Nikon claims the weather sealing is equivalent to the sealing in the D800. The external materials of the body might feel a little cheaper but I don't think the weather sealing is a problem.
There is no question (IMO, anyway), that the D7100 has better IQ in every way than the D300. I loved my D300, that's not a knock on it, it's just that sensor technology gets better every year. The main things I miss about the D300:
- I liked the metal brick of a body. Although the more long hikes I take the D7100 on, the less I miss it
- Metering mode is not shown in the viewfinder. This means you can't change metering without taking your eye off your subject - this drives me bananas. Absolutely bananas.
- I found it easier to change ISO when the button was not on the back of the camera.
None of those things change the improvements to AF/IQ/features on the D7100, though. And frankly the instant-switch U1/U2 modes are a revelation.
If you do have budgetary concerns and the mythical D400/D9300 does some out to compete wit the 7DM2, expect it to command a high price tag, around $1,700-2300. They'll target it as a pro spec DX camera no doubt, which will also put it way out of the price range of a D7000/7100.
The 7000 is selling for around $500 used while the 7100 seems to be going for around $800 used now.
One reason to wait is for the holiday sales. This assumes you aren't going to lose business by waiting. Plus Photokina will have passed by then which may bring some surprises.
cencored wrote:
So high contrast is always an issue and my biggest concern while shooting is checking the histogram or blinkies to work out my exposure for blow outs/block ups and if i need to bracket etc. Having more DR would be huge!
Remember that the blown highight blinkie thing is showing what jpg sees. With NEF you will get about one more stop. The D7100 does have more DR. As a bonus, the AF will focus just by moonlight with a fast lens.
I seem to be able to pick up a D7100 used for about $700 here which is very good I think.
And I am convinced it will be a worthwhile enhancement to my way of shooting.
What does U1, U2 do? Programmable set of settings?
One more thing I am pondering about is if I shouldn't wait another month and a bit to see what Photokina brings (perhaps a D7200??)...
TMaG82 wrote:
If you do have budgetary concerns and the mythical D400/D9300 does some out to compete wit the 7DM2, expect it to command a high price tag, around $1,700-2300. They'll target it as a pro spec DX camera no doubt, which will also put it way out of the price range of a D7000/7100.
The 7000 is selling for around $500 used while the 7100 seems to be going for around $800 used now.
That is a good point. It would be cost-prohibitive at the moment anyway.
I posted this on another thread, but you should see this, from the Nikon USA site:
"Rugged and protected
With a top and rear cover of durable magnesium alloy, the D7000 is ready for the outdoors. Nikon engineers paid meticulous attention to where exterior parts join by employing durable sealing against moisture and dust. The compact body has also undergone severe environmental tests to prove its rugged reliability."
This also applies to the D7100, of course.
I was making posters shooting with the D300 and I started using "perfect resize" from Onone software and the images came out great. You can use that if you decide to wait for a replacement. I too sold my D300 for a D7100 and am very happy with the upgrade. I don't see any issues with the build quality of the D7100 at all. Still a sturdy camera.
cencored wrote:
You definitely peeked my interest. As I mentioned 95% of my work is landscapes esp dawn/dusk. So high contrast is always an issue and my biggest concern while shooting is checking the histogram or blinkies to work out my exposure for blow outs/block ups and if i need to bracket etc. Having more DR would be huge!
Not only D300 had a very brittle DR but generally bad colors, D7K improved on both and D7.1 even better.
Here a couple of my shots, all single exposures.
If your reason for not going FX is wallet size, why not get a D600? The obvious DX upgrade path is the D7100, which is roughly the same price as a second hand or refurbished D600. Plenty of barely used D600's out there.
You also might want to wait a few weeks until Photokina, just on the off chance the rumored camera happens to be DX.
If the restriction is more on the lens side of things, just wait until Photokina, if no new DX camera is announced, pick up a D7100. Easy.
I was in the same boat a couple of years ago and was looking for an upgrade to my D300. Loved the camera but wanted more resolution for what I shoot. I ended up getting the D7100 which is a great camera. The biggest difference for me when going to the D7100 was the size of the body. The D300 was a perfect fit for me so the D7100 being smaller is not as comfortable to hold. The AF is fast and the iq has been great. As far as the smaller buffer I was frustrated in the beginning when shooting RAW as the buffer filled quickly but after switching to the Sandisk Exteme Pro cards it hasn't been as much of an issue. Lastly, I do miss the 10 pin connector on the D300 and juts did not have much luck with the wireless remotes for the D7100 so I ended up buying some cable relases from ebay and they have worked great. Here is the ebay link:
Overall I would buy the D7100 again and think it is an improvement over the D300. However if the D400 ever shows up in my lifetime I would be all over it
I'm a former D300 shooter and briefly had the D7100 before trading it for a deeply discounted D600. I regretted that trade, sold the D600 and now am looking to add the D7100 again (I'm shooting Fuji primarily now, but have an old D200 I recently acquired cheaply to cover me until I get the D7100). The D7100 is a great camera for most uses, it won't take the beating the D300 will, but should stand up to a similar amount of splashes (actually possibly more, as it has better battery-compartment sealing, the D300's weak spot with water is the leaky battery compartment door) and it doesn't have quite the buffer depth to do serious action shooting.
Nikon only supports 10-pin accessories today on the D4 and D8x0 series.
Oh, and while the D7000 is a very nice body, you'll find the AF in particular significantly inferior to the D300, the D7100 gets a newer version of the D300's AF system and does much better.
That said, if you can wait a month, do so. There's some indications we might see something interesting for photokina. The rumours of the new 24MP 'Action' camera make a LOT more sense for a DX body than an FX body given suggested specs and price.
CanadaMark wrote:
If your reason for not going FX is wallet size, why not get a D600? The obvious DX upgrade path is the D7100, which is roughly the same price as a second hand or refurbished D600. Plenty of barely used D600's out there.
As a former owner of the D600 and D300, coming from the latter to the former is a major letdown in all regards except IQ. I found the D7100 to D600 transition a letdown and frankly should have kept my D7100.
Thank you for all the input. Some very good points are made here.
@Tjny: Those shots are amazing. I cannot believe the 2nd one is one exposure. That would not be possible with a D300!
I'm almost sold!
However I will wait until after Photokina and make a decision once I know that there is no newer model or even a mysterious D400 around the corner. If there is not much new, I'll hit the store at the end of Sept/early Oct!
Any more shots showing off incredible DR landscapes with the D71k?
Well I thought I'd update this old thread of mine, now that we are a few months after photokina and still no sign of a D400
Have your recommendations changed when it comes to a cropped frame camera? Is the D7100 still the best bang for buck? Should I wait til Feb to see if a D7200 is getting released?
Here's what I've did:
I bought a D810 that is mostly used in FX mode, but that clicks happily along with 15MP in DX mode too. Buffer is much deeper than the D300 and frame rates are 5-7. It's two or three cameras in one. Still, I keep my D300 (and the D2Xs) for sports and action when high ISO isn't needed, since they are excellent workhorses and it doesn't matter if they get banged around a bit.
cencored wrote:
Yeah, well it was a brief submersion that briefly made it stop working but then recovered. Otherwise it was mainly splashes, but proper ones.
I presume the D7100 doesn't have the same sort of weather sealing as the D300 does?
Also in your opinion is Nikon still planinng a D300 replacement (personally I have given up hope) so that I better wait some more?
D300 sealing is bad. Mine died shooting a bike race for 4 hours, out in a consistent heavy downpour. My D7000 survived. You will be fine either with a D7000 or D7100.
