A new dSLR after 10 years - some Qs

Hi folks,

I have my good old friend D80 for over 10 years, and while I still enjoy the pictures it captures, the low-light performance is bad and I am really considering a move to D7500.

I have some concerns about new midrange DSLR, and I would really appreciate any help on clarifying some things:

"1-step" shutter release button --> Back Button Focus

My D80 has a clear 2-step shutter release button, where you can feel when you have acquired focus and you can trust that you are holding the focus while composing.

In contrast, newer DSLRs have just a 1-step shutter release, and while maybe the pressure is different at the point that the focus is acquired, it is not something that you can trust your finger to be able to hold the focus.

OK, I tried BBF on my D80. While it actually makes sense in shooting landscape, BBF is painful and cumbersome to use in taking pics of children (or other moving objects).

What do you guys think about this? Anyone encounter such thoughts?

More MPs - more stability required?

I would have twice the amount of mega pixels with the D7500. Do I need to take this into account while taking pictures? Will my pictures at 20MP appear more shaky at same shutter speeds than at 10MP?

Any other comments and tips are very welcome

Thanks for the help!

Karri

I used about every Nikon DSLR since the D1 in 1999 and owned a good number of them, including the D80 and D7200/D750. I never really found a difference in the way a half-press of the shutter works and never heard of your perceived problem, so I wouldn't worry about it.

If you step up in megapixels you'll need to shoot with a higher shutter speed if you want to realize more sharpness, like viewing the files @100%. If you view the files at the same size as before there's no difference with higher MP bodies, but obviously then the higher MP count will be wasted.

A definite gain from a newer camera will be the much better noise performance at higher ISOs and the much higher dynamic range in general, allowing you to boost the shadows several stops in post processing.

"1-step" shutter release button --> Back Button Focus

When shooting quick and erratically moving objects (kids, or in my case, dogs), for me, one benefit of BBF is to be able to switch between AF-C tracking and AF-S pre-focus without having to change camera configuration; simply by how I use BBF. When I am tracking moving object, holding down the back button allows me to track object the same way as half-press shutter button. If I want to pre-establish the focus and wait for the object to move into the frame, I simply press the back button to acquire the focus and wait for the shot; no need to change how AF is configured. Yes, it takes a while to get used to BBF. It’s different muscle memory. It takes me almost six months of practice to be proficient at it. I appreciate the benefits of BBF enough that I was motivated to get proficient. Now that I am used to it, I would never go back to shutter button focus.

I also don’t believe Nikon has changed half-press focus acquisition function since beginning of DSLR. However, going from different camera, among of pressure required to establish half press might be all so slightly different. If the handling of D80 and D7500 is different enough for you, this might be a good opportunity to get used to BBF embracing changes.

The move to a D7500 is definitely a step up and will improve your low-light images. The faster AF also means you'll likely get sharper shots, not less sharp ones. Yes, in principle shooting with higher resolution makes unsharp shots more obvious, but only by a hair, so I think the AF speed advantage will clearly outweigh this.

As far as 2-step shutter vs BBF goes, every Nikon body above the D3xxx/5xxx series, including the D7500, has this as a menu selectable option, so you can configure what you prefer.

I agree with the previous posters. I use BBF and I will never go back to 1/2 press the shutter to focus. It' s great for active 4 n 5 yr old grandkids.

Positiivisesti Korsolainen said:

Hi folks,

I have my good old friend D80 for over 10 years, and while I still enjoy the pictures it captures, the low-light performance is bad and I am really considering a move to D7500.

I have some concerns about new midrange DSLR, and I would really appreciate any help on clarifying some things:

"1-step" shutter release button --> Back Button Focus

My D80 has a clear 2-step shutter release button, where you can feel when you have acquired focus and you can trust that you are holding the focus while composing.

In contrast, newer DSLRs have just a 1-step shutter release, and while maybe the pressure is different at the point that the focus is acquired, it is not something that you can trust your finger to be able to hold the focus.

OK, I tried BBF on my D80. While it actually makes sense in shooting landscape, BBF is painful and cumbersome to use in taking pics of children (or other moving objects).

What do you guys think about this? Anyone encounter such thoughts?

More MPs - more stability required?

I would have twice the amount of mega pixels with the D7500. Do I need to take this into account while taking pictures? Will my pictures at 20MP appear more shaky at same shutter speeds than at 10MP?

Any other comments and tips are very welcome

Thanks for the help!

Karri

Click to expand...

