D7100 thoughts from a D800E user who didn't like the D7000 too much

The subject line tells it all. I shoot a D800E as a primary body, but was looking for a smaller backup that used the same battery whose image quality would be pretty good, even if I knew it wouldn't be what the 800E (or 600) was. So I picked up a D7100 for evaluation.

I haven't been around this forum for a while, and probably wasn't really welcome back in the proverbial day, because I was openly critical regarding the much loved D7000. In short, after extensive testing and experience with a LOT of Nikon DSLRS over the years, I found it (the D7000) to be lacking in three areas: skin tone performance, color discrimination in landscape, and most definitely AF accuracy/consistency under studio modelling lights. I can't lie - the day I sold the 7000 was a happy day and I never missed it. Didn't think much of it at all, although I could absolutely understand why a landscape shooter would like it. I've owned D100, D70, D80, D90, D2X, D300, and D7000 bodies and currently own the D800E (my primary body), the D700 and now the D7100. I'm also familiar with the Canon's (5D, 5Dii, 5Diii, 7D) and some of the micro 4/3 stuff. I've been around the block a while.

Cutting to the chase, I'm impressed with the D7100. Nice camera that is damned sharp. In general, after some evaluation period as a second camera on a recent studio shoot behind my D800E, I'm happy to report the following:

Skin tones: No problems. Gone are the slightly insipid, sometimes lifeless skin tones from the D7000. The 7100 is in another league here.

Color discrimination: Early snaps of landscape type scenes also indicate improvements over the D7000 in this area.

AF accuracy under studio modelling lamps: Definitely better than the D7000 (vastly so), but at the same time, it's not my D700 or my D800E when it comes to AF performance. This doesn't mean the D7100 is bad, just that those two FX bodies do it a bit better. Someone else will have to do off-center point and different light condition testing - I don't currently have the time.

Responsiveness: Probably the one thing that some folks aren't going to like. While I do think the image quality of the D7100 kills something like the Canon 7D, something like the Canon 7D is a more responsive camera, with much quicker first-acquisition AF and just feels more "snappy" in general use. It's not bad by any means, but it's a bit more laggardly than my 800E for sure, or my 700. However, while this area is not a strength of the D7100, it's also not a deal killer for me - it's in the "good enough" category. However, I do believe it opens the door / leaves some room for Nikon to do a proper D400 DX body.

Sharpness: Holy COW !!. Mount a good lens on this (28/1.8G, Sigma 35/1.4, Nikon 85/1.8G, to name 3 that won't break the bank) and you'll be impressed. Having shot the D800E for about a year now, I have a preference for cameras with negated (or missing) AA filters. Acutance in particular is serious on this body. Many folks will have to relearn how they sharpen. Very nice. I'll be curious how the DX birders (like Jim P) do with this body. I imagine they will be very happy.

Dynamic Range/File Quality: Yea, the D7000 could probably pull shadows a bit cleaner than this guy, although it's not bad, and no, sorry guys, the D7100 is nowhere in the league of a D800E or D600 if you have to abuse your files in post with heavy shadow lifting. Expose the D7100 file properly, and it's a very nice, top quality file, but it doesn't have quite the "magic" of a D800E file, nor probably that of a D600 file (I've shot but do not own a 600). There still is something, a better sense of dimension (3D) and perhaps microcontrat that I only get from FX models like the 800E that the D7100 doesn't quite achieve, but at the same time, this is a LOT less expensive, This shouldn't be taken as a strong negative, but more a sense of reality. We must learn to think in terms of more granular, realistic differences in image quality versus "this is great, the other is horrible" binary thinking that we often do in forums. I picked up a D7100 for use as a potential small sized backup camera after not being impressed with the 5200 too much, yet I'm finding that while it's not the 800E (which is realistic) or quite to where the 600 sits, it's a LOT closer than I ever expected, and if my 800E went down, I could absolutely do well with the 7100, something I could never say about the 7000 I used to own. I hope people here take that correctly and don't get emotional and think I'm slamming DX in general or this body - the reality, at least for me, is that FX does offer some tangible image quality benefits at the top of the line for a skilled/advanced user, but at the same time, this DX body gets a lot closer to that level of image quality than prior DX bodies have, and that is a great thing, particularly given the cost differences. I'm an admitted FX "snob" if you want to call me that, but this is one DX body I won't mind using at all, which hopefully says something about what I think of the 7100.

I haven't run any high ISO tests, nor have I run a lot of "left sensor" type of tests. Others will have to chime in on those sorts of things.

Overall, color me impressed. I didn't like the D7000 - at all - but the 7100? Yea, I'm keeping this one.

If QC is good on this body and we don't have the problems Nikon has been having lately, this is a home run. I fully expect the folks who prefer to shoot DX (for budget, reach, or any other reason) are going to be VERY happy with this body. It's not perfect - no camera really is - but it offers a really nice file at low ISO that IMO is the best of all non-FX bodies from any brand, with a ton of sharpness (if ones lens and technique is good), and while none of these bodies are cheap, it's reasonably affordable. Nice job. Hopefully if the weather improves I'll get to do some more outdoor testing at some point, although this is busy season for me on all fronts, so I won't be playing lens or body tester that much for a while.

-m

edit: Someone is going to ask about moire. Yup, you might get it from time to time. Put something stupid sharp on this body (the Sigma 35/1.4 for example), and I might get some color moire on fine mesh fabrics. Not enough to be a deal breaker, and honestly you'd get some with these types of fabrics with a 700, 7000, or certainly either 800, but you will have to keep an eye open for it. Not a deal killer for me; I'll take the advantages of no AA filter and deal with a bit of moire here and there all day and any day.

edit #2: One bummer - didn't see an obvious way to lock shutter speed. I use that a lot with my other bodies in the studio.