*isteve
Veteran Member
How about a positive thread for once.
This thread does not intend to slam anyone elses camera or choice of camera, its jusy a very personal review of why the D7i was right for ME and why I am not regretting buying it...and why reports of its poor quality are somewhat absurd and why I think the Highly Recommended ranking is fair.
My choices included all current 5mp prosumers
E20, F707, CP5000, Dimage 7i.
I liked them all for one reason or another. Anyone who buys any of them can expect decent performance and nice pictures. Its all subjective anyway in that respect.
I rated them on the following criteria (again subjectively, please dont take offence)
----------PICTURE QUALITY------------
I used a combination of Colour Rendition, Resolution, Chromatic Aberation, Noise, Dynamic Range and Lens distortion.
Colour rendition: Liked D7i and Nikon best, Sony and E20 Least. (Subjective)
Resolution: Absolute Res: Sony Best, D7i least. Then I downloaded the test charts. I can't separate the CP5000, D7i and E20 for Absolute. Sony clearly better (about 5-7%). The D7i shows artifacts earlier but you can count the "9 lines" futher on the D7i than the CP5000 and same on E20. Dead heat and a good performance bearing in mind the lens reach.
(Dots on diagonals on D7i concerned me but has not proved a problem printing)
Chromatic Aberation: D7i best, the rest all the same. Difference is marked.
Noise: Sony Best, D7i worst. All show noise in different areas. D7i noise in skintone shadows is disappointing but all show blue sky noise and grey shadow noise to some degree. I take few portraits so not so important. (G2 is very good in this respect).
DR: D7i set up rather contrasty - blows highlights at default settings. Sony/E20 best. However D7i does provide a lot of control to get round this.
Lens Distortion:
Wide angle: D7i blows them all away except Cp5000, especially from 38 mm where there is no real distortion on the D7 but some on the Sony and E20 as this is "wide angle" for them.
Telephoto: About even but D7i has much more of it than E20 or CP5000.
Edge Sharpness: All good. No real problems with any. Perhaps the big glass cameras are slightly sharper than Cp5000, but not by much.
Overall, there is an even spread for honours here BUT (and this is a very important but) I have used Neat Image very effectively to eliminate NOISE WITHOUT introducing the artifacts seen in other cameras whereas careful use of contrast and saturation settings, and correct exposure, improves DR. Chroma and Barrel Distortion are harder to deal with and MUCH easier to see.
Out of the box, I like the Nikon pics best, then the Sony (apart from colour). However with a bit of PP I can get more out of the D7i, so FOR ME the D7i is the best. This really does match up with the review findings but also indicates why the D7i quality is not POOR, just harder to master.
-----------HANDLING AND CONTROL-------------
used a combination of Ergonomics, Viewfinder, Features, Speed and Attachment capability.
Ergonomics: E20 best, Sony Worst (just my opinion). D7i came second, CP5000 was a little too small for my hands, could not take portraits easily with Sony or tell quite when it wass vertical!!
Viewfinder: E20 best optical, liked the EVF convenience. Nikon only has rangefinder. Dead heat for F707, D7, E20 but really liked the display options in the D7i viewfinder (grid, histogram etc) and the fact that you could tilt it. Conclusion, D7i by a hair.
Features: D7i - for me anyway. All are good, but for photographic control and accessability, D7i gets my vote.
Speed: All good except E20 (buffer flush just too slow). Autofocus on D7i is "up there" now and comparable with the rest. Manual Zoom on E20 and D7i are fabulous.
Attachment Capability: E20 and D7i walk away with it in terms of flash, filters and extensions. Like real SLRs. Like the Nikon 19mm but probably never use it and do NOT like the Nikon teleconverters. Sony poor for flash (limited choice/capability) and the WA converter is comical. I could eat a steak dinner off it.
-----------CONVENIENCE---------------
used a combination of strorage media, battery life, battery type/cost, extension lenses
Storage media: Already have an MD and four CF cards. Sony out of the running for me.
Battery life: Sony v. good, E20 good, D7i and Nikon are OK. None bad.
Battery type/cost: D7i with its AA's. Carry three sets. Never needed the third. Cost $10 a set.
Extension lenses: D7i (dont need any
-----------CONCLUSION------------------
I liked ALL these cameras. Nikon is pocketable and take anywhere, but lacks the reach. Sony has fabulous resolution but strange colour and handling and those memory sticks. E20 is superb to handle but BIG especially with a WA converter and expensive. The D7i for me was just the best compromise.
On the noise front, I have taken a lot of good low noise pics from the D7i now with SOFT sharpening, using PS to sharpen the images afterwards. Makes a huge difference.
For DR, I use contrast -1 or 2, saturation +1 or 2 and negative exposure compensation to get the highlights in. Works well. Looks more like Sony!
