Nikon D7100 announcement?

Dunno.  It's hard to say what they will do these days.  They put the 39pt AF in the d5200, so it wouldn't be much of a stretch to see the d7100 have the 59pt AF, especially if they use the same sensor.

Yes, in the early years, the sensor was deployed in the more expensive camera first. But, that changed with the d7000, when it got the 16mp sensor and the d300s didn't. The d300s was deployed about a year earlier, so maybe the sensor wasn't ready by then, but it was a big change, never the less. Now we're looking at the 2nd iteration of the d7000, subsequent to the d300s, with no rumors of the d400 in sight. So, maybe they've decided not to replace the d400.  Maybe the d400 is perceived as a threat to the d600.  Dunno.  But, if they aren't going to replace the d300s, they need to put high FPS and 51pt AF in the d7100.

I agree with you on the d7100 sensor. It should be a better sensor than the Toshiba in the d5200. That would likely mean fewer MPs, better noise performance, higher speeds, but maybe not.  These days, it's easier to predict the winning lottery numbers, than predict what Nikon will do.

One thing for sure, a lot of people will be interested in the specifications of the new camera.

Kerry

--
my gallery of so-so photos
http://www.pbase.com/kerrypierce/root