Nikon 500mm f4 with D7200 on its own or D750 with TC1.4?

So for serious bird/wildlife photography would a Nikon 500mm f4 (latest) be best coupled wth a D7200 (but not use teleconverter) or a D750 with TC1.4iii?

Would the end results be similar so that it would be better to stick to using a D7200 or would it be worth spending the money and buying a D750 but compensating for lost reach hy adding the teleconverter?

Thanks for advice and opinions

simon2001 said:

So for serious bird/wildlife photography would a Nikon 500mm f4 (latest) be best coupled wth a D7200 (but not use teleconverter) or a D750 with TC1.4iii?

Would the end results be similar so that it would be better to stick to using a D7200 or would it be worth spending the money and buying a D750 but compensating for lost reach hy adding the teleconverter?

Thanks for advice and opinions

Click to expand...

I don't feel skilled enaugh to give advices, but I have my experience with going FX and using TC for reach, and I'd say go FX if you have good lens, good TC and will to carry it all.

simon2001 said:

So for serious bird/wildlife photography would a Nikon 500mm f4 (latest) be best coupled wth a D7200 (but not use teleconverter) or a D750 with TC1.4iii?

Would the end results be similar so that it would be better to stick to using a D7200 or would it be worth spending the money and buying a D750 but compensating for lost reach hy adding the teleconverter?

Thanks for advice and opinions

Click to expand...

These days, you can get away with a 200-500mm F/5.6 and a 1.4x teleconverter, so I question the need to spend so much more of a 500mm F/4 prime? Why spend over $11,000 when $1,900 will suffice?

noflashplease said:

simon2001 said:

So for serious bird/wildlife photography would a Nikon 500mm f4 (latest) be best coupled wth a D7200 (but not use teleconverter) or a D750 with TC1.4iii?

Would the end results be similar so that it would be better to stick to using a D7200 or would it be worth spending the money and buying a D750 but compensating for lost reach hy adding the teleconverter?

Thanks for advice and opinions

Click to expand...

These days, you can get away with a 200-500mm F/5.6 and a 1.4x teleconverter, so I question the need to spend so much more of a 500mm F/4 prime? Why spend over $11,000 when $1,900 will suffice?

Click to expand...

Yes, sure, its expensive, but the question is whether to use a D7200 or the D750 with TC...not asking whhich lens to use, I am stating that the lens will be the 500mm prime.

crashpc said:

simon2001 said:

So for serious bird/wildlife photography would a Nikon 500mm f4 (latest) be best coupled wth a D7200 (but not use teleconverter) or a D750 with TC1.4iii?

Would the end results be similar so that it would be better to stick to using a D7200 or would it be worth spending the money and buying a D750 but compensating for lost reach hy adding the teleconverter?

Thanks for advice and opinions

Click to expand...

I don't feel skilled enaugh to give advices, but I have my experience with going FX and using TC for reach, and I'd say go FX if you have good lens, good TC and will to carry it all.

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your experience

depends on what you plan to shoot. between the 2 body's i find d750 has more latitude this is because you have a dx mode ( 12mp dx) on the d750. that said there are situation you really want 24mp dx ( for me this tipically involves tripod work).

Both body's have good AF but once you use the TC you may get into trouble in certain situations . for example your in a moving canoe and you need to "aquire focus" in split seconds. (i'm talking about a slow moving canoe)

i could go on there are a lot of use cases but in the end you will have to decide on daily basis where to put that 500mm and where to put the 300mm ..

nxJaquar said:

depends on what you plan to shoot. between the 2 body's i find d750 has more latitude this is because you have a dx mode ( 12mp dx) on the d750. that said there are situation you really want 24mp dx ( for me this tipically involves tripod work).

Both body's have good AF but once you use the TC you may get into trouble in certain situations . for example your in a moving canoe and you need to "aquire focus" in split seconds. (i'm talking about a slow moving canoe)

i could go on there are a lot of use cases but in the end you will have to decide on daily basis where to put that 500mm and where to put the 300mm ..

Click to expand...

ok, but there are only two choices...

