Review D7200 mini review

[Retief]

Insight ? You give up what ?

Bill, I am hardly the only shooter who came to the same conclusion AFTER shooting thousands of pics with both cameras. Is that more clear now.

I "give up" on you ever giving any evidence to support your claim that Nikon "dumbed down" the AF on the D7100 in order to sell D7200's. As I stated, you must have far more insight into this than I do. Your conclusion is purely anecdotal, and no different than mine, regarding the AF of the D7100 vs the D300. Difference is, I admit that and agree that different folks have different experiences for various reasons which are difficult, if not impossible, to quantify. You, on the other hand, make statements like "dumbed down" with no support.

Had you not asked, I would not have bothered to explain more. Is THIS more clear to you now?

 

[Retief]

But then I have to program AEL to one of the front buttons, as I use that too, so then I have to reprogram another button....
Basically I just need another button! Though one problem with the location of the AE-L/AF-L button is that it is a bit awkward to use with the ThinkTank rain cover as it's too close to the viewfinder, it ends up being under the neoprene piece around the vf, making it just a tad more difficult to use constantly.


I have the D7100 so know what it's like, it's not the position so much (though it is a bit as I say above), but I'd like an extra button as there's not enough for what I'd like to use!

I shot a lot of HS football with a friend who could not get comfortable with the AF-On button on the D200/D300 style bodies, it just wasn't "thumb comfortable" for him. So even though that is the "preferred" location, with the second button, for many it is still not ideal for all.

You do bring up the biggest drawback of programming the AE-L/AF-L button, many of us don't use AE-L so we don't hit the issue.

And let us not forget, that we have 10 fingers, so even 11 buttons won't always be enough

 

[Retief]

And Mike, I've got to say, the high ISO sample images I've seen look great. ISO 6,400 looks very good and better than the D7100.

I will second Randy and the many others that I've seen complain about the 7100's focus. I would describe it as adequate at best. Granted I primarily use my cameras for either night HS football or HS basketball in dark gyms. My 7100 takes a second longer to acquire focus and loses focus more than the D300 does. In fact, I had really forgotten the difference until I broke out my D300 yesterday for the first softball game of the season. It tracks much better.

I've seen enough so far to give me confidence in the 7200. I'm purchasing it soon and already have my 7100 up for sale.

I found the opposite. When I got my D7100 I still had one D300, so I shot them side by side for football, baseball, BIF. I especially found the D7100 to acquire AF quicker, which is not at all surprising as the hardware base for the AF came from the same roots, but Nikon had several years to further perfect the algorithms. Now I would certainly not say it was "light years" ahead. If I had a camera with basically the same AF module that was taking a full second longer to AF, I would have had that sucker back to Nikon in a heartbeat. As to "losing focus", there I may agree. I still have not found an AF that won't, at least on occasion and depending upon the subject, lose focus.

Having shot my new D7200 last week for 3 days, the AF matches my D810 much more closely than the D7100 did, I don't think you will be unhappy with that at all.

 

[Retief]

Thanks for the insight Randy and Bill. I am almost ready to pull the trigger. My upgrade is a no brainer from a D200! Portraits, sports and family shots. I have been bitten by the upgrade bug.

Oh, c'mon, get off your lazy tookus and just buy the darned thing!

We all just LOVE to help other folks spend money, don't you know?

 

[docsol]

Oh, c'mon, get off your lazy tookus and just buy the darned thing!

We all just LOVE to help other folks spend money, don't you know?

I am off my tuchus! My birthday is soon. I now know what I am buying myself!

 

[Retief]

Without getting too far off topic, can someone verify my understanding of focusing with the AF-on button. I don't find it useful for my purposes of mainly shooting sports.

Am I right that if you use the AF-on, you can first focus and lock focus on what you want to photograph, then release the button and "recompose" and move the camera around the object you're focused, then press the release to take the picture, with the release button not refocusing and thusly keeping focus on what you originally focus on?

I guess that would be nice for that use. But for myself mainly tracking sports, I just keep my finger half-pressed the whole time for focus and then press when I'm framed well for pictures. Am I missing a use for tracking? I don't see why to use two buttons what I can accomplish with one. But I've noticed other sports photographers using AF-on, so maybe I am missing something?

Karen gave you a good answer, let me add a bit. Years ago I did a workshop with the then renowned Ron Reznick who is a big proponent of using AF-On. I was not, but he convinced to try it, and I have not looked back. That being said, for many folks, and this may be the case with Randy, it just isn't comfortable. My wife hates it, and as I noted in another post so did another friend of mine. For me it just turns out that my thumb falls into the right spot.

That being said I find two other things that I like about using AF-On. The first is that I no longer accidentally take a picture when I really did not want to. I found that at times I would accidentally apply just a bit too much "half press", which was quite annoying. The other issue is when VR is on, annoying when it is constantly activating, which is one reason I mostly have it turned off anyway.

Certainly no point in changing if what you are doing now works for you.

 

[Retief]

I am off my tuchus! My birthday is soon. I now know what I am buying myself!

