuff - interesting ideas under that banner.

Good luck with your choice.

You can't go wrong with either one.

 

[Stephan Gomes Higuti]

When I mentioned flash, I didn't mean that you would be shooting in a studio. A portable flash unit with a diffuser could be more an advantage to you wherever you want to shoot people and animals. But this is only my opinion and maybe you know better. One thing I know is that the D7000 is a fine camera that is very capable of great pictures when handled properly and if you don't go over 3200 iso.

Yes, if I go for D7100 I'll definitely get a good lens and a good flash.

... I realized in our conversation that if I went with the D7100 I would always feel that I "settled" for the less expensive DX and didn't take the chance to go full frame.

Yes, thats what I'm affraid to happen, I mean since I live in a third world country, I cant afford change my gear so easy, so I'm feeling like "This is my shot to go FF". Bodies and lenses are very expensive over here, and I'm considering get one of those two options because I have the chance to get in US, otherwise I would never get a D610/D7100 that easy.

But I was looking some D7100 pictures on flickr, and they look great.
So, I may go for D7100 + Good Lens.
Can I get kind of all-in lens?
Once I get the D7100, I'll have about $1K to spend with Lens, in this case, I still dont know if I get a couple of regular/decent lens or one big boy.

I'm feeling like my wife chosing her cloths for a dinner.

 

[Fortkentdad]

The D7100 definitely has the edge on "Bang for you Buck" and DX lenses are good lenses and less expensive.

The D7100 will still manage FX lenses if you get one of those. For example the 50mm 1.8 FX lens works out to about 50 x 1.5 or 75mm - very close to that 85mm portrait others have spoken of - and can be had new for under $150.00.

The 35mm DX 1.8 is also a "must have" prime lens - again, not so expensive - picked mine up for about $200 here in Canada where we do pay a premium on stuff like this.

If you are coming to the USA to buy this, scout out a good store and make connections ahead of time. (Or get two or three good stores competing even better). They should be able to give you a good package deal. Don't be afraid to look at good used glass - if in good shape lenses should outlast the camera body. Be careful there is no flaws or fungus though.

As for "all in one" you may want to look at "all in two or three" instead. I have a 18-55 DX and 55-300 DX Nikon lens on my D5100 and that pretty much covers the gamut. Neverthesless I still added that 35mm prime - in part because of its great low light portrait capacity. Bought it especially to take no-flash baby portraits. (of my grand-daughter not a professional photographer).


Frankly if you are not going to be printing images billboard size (or cropping small sections of an image and blowing them up to poster size) - then you probably would be hard pressed to see the difference between a well taken image from a D7100 vs D610. I've seen it said that image quality is 10% camera 20% glass and 70% photographer. Or similar sort of numbers with the same sentiment.

You just have to decide if economy trumps FF-lust.

 

[Stephan Gomes Higuti]

...Don't be afraid to look at good used glass - if in good shape lenses should outlast the camera body. Be careful there is no flaws or fungus though.

I would love to get some used lenses, however, its a friend of mine who will bring me the stuff, and his knowledge about photos is null, so if I get a used lens and have any issue, Ill not be able to change or something like.