1. d7200 but no tc

or

2. d750 with tc1.4iii

both 1. and 2. on a 500mm prime lens (no 300mm choice involved).

will there not be differences in image quality between the two gear choices?

image quality ? d750 .but that is to be expected it's full frame

No question in my mind - the D7200 would be far superior. If I want detail, I'd rather use my D7100 vs my D810 with TC. The D7200 is better than a D7100 and the D810 is better than a D750. An FX body generally has a 1-stop advantage over DX which you lose when you add the TC, but in my experience you also have to stop down a bit further due to the deterioration the TC brings. I have them and almost never use them.

I coveted the 500/4 until the 200-500VR was released. I prefer it for it's zoom range and the lower weight. I'd also get neither the D7200 nor a D750, the D500 is far superior to either for long lens work IMHO.

pictureted said:

No question in my mind - the D7200 would be far superior.

Click to expand...

Depends...

pictureted said:

If I want detail, I'd rather use my D7100 vs my D810 with TC. The D7200 is better than a D7100 and the D810 is better than a D750.

Click to expand...

I had my crop, and it seems smaller sensor is greater downside than TC mounted on the big sensor. Cannot say why or how, but I got superior results on FX body.

pictureted said:

An FX body generally has a 1-stop advantage over DX which you lose when you add the TC,

Click to expand...

It is not only in the amount of light. There are more advantages to it.

pictureted said:

but in my experience you also have to stop down a bit further due to the deterioration the TC brings.

Click to expand...

This I found not true with some lenses. Especially with these slower than f/3,5, and sharp wide open. Additional stopping only made it worse. Significantly worse.

pictureted said:

I have them and almost never use them.

I coveted the 500/4 until the 200-500VR was released. I prefer it for it's zoom range and the lower weight. I'd also get neither the D7200 nor a D750, the D500 is far superior to either for long lens work IMHO.

Click to expand...

Of course, best solution would be to get native longer FL lens...

pictureted said:

--
Happy shooting, Ted
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pictureted/

Click to expand...

simon2001 said:

So for serious bird/wildlife photography would a Nikon 500mm f4 (latest) be best coupled wth a D7200 (but not use teleconverter) or a D750 with TC1.4iii?

Would the end results be similar so that it would be better to stick to using a D7200 or would it be worth spending the money and buying a D750 but compensating for lost reach hy adding the teleconverter?

Thanks for advice and opinions

Click to expand...

I have the Nikon 500 f4.0 vr lens that I use with the d7200 and a d810 that I use with a tc 1.4EIII. I have found that the d7200 when used with the 500 is very, very good with quick auto focus acquisition and image quality. I find that the d810 when used with the 500 and tc 1.4EIII seems more sluggish af than the d7200 without tc. I lose a stop using the tc with the d810 so that sort of evens out the noise production between the two cameras.

I don't have any plans to buy the d500 and sell my d7200 until I see much more proof that the d500 sensor is much or even as good as the d7200 sensor. The d7200 has a 24mp sensor versus the 20mp sensor on the d500.

Larry

simon2001 said:

So for serious bird/wildlife photography would a Nikon 500mm f4 (latest) be best coupled wth a D7200 (but not use teleconverter) or a D750 with TC1.4iii?

Would the end results be similar so that it would be better to stick to using a D7200 or would it be worth spending the money and buying a D750 but compensating for lost reach hy adding the teleconverter?

Thanks for advice and opinions

Click to expand...

If you are using a 500mm f4 prime, then the TC will probably not degrade the image very much ( at least in the very center). Thus, you are getting a 700mm f5.6, over 24 mpix.

With the D7200, you also have 24 mpix, plus a 1.5 crop - thus 750mm f4. However the DX has more noise, so you need to be running at 1 ev lower iso (or one stop wider aperture) to be the same as the D750 in that regard.

End result probably a toss up. The D7200 has slightly more reach, and also a wider AF point area (better tracking). The D750 has lower noise, but you lost a stop with the TC.

From a usability standpoint, the D7200 will have a brighter VF, and the AF will probably work better. The D750 VF has a larger image, and also the tilting screen.

As regards the D500, maybe some usability advantage, but fewer mpix - the D750 may be better in that case.

Of course the best thing would be to try both combinations for yourself on real world tests.

As the D7200 does not have an AA filter at low ISO's it has a little more resolution than the D750.

Some tests suggest a TC looses 5-10% resolution, which is less than cropping by a similar factor.

Unless you concentrate mainly on high ISO work the D7200 should have the edge.

The D750 has Group AF which can be good for birds. The D7200 does not have this.