a longtime d7000 & d5100 user's thoughts

Hi to you all,

I have been a long time d7000 user and although I really love it's features I can say that I have never admired it's image quality..
When I first learned that d7000 is going to be published I analyzed its features and said this is it: it is perfectly what I want and happily purchased it.But in generally it let me down in terms of image quality.(Ive been following these forums since 2010 and tried to read every single thread about d7000 soft focus problems, user errors, backfocusing problems and shared some of my problems in these threads.
Mako helped me a lot (thank you Mako)  to solve some of my problems and Ive learned a lot from him)
I improved my holding sytle and focusing techniques and it truly effected the image quality but this was never a huge improvement indeed..and I always feeled the same thing: the image quality is not what it should be from such an expensive camera...

Then I purchased a 5100..After a few days of shooting, I surprised to see it's image quality although it is a cheaper and more lower camera...With less effort great great image quality..

In summary,I can say that, thru my experience, d7000 has better functions and features than 5100 but it's image quality is worser than 5100.. and the difference is big...
after my latest test, I have decided to sell my d7000 and upgrade to d600.
(Now I am trying to save money to afford it and I hope I can get it)
I hope I can feel its superiority when I first hold it in my hands like it happened with my d5100..
(I love my 5100 and will always keep it)
And I hope it won't let me down as it happened with my d7000.

below is my latest test:

2 photos; one belongs to d7000 and the other belongs to 5100.
both with the same nikkor 16-85 lens,
on the tripod
same f , same shutter , same iso
same distance to object, under same light
same picture control (standard-only sharpening is set to 5)
raw shootings (converted to jpeg in viewnx2 with no adjustments)
100% cropped views



d5100

d7000

Just wanted to share my feelings,
thank you

My thoughts:  I bought a D7000 (sold my D90 to fund it).  I got sharp beautiful images from it immediately, no soft pics, no "backfocus" issues.

I bought a D5100 the week it came out for its lighter weight for more handheld indoor shooting, knowing it had the D7000 sensor and was just as capable.  I found I had to set the cameras up a bit differently to get the results I wanted but both took great sharp pics.

I eventually sold the D7000 for more than I bought it for and kept the D5100.  And still love shooting with the D5100, what a great camera!

I've never thought of the D5100 as a "cheaper and lower" camera.  It is what it is.  Your two pics here show one of three things:  your D7000 was faulty and couldn't focus correctly (or your lens was faulty, who knows) or user error reared its ugly head again because there is no way in heck a "normal" D7000 takes a bad pic like your second image.

i agree, unless it was faulty or deliberate. the d7000 is far more of a photographers tool than the d5100 which, in my opinion is a dumbed down dslr. more of a large sensor point and shoot with changeable lenses. and yes, i have used both, plus the d90 and the earlier d100.

some people seem to rig comparisons like this to suit themselves. there is no way on earth i would rate the d5100 over the d90, let alone the d7000. unless, that is, i was just trying to stir up a futile debate.

if you cannot get good sharp pics with the d7000 then something is wrong with your technique/settings or possibly a faulty lens/body.

most d7000 complaints are down to trolling/user error. admittedly there were some faulty units out there but probably no more than any other camera body.

"i agree, unless it was faulty or deliberate. the d7000 is far more of a photographers tool than the d5100 which, in my opinion is a dumbed down dslr. more of a large sensor point and shoot with changeable lenses. and yes, i have used both, plus the d90 and the earlier d100.

some people seem to rig comparisons like this to suit themselves. there is no way on earth i would rate the d5100 over the d90, let alone the d7000. unless, that is, i was just trying to stir up a futile debate.

if you cannot get good sharp pics with the d7000 then something is wrong with your technique/settings or possibly a faulty lens/body.

most d7000 complaints are down to trolling/user error. admittedly there were some faulty units out there but probably no more than any other camera body."

Well, we agree, sort of.  Except your opinion of the D5100, which I think is completely off base.  I rate my D5100 far above my D90 for my type of shooting.  It probably doesn't weigh enough or have enough direct-input buttons and dials and whatnot for you, that's what clouds your judgement.

All cameras are 'photographers tools'. Silly statement.

