Nikon D7100, Canon 70D or even Nikon D5100?

[GertjanGoetynck]

Hey all!

Over the months you may see alot of posts from me on my search for my first SLR camera, with this being the first one.

I am basically looking for a camera that is suited to take on backpacking trips, that's the short version.

The long version is: I am looking for a camera between the 1000 - 1200 range that is very well suited for landscape photography, but that can also be used for capturing wildlife I may encounter during treks.

I would also love my camera being capeable of taking good pictures of stars, the moon, the milky way, ... . Basically the night sky in general

The choice is mainly between the Nikon D7100 and Canon 70D at the moment.

For my untrained eye, they seem to be pretty much equal performance wise during the daytime but I seem to be noticing a pretty huge difference when it comes to nighttime photography...

I can't seem to find a lot of star / milky way pictures made with the D7100, this tutorial (David Kingham Photography | Nikon D7100 - Cropped Sensor for Night Photography?) is one of the few I found.

I did find plenty of nighttime pictures made with the 70D however, and they just seem to be alot higher quality and sharper. I find it an unfair comparison at the moment since I simply find less material made with the D7100, but it does make me wonder. I keep finding pictures like Freak Storm | Flickr - Photo Sharing!, Lions Island at Night. Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 + Canon 70d | Flickr - Photo Sharing! and Milky Way. Canon 70d + Sigma 18-35 1.8 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! on the internet and they just seem to blow the Nikon D7100 out of the water when it comes to night photography. Is this really the case, is the 70D much better than the 7100 when it comes to star and milky way pictures? Or is it just a case of people using wrong settings, different quality lenses, ... ?

I am really torn between buying the D70 or D7100 at the moment.. I just feel like when it comes to nighttime pictures there isn't a big enough pool of pictures to compare the two, can anyone shed some light on this for me?

I will be using this camera for landscape, some occasional wildlife and night photography mostly. The two cameras seem to be tied to me when it comes to landscape and wildlife, so this night photography really may be the deal breaker to me.

The Nikon D7100 attracts me a bit more because of the apparent bigger pool of compatible lenses, but if it really can't take the same quality night pictures as the D70 this sort of becomes a void benefit..

Thanks in advance!

 

[Juga]

Flip a coin!

 

[robbins.photo]

I doubt the camera will really make much difference in that particular situation, I think it will be a lot more up to the photographer and the technique being used.

 

[Tailgunner]

I'm able to take some really decent photos with my D7100 but I'm sure one of our more seasoned professional photogs could take a truly great picture with the same camera. The difference? Experience and better techniques. My point? You can't go wrong with either camera, their both very capable of producing excellent night time photos. It's up to you to learn how to convey what you want to your camera equipment. That is a lesson I'm still working on my self.

 

[KmH]

Please do not cross post in multiple forums.