Nikon D7100 or D7200?

[bkullman]

That is my question. I see the Nikon D7200 will be coming out in April. I can go and put a deposit down now at the camera store closest to me.....or do I buy my sister's used D7100? I currently have a D3100, so I am sure either one would be an upgrade. I mostly take photo's of my kids hockey games in arenas.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Brandi

 

[jaomul]

Do you need high frames per second in raw? If not the d7100 is more than enough

 

[Derrel]

The main D7200 advantage that I see immediately is the 27 frame RAW buffer that the new model offers; other than the buffer upgrade, the two cameras seem mostly identical in basic shooting features. The D7200 does offer WiFi built-in, as well as NFC or Near Field Communication, so it would make the D7200 capable of communicating directly with a smartphone that has NFC.

My guess is that the D7100's buffer will be adequate MOST of the time for youth hockey, but I would look mostly at the buffer issues as being what separates those two cameras for shooting action-type stuff. Buffer limits are actually one of the very few real "limits" many people encounter when they shoot sequential action. There are times when a person wants to be able to just keep on shooting and shooting, and those are the times when the deeper the buffer is, the better. The D7200 has addressed the buffer issue, which was, basically, the only real, significant D7100 complaint for most users who shoot action-type stuff and who also want to shoot in RAW capture mode.

 

[goodguy]

Hi Brandi

The main advanatges of the D7200 over the D7100 are

Much bigger buffer
It is 30% faster because of the new Expeed 4 processor
Better AF system
Has a much higher native ISO
Will probably have slightly cleaner images at higher ISO
WiFi

Few more things which I probably forgot

D7200 is the next evolution in Nikon's top DX line, it is better then the D7100 but the question if its worth the price difference is very personaly
So how much better is it really ?

Image quality on the D7100 is already outstanding, the one on the D7200 might be better but I doubt it will really matter for 99% of the users
Low light performance will be better, how much better I dont know but I doubt it will be a huge improvement as the low light performance of the D7100 are already good.
The main place the D7200 is much better then the D7100 is its buffer size, this matters only if you do lots of sports shooting and use burst mode.
The D7200 buffer can take 18 RAW shots while the D7100 can only take 6 RAW shots and thats a big improvement, if you dont do this type of photography then it will not really matter.
The better AF is nice but the one on the D7100 is already superb and I doubt this improvement will really be a big deal.

So I personally dont like to buy old technology but thats me, getting the D7100 is by no means a mistake, its a fantastic camera but its yesterday camera, if its ok with you, you want to save the money and dont do lots of sports/nature shooting then the D7100 is still a very valid option.

 

[IronMaskDuval]

Depends. Are you a gear nut like most everyone here on TPF? If not, the D7100 will do you just fine, especially if you use your camera for stills. I have both the D7100 and D7000, and to be honest, I should have just bought the D7000 between this series of cameras. I do not shoot video, and they both take excellent photos when paired with excellent optics. When comparing specs, we're usually comparing gimmicks anyway, minus high ISO performance.

I was about to go out and buy a 610, but good guy has made me envious of his 750. I think this may be a hurt in the sausage ego department, but I have shot with both, and the IQ between the two isn't discernible to your audience. And let's face it, we shoot so that others can see our memories. I know good guy use to shoot the D7100. His Flickr has improved with photos from his 750, but to be honest, it's because he's become a MUCH MUCH better photographer since he got that thing.

It's not the camera. It's you. You just have to decide which gimmicks you want to pay for and how much you're willing to dish out.

I say go with the D7100.

 

[Solarflare]

Seriously, the D7000 was already a truely great all around camera, a good upgrade to the already very good D90, and still would be a great choice for a camera. The D7100 and D7200 had various upgrades, but overall I get the feeling Nikon ever since really struggles to add anything important to that camera.

I think the most important was WiFi in the D7200 which IMHO truely is a nobrainer feature today, and adds the possibility of backup and remote control, though I dont know how well Nikon really supports these.

Also, they for example added more sports features. The D7100 got the top of the line Autofocus, the D7200 got more buffer - so maybe the D7300 will also finally get the 10+ fps people want from a sports camera ?

 

[goodguy]

maybe the D7300 will also finally get the 10+ fps people want from a sports camera ?

Somehow I doubt that, I have a feeling turning the next camera to a blazing fast sports camera will make it so expensive that very few people will buy it.
The magic of the D7000, D7100 and now D7200 is in the very good and balanced overall package they offer for the price.
These cameras are just like the D750 general use cameras, they are not especially good in anything but they are very good in almost everything.
This upgrade to the D7200 simply turned this camera to an even more rounded, balanced and capable camera.

I bet as a pure sports camera the 7D II is better but at everything else like IQ, low light performance and more the D7200 will have the edge all for 2/3 of the 7D II price.

 

[LostLensCap]

I'm still using my D7000 but with the improved buffer and AF, I may pull the trigger on a D7200.

 

[raventepes]

My question would be what are your lenses? Hockey arenas are dark places for photography, so if your lenses are up to it with your current camera, I say get the D7100. If you feel that your photos could be a tad brighter or even a bit sharper, I'd say go for the D7200 purely on high ISO capabilities and faster AF.

As a guy who shoots regularly with a D7100, I can tell you that (FOR ME) there isn't any reason to rush out and buy a D7200. The buffer never bothered me and you can get clean photos if you have the right gear for what you're shooting. I haven't had a chance to make it to a hockey game since I got it though, which is a shame, but that's only because I have a 1 year old and my wife and I have issues finding sitters on Friday's. We'll be going this year, but even then, I don't expect to run into any issues, even bringing my 70-300 VR II with me to go long. If I need more light, I'll come better prepared the next time around.