The D7000 example is simply out of focus. Comparing both cameras using live view should show that. Why didn't you simply use the D7000's AF fine tune feature to fix the focus?

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My opinions are my own and not those of DPR or its administration. They carry no 'special' value (except to me and Lacie of course)

the d7000 has 100% viewfinder, more external controls for immediate adjustment. better feel, CLS built in motor, better weatherproofing, and far more robust build............not a silly statement.

Your image is simply way out of focus with the D7000, and also a little bit out of focus with the D5100.  What focus mode were you using with each camera?

Looking at the shutter speed.... Maybe mirror slap in the D5100 pic as well.

--
My opinions are my own and not those of DPR or its administration. They carry no 'special' value (except to me and Lacie of course)

focus-mode was set to af-s

Hi Mako, this d7000 is double checked by different services.

1.5 years ago I took my d7000 to Nikon authorized service and asked them to check my camera if a fine tune is needed or not and they said it is perfect, no af fine tune is needed.(this service did not ask for my lenses,just the camera itself)

then after aprox a year, to relieve myself , I took it to some other camera repair service and they checked it and confirmed that no af fine tune is needed.(this service checked my camera with the lenses I used.)

Ive just bought this magazine and below is directly from them:

nikon d7000 lab test results:
something of a surprise (or shock) in the resolution test that the d7000 delivers the worst scores of any cemara in the group.

nikon d5100 lab test results:
despite having the same 16.2 mp sesnor as the d7000, the d5100 delivers great resolution and almost keeps pace with the d3200...

I took the time to read your post and see that you took care to try to create the most fair and even test environment you could for this evaluation.  No matter what comes of this post, from what you state, you must have learned a great deal about photography from Mako and others given the time you've invested into extensive research and reading here (hopefully other resources too)... good for you!  No matter what you choose to do, hopefully you feel you've learned and are willing to continue to do so.

Obviously, your 7000 picture is well OOF (I too find the 5100 OOF.. in fact when I first saw it, I thought it was going to be the OOF example), but that said, could you perform very same test, using the very same environment, but manually focus with both cameras and present the results here again?  Or, simply take a shot with the 7000 in AF and then take another picture manually focused and post the pictures.

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D7000, D300s, D80, 18-200 VRII, Nikon 50mm 1.8 / 1.4,
Tamron 90mm, Nikon 80-200 2.8 AF-D,
Sigma 10-20mm - Sigma 17-50 2.8 - SB-800
50mm 1.8D
Gear up..... Get out there!!!

Have you tried a different lens? Both samples are soft. No....it's beyond soft. There's something amiss......

Thanks Tyym,

I will do another test with your method asap and share the results.

Good to see you out. Happy New Year BTW. Regardless of what the service center folks have said, the D7000 picture is out of focus. I've downloaded it and checked closely. A minor adjustment using the AF fine tune feature will make it very sharp. The D5100 photo is also soft but that's just a result of slow shutter speed combined with other normal factors. There is no requirement to use the fine tune settings, but not doing so has resulted in the problem you have with the D7000. Most likely the lens might be driving the need. Just because it focuses good on one body does not mean the lens is not part of the issue. If the service centers you used did not have the lens, they would not have been able to recommend AF fine tune. From your example, AF fine tune with that lens on your D7000 would have really really helped. Why not check?

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My opinions are my own and not those of DPR or its administration. They carry no 'special' value (except to me and Lacie of course)

Just make certain that the rules are the same for both cameras... SS, Aperture, ISO, WB... everything as much as possible.

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D7000, D300s, D80, 18-200 VRII, Nikon 50mm 1.8 / 1.4,
Tamron 90mm, Nikon 80-200 2.8 AF-D,
Sigma 10-20mm - Sigma 17-50 2.8 - SB-800
50mm 1.8D
Gear up..... Get out there!!!

Good tip from Tyym. You can also do a live view vs viewfinder focus comparison at shutter speeds higher than 1/200s to see what "in focus" should look like with both bodies.

--
My opinions are my own and not those of DPR or its administration. They carry no 'special' value (except to me and Lacie of course)

Yeah, I know, I owned one.  I sold it and kept my D5100 remember?

both pics are out of focus...there is something wrong with both your cameras, and\or lens, and\or technique...

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www.jardino.me