Will I even notice quality differences?

[Wildcats160]

I have been shooting a Nikon D40 since 2006. I have shot intermittently in that time and only became more serious in the last few months. I've noticed that low-light capabilities leave something to be desired and I'm missing in-body auto-focus capabilities as I amass lenses. I'm looking to upgrade to technology at least from this decade. I have been looking at D7000s and they seem lightyears ahead of my old D40. The problem is, I get caught up in the numbers and can't help but think I should keep saving until I can buy either a higher-end DX camera like a D7200, or a lower-end FX camera like a used D700 or D600/610.

I guess my question is this: the D7000 is quite a few steps ahead of the D40. Should I wait and make the bigger jump to a much better camera, or will I be so taken aback by the increased abilities of the D7000 over my camera that I won't even notice what I'm missing in the 7200/600/610?

I like to shoot portraits, wildlife, and landscapes, but I'd like to branch out further in the future. Budget-wise, I'm somewhat limited since we're a single-income family at the moment.

 

[Dave442]

I would look for a used D7100. I think there are some very good prices on that and it has a few updates over the D7000. The D7000 is a good option if you really want to get closer to current camera specs at a really good price.

If you have a number of DX lenses then going to FX would also involve an investment in additional glass and the D700 and D600/610 are generally above the D7100 in price.

 

[Solarflare]

The D7100 is very affordable refurbished. The D7200 isnt that much better than the D7100 except for the substantly bigger buffer and some other minor improvements. Of course the ideal Nikon camera for wildlife right now is the D500, which would finally also add the fps the D7x00 lacks, but you might have issues getting one any time soon, since they are apparently in very high demand.

Full frame has advantages in certain fields, namely lowlight and portraits, and not as good in others, namely macro and wildlife, when smaller pixels are always better because it gives you more magnification with macro and more range with wildlife. I would include landscape in the list of fields that benefit from full frame because the overall image quality will increase and the resultion might as well (36 Megapixel D800/D800E/D810 vs 24 Megapixel for current Nikon DX).

 

[robbins.photo]

I shoot the 7100, and it really is a fantastic camera. Well worth the investment and a huge step up from a d40.

Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk

 

[jaomul]

No matter what you buy, there will probably always be something more expensive and better.

How good do you need it is down to you, but if you were any way happy with the d40 but need a few improvements, the d7100 will deliver in spades

 

[Wildcats160]

Is the 7100 that much better than the 7000? I see an average $200-$300 difference amongst used bodies. Since my collection of lenses is still growing, would I be better served by buying a 7000 and putting the price difference toward a lens upgrade? I always hear that increases in photo quality come faster with better glass compared to a better body.

 

[jaomul]

Is the 7100 that much better than the 7000? I see an average $200-$300 difference amongst used bodies. Since my collection of lenses is still growing, would I be better served by buying a 7000 and putting the price difference toward a lens upgrade? I always hear that increases in photo quality come faster with better glass compared to a better body.

The difference is there but not huge. Having said that the d7100 will allow more cropping and is more capable. A d7000 second hand could in theory be 6 yrs old, I'd advise the newer model if possible

 

[MSnowy]

I have an d7100 it's an ok camera definitely a nice upgrade from the d40

 

[robbins.photo]

Is the 7100 that much better than the 7000? I see an average $200-$300 difference amongst used bodies. Since my collection of lenses is still growing, would I be better served by buying a 7000 and putting the price difference toward a lens upgrade? I always hear that increases in photo quality come faster with better glass compared to a better body.

A lot depends on what sort of pictures you take, if you do much telephoto work at all I think the 7100 would be well worth the price difference. The 24mp sensor gives you a lot more to work with when cropping a photo.

 

[Derrel]

The D7100 is a significant upgrade from the D7000, in multiple ways. Better AF system, 50% more pixels, just a better camera.

 

[Braineack]

a D600/610 would absolutely blow your mind away against your old D40 -- quality wise; feature wise, the same.

I wouldn't consider a D7000 or D700 -- D7100/7200 or D600/610 in the least.

 

[Wildcats160]

Thanks, guys. I think I'll pinch my pennies and see what happens in the used 7100/7200 market as DX users decide they just have to have the D500.

 

[robbins.photo]

Thanks, guys. I think I'll pinch my pennies and see what happens in the used 7100/7200 market as DX users decide they just have to have the D500.

I never shot the 7000 so I can't personally speak to it. I upgraded to the 7100 from the D5200 - but even that was a pretty significant upgrade. Never regretted going with the 7100. On paper the differences between the D5200 and the D7100 don't seem like that much really, but boy when it comes to shooting and ease of use the differences are really quite remarkable. It's not so much one thing that really makes such a big difference, it's actually a combination lot of little things.

 

[Woodsman]

I just upgraded from a D50 to a D7200 and I thought a long time about it before pulling the trigger. I was getting good images with the D50 but I had reached a point where I wanted a few options that were not there with the D50. I was looking for better high ISO performance with faster shutter speeds and large fast continuous shooting buffer. I like to shoot birds and local wildlife. I did splurge for the 18-140 and 70-300 newer Nikkor lenses with in lens VR but that said rarely use the VR and I do shoot a lot handheld. The ISO performance lets me do handheld at decent shutter speed in most situations without the need to turn on the VR. I have been blown away by the D7200 speed of focus as well by comparison to the D50. I am happy I did the upgrade, long over do.

 

[fmw]

If it helps, I got one of these in last week. No warranty but the price is certainly right and it came brand new. You won't have a warranty with a used body either.