Your Thoughts On Upgrade

Well, I have decided to upgrade from my D5100 to a body that is a little more "prosumer". I am looking for better ergonomics (I have large hands), easier access to features and less menu diving.

I am caught between 2 deals. I can buy a new-in-box D7000 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm kit lenses for $800 or get a D7100 body for $900 and build my stable of lenses from scratch.

On one hand I have a body with documented AF issues and 2 lenses that are not all that valuable while on the other I have a body that has a poor buffer and that does not play nicely with several third party lenses.

Your thoughts?

Any lens from the 5100 will work on the 7100.

The 7100 would be the better buy....but if you can hold out a little bit....the D7200 should be out this fall. Which means cheaper 7100's.

But if it must be now....D7100 all the way.

Then get a returned 18-105 and work on your primes. Ten maybe throw the Tamron 150-600 and a faster mid zoom like a 70-200. (this is what I would do...even not knowing what you like to shoot.)

For what I like to shoot, either camera is more than capable of excellent images.

I have varied interests.... macros, nature, street, landscapes, birds, wildlife. Really anything that catches my eye at the time.

Having had a D5100 and presently owning a D7000 and a D7100 I will tell you to get the D7100. It is a much better than the D7000. The 18-55 and the 55-200 relly do not look good on the D7000, I tried. What lenses do you presently have for the D5100? They will work with the D7100 for now and then save up for the 18-140 as your daily walk around lens. Good quality and works great for the D7100. Then depending on what you shoot you can fill out your collection.

7100 hands down. 7000 is 5100 with all of its lackluster in a new coat, so it hardly merits spending money on it given 5100's value plummeted to near free these days, so you can't even make some back to help with the upgrade.

SkvLTD said:

7100 hands down. 7000 is 5100 with all of its lackluster in a new coat, so it hardly merits spending money on it given 5100's value plummeted to near free these days, so you can't even make some back to help with the upgrade.

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I would not quite go that far. The D7000 does have some advantages over the D5100. IQ is a little better and then there are the controls. ALso weather sealed and you can fine tune the lenses. That really helps I my opinion. But the D7100 is a beast.

My wife was asking me before Christmas if I wanted a new camera but I could honestly tell her that I was happy with what I had.

Don Kuykendall said:

I would not quite go that far. The D7000 does have some advantages over the D5100. IQ is a little better and then there are the controls. ALso weather sealed and you can fine tune the lenses. That really helps I my opinion. But the D7100 is a beast.

My wife was asking me before Christmas if I wanted a new camera but I could honestly tell her that I was happy with what I had.

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Well, 7100 would last much longer and the new sensor helps with ISO performance like a champ. Plus no reason to jump around puddles when there's a proper ship waiting for not too much more.

SkvLTD said:

Well, 7100 would last much longer and the new sensor helps with ISO performance like a champ. Plus no reason to jump around puddles when there's a proper ship waiting for not too much more.

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I agree, the D7100 is wonderful. I love mine. But the D7000 is still a good camera for those who have one as is the D5100. My D7000 is used by my wife and she is getting better and better with it all the time.

D7100 all the way. I owned a D5100 and D7000 at the same time actually and the basics of it are that the image results are the same. So if you 'upgrade' to a 7000 the biggest individual difference will be that you can use a wider range of lenses with auto focus. The 7100 on the other hand is a much greater upgrade.

The way I see it is, any of the D7xx series is an instant upgrade lens wise from the lower series purely because you can use more of the AF lenses available.
Beyond that of course, there is the usual upgrades provided by both, better sensor, ISO, weather sealing etc etc.

What lenses do you have now and what lenses do you think you want to have later. Will money be an influence in your decision, can you go and try both bodies out 'hands on', there are many questions you need to ask yourself too

I'm with Don K. I say go for the 7100 and grab a 18-140 lens. That is a great start and what I have. The D7100 is a great camera.

D5100 to D7000 isn't that huge of an upgrade. The body is better for sure, but they utlize the same 16MP sensor so there will be no IQ improvement. The D7100 is a HUGE improvement in IQ--one of the best APS-C sensors out there currently.


I've seen some pretty decent deals on the D7100 lately. I swear I just saw a D7100 with the 18-140 for $1000.

edit: FS: D7100 Body + 18-140 AF-S VR lens LOWER PRICE LNIB - FM Forums

here's another for $750: FS: Nikon D7100 LNIB Sale or Trade - FM Forums

and KEH has them like new for $800.

Braineack said:

D5100 to D7000 isn't that huge of an upgrade. The body is better for sure, but they utlize the same 16MP sensor so there will be no IQ improvement. The D7100 is a HUGE improvement in IQ--one of the best APS-C sensors out there currently.

