D7100 vs D800 for BIF

[trenchmonkey]

too bad she was flying away from you, i guess you musta scared her

what pic cntls did you use ? I guess that means it's not really SOOC then

It's a MALE. Feel free to post your "RAW" pheasant in flight shots.

D3 AF 300 f2.8 (don't be jealous of my lack of "post" work)

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[Valret]

I guess that means it's not really SOOC then

Sacrilege

 

[trenchmonkey]

I don't know what you'd call it then...I shoot...I upload...I sell.
Back OT: I have the 800/7100 and use them frequently. I don't 'trust' the D7100's AF
and prefer the D800 in 1.2 mode with a little additional cropping for my BIF captures.
When 71 nails 'em they're great, BUT too inconsistent for my needs. HTH the OP.

 

[Valret]

Just to clarify I was tongue in cheeking Randys' summation that your shot wasn't SOOC....


Back OT....

 

[Randy]

Sacrilege

I'm probably not the only one who thinks if you use alot of Nikon proprietary stuff, ADL, pic ctnls, etc then it's just pre PP and is not SOOC and it's fine with me, we all PP our pics one way or the other.....

 

[Valret]

I'm probably not the only one who thinks if you use alot of Nikon proprietary stuff, ADL, pic ctnls, etc then it's just pre PP and is not SOOC and it's fine with me, we all PP our pics one way or the other.....

Interesting "perspective"...

I guess it's all one's and zero's from now on for displaying true SOOC

 

[morcguy]

One workaround for the 7100 buffer size is it's 1.3 crop mode. It will shoot Raw a lot longer in that mode. This is a good option in some conditions.

 

[Randy]

One workaround for the 7100 buffer size is it's 1.3 crop mode. It will shoot Raw a lot longer in that mode. This is a good option in some conditions.

the VF is problematic in crop mode, it's easy to forget what's not in the crop

sandisk 95's are IMO the best thing you can do to at least empty the buffer faster

 

[Randy]

Interesting "perspective"...

I guess it's all one's and zero's from now on for displaying true SOOC

well a baked jpg is a baked jpg in any s/w so even w/ the death of nx2 the pic cntls will still work, no more raw though unless you stay w/ nx2 and don't get a new camera

 

[mneary]

I don't know what you'd call it then...I shoot...I upload...I sell.
Back OT: I have the 800/7100 and use them frequently. I don't 'trust' the D7100's AF
and prefer the D800 in 1.2 mode with a little additional cropping for my BIF captures.
When 71 nails 'em they're great, BUT too inconsistent for my needs. HTH the OP.

Thanks, Will! I had another great experience shooting BIF with the D800 recently, even though I was only using my lowly 70-200 f/4 + TC-14 (got pretty close to the birds this time...).

The D7100 is simply not quite as good for BIF. It's fine for slower action, though.

This has me thinking about trading the D800 + D7100 for a D810, which has even better AF than the D800 - supposedly. Hmm... And I wasn't going to buy any new bodies this year...

Mike

 

[West]

The D7100 is simply not quite as good for BIF. It's fine for slower action, though.
Mike

Have you tried using shutter priority at 1/2000 or more, I can show you jets braking the speed of sound if you like

 

[mneary]

Have you tried using shutter priority at 1/2000 or more, I can show you jets braking the speed of sound if you like

I typically shoot BIF with 1/1600 or faster. Since I manage to get some sharp shots, I doubt it's a shutter speed issue

But birds are more erratic than jets, so the AF needs to be top notch.

 

[West]

I typically shoot BIF with 1/1600 or faster. Since I manage to get some sharp shots, I doubt it's a shutter speed issue
But birds are more erratic than jets, so the AF needs to be top notch.

Sounds like it's your technique. Maybe try using 21 points, and really cheap glass
https://www.nikoncafe.com/threads/super-dogs.279428/

 

[mneary]

Sounds like it's your technique. Maybe try using 21 points, and really cheap glass
https://www.nikoncafe.com/threads/super-dogs.279428/

I doubt it's my technique, and others like Will are reporting the same observations - D800 AF is better than D7100. And so it should, since it's a much more expensive body

And why would it be my technique if I can get sharp shots with one camera and not the other (with the same AF settings - AF-C 9pt dynamic, short or no lock-on)...?

 

[West]

I doubt it's my technique, and others like Will are reporting the same observations - D800 AF is better than D7100. And so it should, since it's a much more expensive body

And why would it be my technique if I can get sharp shots with one camera and not the other (with the same AF settings - AF-C 9pt dynamic, short or no lock-on)...?

The D7100 uses the same Expeed3 image engine as the D4.
I know that many are having problems with the cam, luckily I'm not one of those.
Sounds like you need the D4s good luck with your next purchase.

 

[West]

I should add this from DPreview. Overall this cam rewards the jpeg shooter.

"One of our criticisms of the AF arrays of the D600 and D800 was that on those full frame sensors, the coverage area occupied a relatively small central area of the image area. On the APS-C D7100, Nikon's Multi-CAM 3500DX autofocus sensor module (nominally the same unit found in the D300s, although there are specification differences - for example the D7100's AF is rated down to -2EV, as opposed to -1EV) provides 51 AF points which cover a much wider proportion of the frame.

In terms of autofocus performance, the D7100 is very much a tale of two cities. On one hand it inherits the 51-point AF system of the flagship D4, with 15 cross-type sensors and a focus sensitivity limit of -2 EV. These are attention-grabbing specs on a camera in this price range

While many action photographers may still reflexively reach for JPEG mode when shooting bursts, one of the more compelling features of a camera like the Canon EOS 7D or certainly the pro-level EOS 1D X, is the ability to shoot in a Raw-enabled mode and still be able to fire off an acceptably high number of frames. Make no mistake, in JPEG-only mode the D7100 can be a brisk performer, but you will need to carefully consider white balance, color and noise-reduction settings, before you begin shooting.

This limitation aside, the AF system itself works very well. Focus acquisition is very brisk and the predictive tracking modes, while not offering a 100% hit rate, have in our time shooting with the camera returned more than a fair share of acceptably focused shots in every burst, under both indoor and outdoor lighting conditions"

 

[trenchmonkey]

I'll add my hit rate's about 85% with the D7100...sample here.
Jpeg handheld SOOC.

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However, with the D800 my rate is >95% and when I can fill the frame with BIF/rodeo ops...
and money's on the line, the D7100 stays home. Been shootin' BIF for over 20 yrs, so I kinda
know my way around the block.

 

[RoyC01]

TM, my experience was much the same as yours. Just to many AF misses with the D7100. I took it on two birding trips to Florida and one trip to YNP. Then I took to KEH and brought home a check.
Gas well spent.

 

[trenchmonkey]

Appreciate that, Roy. When it's "on" it's awesome but the inconsistency kills it for
much more than play. Love the 1-touch 100% LCD view, lacking on the D7K...and we
sure can crop the hell outta them files. Ya gotta suffer...if ya wanna sing the blues.

 

[West]

You guys, a friend of mine is on his third set of golf clubs and his game still hasn't improved.