--
Steve
This thread does not intend to slam anyone elses camera or choice of camera, its jusy a very personal review of why the D7i was right for ME and why I am not regretting buying it...and why reports of its poor quality are somewhat absurd and why I think the Highly Recommended ranking is fair.
My choices included all current 5mp prosumers
E20, F707, CP5000, Dimage 7i.
I liked them all for one reason or another. Anyone who buys any of them can expect decent performance and nice pictures. Its all subjective anyway in that respect.
I rated them on the following criteria (again subjectively, please dont take offence)
----------PICTURE QUALITY------------
I used a combination of Colour Rendition, Resolution, Chromatic Aberation, Noise, Dynamic Range and Lens distortion.
Colour rendition: Liked D7i and Nikon best, Sony and E20 Least. (Subjective)
Resolution: Absolute Res: Sony Best, D7i least. Then I downloaded the test charts. I can't separate the CP5000, D7i and E20 for Absolute. Sony clearly better (about 5-7%). The D7i shows artifacts earlier but you can count the "9 lines" futher on the D7i than the CP5000 and same on E20. Dead heat and a good performance bearing in mind the lens reach.
(Dots on diagonals on D7i concerned me but has not proved a problem printing)
Chromatic Aberation: D7i best, the rest all the same. Difference is marked.
Noise: Sony Best, D7i worst. All show noise in different areas. D7i noise in skintone shadows is disappointing but all show blue sky noise and grey shadow noise to some degree. I take few portraits so not so important. (G2 is very good in this respect).
DR: D7i set up rather contrasty - blows highlights at default settings. Sony/E20 best. However D7i does provide a lot of control to get round this.
Lens Distortion:
Wide angle: D7i blows them all away except Cp5000, especially from 38 mm where there is no real distortion on the D7 but some on the Sony and E20 as this is "wide angle" for them.
Telephoto: About even but D7i has much more of it than E20 or CP5000.
Edge Sharpness: All good. No real problems with any. Perhaps the big glass cameras are slightly sharper than Cp5000, but not by much.
Overall, there is an even spread for honours here BUT (and this is a very important but) I have used Neat Image very effectively to eliminate NOISE WITHOUT introducing the artifacts seen in other cameras whereas careful use of contrast and saturation settings, and correct exposure, improves DR. Chroma and Barrel Distortion are harder to deal with and MUCH easier to see.
Out of the box, I like the Nikon pics best, then the Sony (apart from colour). However with a bit of PP I can get more out of the D7i, so FOR ME the D7i is the best. This really does match up with the review findings but also indicates why the D7i quality is not POOR, just harder to master.
-----------HANDLING AND CONTROL-------------
used a combination of Ergonomics, Viewfinder, Features, Speed and Attachment capability.
Ergonomics: E20 best, Sony Worst (just my opinion). D7i came second, CP5000 was a little too small for my hands, could not take portraits easily with Sony or tell quite when it wass vertical!!
Viewfinder: E20 best optical, liked the EVF convenience. Nikon only has rangefinder. Dead heat for F707, D7, E20 but really liked the display options in the D7i viewfinder (grid, histogram etc) and the fact that you could tilt it. Conclusion, D7i by a hair.
Features: D7i - for me anyway. All are good, but for photographic control and accessability, D7i gets my vote.
Speed: All good except E20 (buffer flush just too slow). Autofocus on D7i is "up there" now and comparable with the rest. Manual Zoom on E20 and D7i are fabulous.
Attachment Capability: E20 and D7i walk away with it in terms of flash, filters and extensions. Like real SLRs. Like the Nikon 19mm but probably never use it and do NOT like the Nikon teleconverters. Sony poor for flash (limited choice/capability) and the WA converter is comical. I could eat a steak dinner off it.
-----------CONVENIENCE---------------
used a combination of strorage media, battery life, battery type/cost, extension lenses
Storage media: Already have an MD and four CF cards. Sony out of the running for me.
Battery life: Sony v. good, E20 good, D7i and Nikon are OK. None bad.
Battery type/cost: D7i with its AA's. Carry three sets. Never needed the third. Cost $10 a set.
Extension lenses: D7i (dont need any
-----------CONCLUSION------------------
I liked ALL these cameras. Nikon is pocketable and take anywhere, but lacks the reach. Sony has fabulous resolution but strange colour and handling and those memory sticks. E20 is superb to handle but BIG especially with a WA converter and expensive. The D7i for me was just the best compromise.
On the noise front, I have taken a lot of good low noise pics from the D7i now with SOFT sharpening, using PS to sharpen the images afterwards. Makes a huge difference.
For DR, I use contrast -1 or 2, saturation +1 or 2 and negative exposure compensation to get the highlights in. Works well. Looks more like Sony!
--
Steve