Sooper-Dooper! My birthday is soon too, just a couple of weeks, so I got MY present 2 weeks ago

 

[mdupont]

So far it sounds like the D7200 is a winner. Have total knee replacement coming up the end of April so will be on IR for a month. Ill wait until then and see some additional reports before I pull the trigger. I can guarantee you that once I do the Unicorn of the camera world (d400) will be released.

 

[scott1541]

Just poking my head in here to say I picked my D7200 up this afternoon. Got it home and everything seems to be working alright, haven't had a proper chance to test it as the battery is still charging. It worked fine with the only lens I have at home, the siggy 17-50, even in live view. (My other lenses are at uni)

Hopefully I won't regret buying this, even though I'm not a massive sports or bird person, I do both occasionally though.

 

[*BBD]

Sooper-Dooper! My birthday is soon too, just a couple of weeks, so I got MY present 2 weeks ago

Mine, too! I was thinking of going micro 4/3 (the new Oly OMD 5 Mark II (is that right?) is sweet), but I think the D7200 is better for what I do at this point.

And y'all are a buncha enablers. =D|

Hi! I'm Gary. And I have NAS.

 

[Retief]

So far it sounds like the D7200 is a winner. Have total knee replacement coming up the end of April so will be on IR for a month. Ill wait until then and see some additional reports before I pull the trigger. I can guarantee you that once I do the Unicorn of the camera world (d400) will be released.

Good luck on the replacement. You know, that month off is the best time to read the manual and set up your new camera. Not the we all think you buy it for your Get Well present or anything ........

 

[Pa]

The other issue is when VR is on, annoying when it is constantly activating, which is one reason I mostly have it turned off anyway.

On the D610 and the D7100, when the AE-L/AF-L is designated for focus it also activates VR.

But I'm like Bill, I resisted using it at first but once I adapted I can't imagine ever going back.

 

[Kerry Pierce]

another IMO but I think AF on the D7100 was dumbed down to sell the D7200.....no other camera out 2 years ago had that focus stealing problem, and for me it was only when there was alot of moving parts. BIF, even against static trees, was fine, against a blue sky it was even better. There is no way the D300 should have still been better, 8 years latter. We got hosed but it's over now, well not really, i still own a D7100 and based on FS prices I may just keep it for non sports stuff

I haven't used the d7100 enough to have an opinion on the frequency of focus stealing vs other cams. My tests were designed to eliminate focus stealing as a possible issue. My tests were purely an AF tracking test and when the d7100 failed, it failed dramatically. Most of the time, the entire image was completely out of focus. Neither the d3s nor the d300 failed any of those tests.

Whether or not it's an intentional dumbing down, I can't say. It seems logical to me that the d7100 suffers from some of the same design issues that the d300 did. The AF module needs a bunch of supporting electronics and that stuff has to be fast enough to handle the most difficult subjects. The d300 AF isn't on the same level as the d3 or d3s, most likely because of the differences in the supporting electronics. I assume that the d7100 has the same issue, in that the AF module isn't properly supported by the rest of the AF package. Simply comparing it to other cameras of the same era leads me to that conclusion. It seems to me that it isn't quite as good as my d800, just as the d300 wasn't quite as good as the d3.

The d7200 seems to have addressed that issue, which is a darn good thing for the folks buying the d7200. Like you, I'm feeling a bit unhappy about it, but I got the d7100 for an exceptionally good price. That helps take the sting out of it. I don't know what I'll do with it or when I'll obtain a d7200. I'm in no hurry.

Kerry

 

[Retief]

On the D610 and the D7100, when the AE-L/AF-L is designated for focus it also activates VR.

But I'm like Bill, I resisted using it at first but once I adapted I can't imagine ever going back.

Excellent clarification Jim, and thinking back this annoyed me. I would much prefer to have the option to decouple the VR as well.

 

[Pa]

Excellent clarification Jim, and thinking back this annoyed me. I would much prefer to have the option to decouple the VR as well.

I have to confess that someone else here (Randy?) convinced me that was happening, as I hadn't noticed. Does it also happen on the D7200? Seems that if you could defeat it you would get marginally better battery life.

 

[Retief]

I have to confess that someone else here (Randy?) convinced me that was happening, as I hadn't noticed. Does it also happen on the D7200? Seems that if you could defeat it you would get marginally better battery life.

Better battery life AND you would not have to put up with that annoying "shift" you get in the view finder. Normally I am shooting well over 1/500th when hand held, so having VR off is a no brainer anyway, as long as I remember.

 

[Butlerkid]

Better battery life AND you would not have to put up with that annoying "shift" you get in the view finder. Normally I am shooting well over 1/500th when hand held, so having VR off is a no brainer anyway, as long as I remember.

That's what I do. VR always off 'cuz I focus on keeping the SS up. VR comes on only in situations where I can't get the SS high enough.

 

[Randy]

the d7200 is so small that IMO compared to an xt1 it may be the same size and lighter. I know the lenses are bigger for d

I have to confess that someone else here (Randy?) convinced me that was happening, as I hadn't noticed. Does it also happen on the D7200? Seems that if you could defeat it you would get marginally better battery life.

what was happening ?

 

[Pa]

what was happening ?

On the D610 and the D7100, when the AE-L/AF-L is designated for focus it also activates VR.

 

[Randy]

Not me, i never use afon