Tamron 150-600 + D??? (advise please)

Anaxopet

New member
Hello everybody,
In a couple of days my Tamron 150-600 will arrive and I really need your advise on what body I should buy (for wildlife - birds mainly, sometimes foxes, wild boars, e.t.c.).
I don't think I can save enough money to buy d810, so I have to choose between D610 or D7100.
Conditions and limitations:
1) we don't have much sun here which means constant high ISO settings, so level of noise has to be as low as possible
2) I often have to crop and use for PP no more than 1/3 of my pics as most birds that we have here are really shy and small (average distance to the subject - 30 m/100 feet)
3) I'd like my pics to be as sharp as possible as from this depends if I can identify the bird or not (that can be disappointing after chasing little thing for 3 hours in boggy forest)


From what I've learned telephoto lenses seem to show lack of sharpness with DX bodies (due to smaller pixel size? ) DxOMark didn't test Tamron Nikon yet, but results for the new Nikkor AF-S 80-400G are: on D610 = sharpness 15, on D7100 = sharpness 9. I assume we'll get similar gap with Tamron?
But I've found plenty of excellent photos of birds on flickr with D7100 + Tamron 150-600.


So if you need acceptable crops (as sharp and as little noise as possible) what would you choose: DX or FX?
Please tell me what you think, really appreciate your help!
 

photogramps

Senior Member
D610 will respond better than the D7100 to higher ISO and with the Tamron being f5-6.3 coupled with your low-light conditions I think this will matter. Whilst it probably won't matter too much with your foxes or boars, BIF will require a higher shutter speed so ISO will be a major factor.
 

Anaxopet

New member
Vixen, thanks! Hope you'll get plenty of nice pics :)
But why did you guys went for D7100? What were your reasons? Are there any obvious advantages in D7100 (vs D610) that I'm missing?
 

FastGlass

Senior Member
I don't think they choose the body after their choice of the lens. More like, what? Tamron came out with a 150-600mm. Ohhh gotta get one of these.
 

Vixen

Senior Member
Yeah, I had the D7100 already before buying the Tamzooka. I did look at the D610 when I was upgrading but decided on the D7100. I can't remember why now tho. I'm very happy with the D7100 tho :D
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
If you want to shoot wildlife, you want to shoot DX. Period. No, really, shoot DX and don't look back. Because it's all about reach first.

The D600 and D610 are identical in terms of the sensor and IQ, so consider anything I say about the D600 to be equivalent. I went from the D7000 to a D600 almost 2 years ago and was blown away by the boost in IQ. It is an incredible camera. But, all my birds were now 44% the size in my viewfinder, so I was forced to crop, making my gorgeous 24MP photo an 8-10MP crop. And this with my Sigma 150-500mm. So, I got a D800 figuring I could use it in DX mode and still get 16MP's. So I did, but the sensor on the D800 does demand a slightly steadier hand, and the truth is it's hard to shoot with the center 44% of a screen and keep things where you want them as they move.

So, after 16 months of shooting pure FX I bit the bullet and bought a refurb D7100. From the first image I shot I was astounded by the sharpness. The lack of OLPF really does make a difference in the crispness of the lines, and I now had the focal length boost back and I wasn't copping out 80% of a shot any more. Ah, but you point at me and say, "Yes, but now you have to deal with all that noise!!" Really?!

Most professional comparisons would rate the differences of images between the D610 and D7100 at ISO 6400 at about 1-1.5 stops different. Meaning that the D7100 at ISO 2400-3200 is about what you get at 6400 with the D610. You know what? I'll take that every day of the week. Because even if I add that extra stop and a half of noise, I don't have to crop down on it, effectively increasing the size and shape of every bit of noise I have to deal with. With wildlife there is no such thing as an apples to apples comparisons with bodies. You're going to be shooting with the longest glass you have, and that means you get more pixels per critter on the DX body, which means you have more information to deal with. So, even if my sensor is a little more noisy at the extremes, I'm likely going to wind up a clearer photo with the D7100 at 6400 than I would cropping in on the D610 at the same ISO.

Don't believe me? Here are ISO 6400 shots from the D7100, D600 and D800. Unscientific in that they're all different lighting conditions, yes, but all SOOC. Compare them all, then realize what you're looking at in the D7100 frame will only fill the center 44% of the frame, so when you zoom in, all that noise gets 55% bigger, and you lose 55% of your file size (so that 24MP image is not around 11MP's and those 8x10's turned into 4x5's).

D7100 at ISO 6400 (100% crop):

D71_3776.jpg

D600 at ISO 6400 (100% crop):

D6A_4461.jpg

D800 at ISO 6400 (100% crop):

D81_1783.jpg


As I said, if you're shooting wildlife you want to shoot DX. Read this DX or FX for Sports and Wildlife Photography

Then go out and get the D7100.
 

Rick M

Senior Member
For whatever reason, "sharpness" and "resolution" scores tend to be lower on smaller sensors. Might be pixel density. If you consider the fact that you will crop less, as Jake has demonstrated, it is probably a wash. I've found a lens rated highly for Fx, is consistently great for all formats. My Fx lenses rate even lower on my Nikon 1 (Cx), yet the images are fantastic. I wouldn't worry about the shift in scores.
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
Exactly what @BackdoorHippie said. I leave my D800 at home when I take the Tamron 150-600 out. The D7100 is a fantastic camera end of story. If I could only have one body I would keep the 7100 over the 800, even though that's also a great body.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 

SkvLTD

Senior Member
I'd say a 610 since it will be more flexible overall, but if wildlife is literally the only thing you're going to do then 7100 will have a better resolution per crop.
 
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