D7200/7100 AF vs D3200

Hello again

I found that shooting Lesser Striped Swallow's (Hirundo abyssinica) with my D3200 and Sigma 150-600 C was more difficult then expected.
The camera would take ~1s from spotting the bird for the AF to decide that it was in focus, Now they were smallish in the distance with then coming low overhead ~15m every now and then.

So: Is this what is to be expected from the D3200 and would a D7200/7100 do better?

The reason I am asking is that my younger brother is going to be buying a D750 soon and there is a kit with the 24-105 for a little bit more.
So I don't do much close stuff( and have been looking at a 35/50mm to replace the 18-55 kit lens ) so I an not sure about the AF.

Bottom line: Is the AF acquisition faster on the D7200/7100 ( which I kinda expect )? -(I would also like a nice short zoom aswell, but can't choose both right now).


Thanks in advance
-Ryan.

I would expect it to be quicker with the D7200 but wouldn't like to try and guess by how much,the D7100 may not show any improvement @ the f6.3 of the sigma lens,that again though is a guess as i have never used a D3200,my D7100 was fairly good with the tamron 150-600,never got chance to try it on the D750 as it was traded to get the D750.

Before doing a purchase, you can rent one to try before you buy. That way it is a less expensive way of finding out if it will work for your photography. I am sure though that there are many more D7XXX that would be willing to chime in if you asked in their appropriate forums.

I have no scientific tests to back this up but when I switched from a D3200 to D7100 it seemed to me to be noticeably faster at locking on a moving subject, specifically my dog. That is with a 70-300 Tamron attached shooting from f/5.6 to f/8 mostly.
As I say though that was just my impression and also what I wanted to find, so it could be the case I was convincing myself it was more of an improvement than it really was, I don't know.

When I compare my D3300 to the D7200, the D7200 does a better and faster job. It's going to be the same for the D3200 I guess. They're both "starter" cams and lack a bit when it comes to focus points and sensitivity which results into a less accurate and slower focus acquisition.

The D3200 and D3300 aren't really the best models for birds in flight. Add an f/6.3 lens to that and it becomes a hard job to hit that bird right.