Well, I finally got my grubby hands on my new D7100 today, along with an MB-D15 and an 85mm f/1.8G.
The MB-D15 unfortunately seems to be faulty in that it shows a flat battery regardless of what I put in it - tried 4 different fresh EN-EL15s and a fresh set of AAs, otherwise it works OK for now. Guess it'll be an RMA sometime soon
The D7100 is a nicer fit in the hand than my D7000 and feels a little lighter. The rear LCD is a big improvement over the D7000 in both size and clarity. The viewfinder display overlay is a very clear white rather than the green of the D7000 and the viewfinder seems bigger and brighter. The top LCD is very similar, although the AF mode icons are a little different and the metering mode icons are a bit smaller.
The mode dial lock is a welcome addition (lost count of the number of times I've fired off a string of frames and in my excitement, overlooked the fact that the mode dial had slipped from A to M resulting in wildly under, or overexposed shots). The addition of one touch playback zoom via the OK button (a la Nikon full-frame style) is a great bonus too. The release mode dial has dropped the IR remote setting (now found in the menu), but it's no great loss.
It was dark when I got home and got to playing with it, but one thing's for sure - the AF system will find a target in near darkness where the D7000 is left hunting and it shifts all the glass around in my Sigma 500 prime a heck of a lot quicker than the D7000.
So far, so good. Looking forward to taking it out tomorrow for a proper play.
The only (minor) criticisms I have are regarding the control layout. Nikon has reversed the preview and function buttons on the front and reversed the zoom+/qual and zoom-/ISO buttons on the rear compared to the D7k. Handling both the D7k and D7100 side by side tonight, it's quite frustrating - maybe it's a ploy by Nikon to get dual D7k owners to upgrade to dual D7100s rather than keeping one D7k as a backup......
Additional updates to follow, hopefully with pictures.
gfinlayson wrote:
It was dark when I got home and got to playing with it, but one thing's for sure - the AF system will find a target in near darkness where the D7000 is left hunting and it shifts all the glass around in my Sigma 500 prime a heck of a lot quicker than the D7000.
Thanks for this insight. It's particularly useful for D700 (two zero's) owners considering the D600, but somewhat put off by the 39-pt AF which the D7k had... if only Nikon would have put the 51-pt AF in the D600, I'd likely have bought it by now.
I went out yesterday to try to get some shots, but ended up with everything motion blurred due to high winds. Today has been much the same - in fact it's been a very stormy day with everything from torrential rain to hail to sunshine with a fairly constant 35mph south westerly wind. I left the 500 at home and went out with my trusty 80-200 AF-S f/2.8 and a 1.4x TC. Lots of motion blurred shots again, despite my best efforts.....
I did, however, whilst standing the leeward side of a few trees catch a series of shots of three mute swans in flight as they passed overhead - the last one of the series is shown below uncropped. I've not done any AF testing on the D7100 yet to see whether there's any room for fine tuning, but what really surprised me was that even on the camera LCD, I could make out the code on the leg ring of the lead swan. The smaller photo below is a 300% crop of the original image - the swan's code 'K2B' is clearly legible. The detail that can be pulled out of the D7100 is simply staggering.
I'm really looking forward to taking some proper shots once the winds die down a little to see what it can really do.
Nikon_14 wrote:
Thanks for this insight. It's particularly useful for D700 (two zero's) owners considering the D600, but somewhat put off by the 39-pt AF which the D7k had... if only Nikon would have put the 51-pt AF in the D600, I'd likely have bought it by now.
Keep in mind that the D600 AF is sensitive down to f/8 and EV -2, just like the D7100, unlike the D7k which was only sensitive to f/5.6. The D600 AF is significantly better than the D7000.
binary visions wrote:
Keep in mind that the D600 AF is sensitive down to f/8 and EV -2, just like the D7100, unlike the D7k which was only sensitive to f/5.6. The D600 AF is significantly better than the D7000.
I'm interested in how the low-light AF compares to the D700 (TWO zero's), not the D7k (THREE zero's).
Used my D7100 with the 300 f4 and TC17 this morning. Still hunted for focus a lot but faster than the D300s. I expect considerably better AF performance with the 1.4x and 300/4 alone, which I look forward to testing and comparing to the d300s.
Nikon_14 wrote:
I'm interested in how the low-light AF compares to the D700 (TWO zero's), not the D7k (THREE zero's).
Looking at Nikon's specs, the D700 is rated to -1EV, where the D7100 is rated to -2EV, so in theory, the D7100 should still be able to focus after the D700 has given up.
binary visions wrote:
Keep in mind that the D600 AF is sensitive down to f/8 and EV -2, just like the D7100, unlike the D7k which was only sensitive to f/5.6. The D600 AF is significantly better than the D7000.
You're wrong. The D600 is not sensitive down to EV -2. It's sensitive down to EV -1.
Very excited as it's my first DSLR camera purchase for me since D70 in 2004! (I have been using my daughters D3100 however. - also own a lovely S90 from Canon.)
Next step is the 80-400 and I think my photo enthusiasm levels will be back to what they were a few years ago.
I just got my D7100 last week and haven't had a chance to take it for much of a test run. I did buy some super charged SD cards for it but still find an issue with the buffer filling up when shooting RAW.
Picked mine up last night. Steep learning curve ahead.
Experimented with the multi-exposure and it was flawless so there is some fun to be had with this. Also looking forward to taking my macro pics to another level thanks to Mup.
Slug69 wrote:
Picked mine up last night. Steep learning curve ahead.
Experimented with the multi-exposure and it was flawless so there is some fun to be had with this. Also looking forward to taking my macro pics to another level thanks to Mup.
gfinlayson wrote:
Thanks for this insight. It's particularly useful for D700 (two zero's) owners considering the D600, but somewhat put off by the 39-pt AF which the D7k had... if only Nikon would have put the 51-pt AF in the D600, I'd likely have bought it by now.
Actually the D600 AF is exceptionally good.
It will lock on in low light much better than the D7100.
What I don't like is the tight groove in the grip pinches my fat fingers.
I find the D7100 more comfortable to use than a D7000 or D600.
It is best for longer shots where the APC sensor is most advantageous.
I also have a D800 and would trade the D7100 + D600 for a D800e.
Ok the AF is really good in low light, very good. I snapped people on a mechanical bull in really poor light at high ISO's and it worked like a champ using the 35G.