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Pet Peeve Alert: Increasing the number of megapixels does *not* equate to better image quality.

The fact the D7100 has significantly better IQ is probably due to the fact the D7000 is based on tech that's roughly five years old. That, and the D7100 had the Optical Low Pass Filter removed, which increases sharpness across the board rather dramatically.
....

Braineack said:

D5100 to D7000 isn't that huge of an upgrade. The body is better for sure, but they utlize the same 16MP sensor so there will be no IQ improvement. The D7100 is a HUGE improvement in IQ--one of the best APS-C sensors out there currently.


I've seen some pretty decent deals on the D7100 lately. I swear I just saw a D7100 with the 18-140 for $1000.

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I bought one yesterday from Adorama. Nikon factory refurb D7100 with 18-140 was $1000. Upgrading from D5100.

It's on the truck for delivery today.

::cough::: :::cough::: Not feeling to good today, boss. I better go home.)

I never suggested the MP count matters in that regard.

Reword my statement to: The body is better for sure, but they utilize the same sensor [and processing engine] so there will be no IQ improvement.

Braineack said:

I never suggested the MP count matters in that regard.

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I guess the fact you said, "they use the same 16MP sensor so there will be no improvement in IQ" threw me because that would seem to imply there *will* be an improvement by moving to the 24MP sensor of the D7100.
.....

nah, just referring to it. Next time I'll say they use the same Sony IMX071 sensor.

Canadia-Nikon said:

Well, I have decided to upgrade from my D5100 to a body that is a little more "prosumer". I am looking for better ergonomics (I have large hands), easier access to features and less menu diving.

I am caught between 2 deals. I can buy a new-in-box D7000 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm kit lenses for $800 or get a D7100 body for $900 and build my stable of lenses from scratch.

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What, pray tell, are you using on your D5100 if you have to build your lens stable from scratch?!

Having shot with them both, and having shot wildlife in particular, I will emphatically tell you (while avoiding hyperbole) that the D7100 is a step and then some above the D7000 due to the increase in pixels (more pixels per bird), lack of OLPF (increased sharpness), and improved high ISO noise (I can shoot birds at ISO 3200-6400 where I wouldn't go past 1600 on the D7000). On your budget (which likely precludes waiting for the next DX camera which supposedly eliminates the small buffer issues of both cameras) I would call jumping on the D7000 at that price foolhardy because it's a compromise of quantity over quality.

If you're not opposed to it, I'd highly recommend jumping on a refurbished D7100 (Refurbished Nikon D7100 DSLR Camera Body, Black - Refurbished by Nikon U.S.A 1513 B). I've been using mine rather exhaustively for over half a year and had zero issues with it. And at $700 it leaves you some $$ for a lens or two since it seems you may not have any. I would recommend the new 18-200mm over the combination of those two, though it might set you back a little more (about $450 for a refurb), but it's a better lens than both of them and will keep you from swapping. Or get yourself a used 18-105mm for about $150 and save up for a good wildlife lens, because 200mm will not cut it for that.

I do believe that the D7000 will leave you with a feeling similar to the D5100, you are running a bit behind what is available. So it really would have to be a better deal then the one you stated there. That said, do you have an issue with the IQ of your D5100?

I recently saw quite some D7000 cameras second hand appearing, that might be a good option.

Wishing to get back into 'real' photography again after a few years with super-compacts, I decided to get a D5300 along with the AF-S Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 GII ED DX lens. Whilst I feel that the image quality was very good and I took some rather nice 'keepers' with it whilst visiting family in Australia, I was unhappy with the perceived build quality and usability. The last two points were - polycarbonate body felt lightweight, and having so few configurable buttons meant that I was always diving into the menu system.
Having just spent out on the D5300 and knowing that I was going to loose 50% on a trade-in I looked long and hard at the next step. I eventually decided upon the D7100 (for the reasons already mentioned, plus it offered significant other benefits) as I would retain my 18-200mm lens and build on that. My son James, who's a pro-photographer of many years standing (dlscape professional photography & design | James Ball, AIPP accredited photographer) suggested that I wait for the up-dated version to appear, however, at my age you get what you need and let time look after itself.

I can honestly say that buying the D7100 is the very best thing that I have done in a long, long time!

It is a wonderful camera and having now coupled it with both a Tamron 60mm f/2.0 and a Tokina 11-18mm f/2.8 I am producing photo's that I previously only dreamt about. My advice - go get the D7100 and begin enjoying it as soon as possible!