Have a D80, going to upgrade, a few questions about lenses

drmonstereater

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Hello. I have a Nikon D80 right now and while I love it to death it's been overdue for an upgrade. It's low lighting is laughable, it's focus is slow and SOMETIMES indecisive, and I've been wanting to dabble with video. I was thinking the D7100 (it's successor, well, distant offspring more appropriately) but I had a few questions first.

My Current Arsenal is Transferable, yes? Will I have any new lens options?

This is more of a double check because I've heard that the D7100 is a crop frame and thus uses DX lenses. On other words, the D80 and D7100 use the same lenses. I have a Tokina 11-16 DX, A classic AF-S Nikon 35MM 1.8G DX, and a shoddy tamron 3.5 28-80 (I call it shoddy because it has a soft focus with irks almost everytime I use it.) These will all transfer, yes? Also, I won't open myself up to any new toys (besides innate features and microphones, of course) by getting a D7100, right?

This should be an appropriate card for video and successive snaps, correct? : http://www.amazon.com/PNY-64GB-Elit...TF8&qid=1407183651&sr=8-5&keywords=64+sd+card

Macro Lenses, safe iso range for macro shots, which one of these dudes? (suggestions welcome)

Amazon.com : Nikon 60mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Micro-Nikkor Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras : Camera Lenses : Camera & Photo 18.5 CM min foc

Amazon.com : Nikon 85mm f/3.5G AF-S DX ED VR Micro Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras : Camera Lenses : Camera & Photo 28 CM min foc

These are the two beauties I've been eyeing as of late. I understand the general tradeoff between them: One gives you more zoom with a higher aperture an' t' other gives you less zoom but with a lower aperture. However, I a have a few detail questions regarding them. Also if there is another contender, (my price cap is about $600 for the lens) feel free to suggest it.

Min focal distance and DoF

Their differing apertures say nothing about the DoF each one is capable of, right?

When they say min focal distance, are they talking about object to sensor or object to lens? Also, the min focal distance is almost 10cm (about 4 inches) farther on the 80. How would this affect the net magnification?
SAFE ISO RANGE FOR MACRO

Apparently the the high iso on the 7100 is supposed to be one of the best on the market (at least for crop frames) but everything has a cutoff point. At what level would the ISO start to detrimentally effect macro-photography as it requires some pretty intensive detail it order to be done well. This is the main reason I'm considering the 60 over the 80 is because the lower f-stop means I can have a higher shutter, less noise, and theoretically more details.


WHAT DOES ANTI-SHAKE MEAN? HOW MUCH DOES IT HELP?

The 80 has it and the 60 doesn't and I wanna know what it does and if it really makes a difference.

Is this upgrade really necessary?

This is a question I ask myself everytime before I get a new computer, phone, camera, brand of cream cheese, ect. and I want your feedback on it. I've been able to pull some pretty choice shots from this D80 over the years (shameless plug here: Theoneyedkitten's deviantART Gallery) and want to know what this D7100 is really going to afford me. How will it affect my process and how much "better" is my stuff gonna look? I've always felt location, circumstance, and skill factor into a photographs and from what I can see the only thing the D7100 is gonna give me is a greater set of circumstances in which I can take a good shot. So the question becomes, how many new circumstances am I going to be able to take advantage of with a D7100? Your input is greatly appreciated.
 
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All the lenses you now have for your D80 will work great on the D7100 - they are both 'DX' cameras.

The 85mm micro will allow the same 'magnification' from farther away.

I suspect the 'anti-shake' feature as you call it is what Nikon calls 'VR' (vibration reduction) and helps reduce the affect of hand movement at lower shutter speeds with stationary subjects. Claims range in the 2 or 3 stop improvement.

I can't comment on any video question, I know diddly squat about that.
 
If on a budget, check on a used deal for a D7000 or D7100 with keh.com or adorama.com. You'll get a warranty. Consider a D300 also.
 
The D7100 offers a hell of a lot better image quality than the D80. It is a major update in sensor technology, and has video, and a significantly larger, higher-resolution image, and that D80 overly-AF-spot-in-use-influenced light metering is gone. The D7100 uses the best sensor available in any APS-C body.

The minimum focus distance on the two macro lenses is different because each magnifies to 1:1 or life-size, and the focal length difference means the longer lens gets you to a life-sized image from farther away from the subject than the 60mm requires. So, no worries, it's just that the longer a macro lens, the close you must be in order to achieve a specific magnification ratio. As Patrice mentioned all of your current lenses will migrate forward.

HONESTLY, I would not buy either of the macro lenses you were looking at, I'd buy this Tokina 100mm f/2.8 ATX macro Tokina 100mm f/2.8 AT-X M100 AF Pro D Macro ATXAFM100PRON B&H

I think the D7100 is about three stops better on ISO than the D80, maybe a bit more.
 
What he said about the Tokina over the Nikkor 85mm f3.5, ^^
 
1st of all let me say that you will love it and will wonder how you have done without it. So I hoping this helps answer the "Is this upgrade really necessary?" I'm still clinging to my D7000 but will probably upgrade when the D7200 comes out or maybe not, just depends. The neat thing about DX is that all DX lenses will work with it and so will all FX lenses. A lens I have and think highly of is the 16-85 3.5-5.6 Nikkor. I have compared it to my 35mm f1.8 and it holds up well. The 85mm DX micro will only work on a DX body and doesn't have the IQ of the Tokina 100mm macro and the Tokina is a FX lens to boot. I see that you don't have a medium tele zoom. The 55-200 f4-5.6 for around $250 is excellent. Don't let the plastic mount and kit price fool you, the IQ is first rate. If you want more reach, faster focus, and better build quality look at the 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 and this is a FX lens too. All in all I don't think you will be sorry for upgrading to the D7100
 
Upgrading wouldn't cause any issues at all since they are both crop sensors.
 
First in regards to the macro lenses, I own the Nikon 60mm 2.8G and I love, love, love it!
The good part is that its an FX lens so if and when I want to move to an FX camera I can carry my lens with me.
It is super sharp and I love this 60mm range, to me its perfect because I can use it for general use and its a fantastic portrait lens as well.
Well thats my experience with it, the lens Derrel recommended is probably very good too and will give you the advantage of keeping a bit of more distance from the subject you are shooting and in case of a bug its a plus, still I shot plenty of bugs with my 60mm and to me its just perfect.

As for the D7100, I own it and enjoy it a lot, you will find that its a huge upgrade from the D80, its one of the best crop sensor camera for sale at the moment and maybe even the best. With the proper lenses this camera can procude extremly sharp pictures.
 

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