Hi,

Just thought I would chime in to say I made the same exact move about a year ago. I had a D80 (still have it) and bought a D7500 kit. Forgive me for not addressing your specific questions, I would rather tell you my feelings on making the upgrade. It was the best move I could have ever made. The difference between the two cameras is like night and day. The D7500 is so much faster and it can do so much more than the D80. For instance you can Auto Focus Fine Tune each lens from within the camera if any lenses need calibration. It can shoot 7 frames per second...I think the D80 shot 3 fps? In reference to your concern it does have the half press of the button to lock the focus.

I would highly recommend you make the upgrade and if you have the same experience I had you will be one happy photographer.

Best of luck, Tom

Positiivisesti Korsolainen said:

Hi folks,

I have my good old friend D80 for over 10 years, and while I still enjoy the pictures it captures, the low-light performance is bad and I am really considering a move to D7500.

I have some concerns about new midrange DSLR, and I would really appreciate any help on clarifying some things:

"1-step" shutter release button --> Back Button Focus

My D80 has a clear 2-step shutter release button, where you can feel when you have acquired focus and you can trust that you are holding the focus while composing.

In contrast, newer DSLRs have just a 1-step shutter release, and while maybe the pressure is different at the point that the focus is acquired, it is not something that you can trust your finger to be able to hold the focus.

Click to expand...

I notice a difference between my Nikon D5100 and D7000 or D750.

The D5100, there seems to be a very distinct "click" feeling when you have pressed the button 1/2 way to activate focus. And then a lot of pressure to then go the next step to take the picture, with a very distinct physical "click" when you've activated the shutter.

Where as my D7000 and D750, I can still feel the different phases, but, at least to me, it seems a bit less obvious. And no distinct physical "click".

But, I had no problem getting used to the D7000, after having used the D5100.

Both work equally well, to me.

Positiivisesti Korsolainen said:

OK, I tried BBF on my D80. While it actually makes sense in shooting landscape, BBF is painful and cumbersome to use in taking pics of children (or other moving objects).

What do you guys think about this? Anyone encounter such thoughts?

Click to expand...

Some like it. Some do not.

I tried it. And it worked really well for when taking pictures of my daughters at gymnastics.

But I did not personally find it got me any higher hit rate than using the shutter button to acquire focus.

It's nice that the option is there though.

Positiivisesti Korsolainen said:

More MPs - more stability required?

I would have twice the amount of mega pixels with the D7500. Do I need to take this into account while taking pictures? Will my pictures at 20MP appear more shaky at same shutter speeds than at 10MP?

Click to expand...

I kinda assume so.

But the type of shooting I do, I don't really notice this.

For sports, I have to have such a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion of the athletes that I am noticing motion blur in the athletes more so than the background.

And if there is blur in the background (because I am moving the camera), I am hoping that that means less blur in the athlete . . . and that the blur of the background actually softens it to make the athlete stand out more. LOL.

Positiivisesti Korsolainen said:

Any other comments and tips are very welcome

Click to expand...

One big thing about going to the D7500 from the D80 is the microfocus adjust.

It will allow you to adjust focus with your existing AF lenses.

It can go a long way to letting you get more out of your lenses when using AF.

Going to the D7500 from the D80 would be an really nice step up.

For the same amount of effort, you can be walking away with cleaner pictures!

Take care & Happy Shooting!

Positiivisesti Korsolainen said:

Thanks for the help!

Karri

Click to expand...

Thanks for all the answers!

Today I actually tried the D7500 in my hand in a store. It felt like it fits my hand nicely. Also the trigger, even though there are no clicks at all, it does have fairly good feedback. It felt like first you need almost no pressure to press on it, and then at one point it took much more time to press the trigger more. It feels better than what I feared it would, and even though I might miss the two clicks, I think I might learn to use the trigger on the D7500.

Thanks for all the comments and tips, and of course appreciate to get more comments if anyone has any

1-step shutter. Not quite sure what you mean. I have moved from pre-DSLR on pentax, D70s, D300, D800, D5300, D7500. I shoot a lot in AF-S with shutter button . Focus, recompose and shoot has never been a problem on any of the cameras including the D7500 So I am not sure what the problem is.

More MPs, yes you may notice more movement due to the number of pixels if you view at 100%, at normal viewing sizes it is not a problem and in my experience pictures have always got sharper as you upgrade cameras and mps.

Although the basic IQ in good light is the same between the cameras at around ISO100, the move to a D7500 will seem like the best decision you have ever made very quickly. Absolutely everything has been improved.

I just got the D7500 a few days ago and I am very satisfied.

First - the trigger is much better than what I thought. Yes, I do sometimes accidentally trigger the shutter, but you have a good enough feeling for holding the focus. That is good enough for portraits (I guess for landscape I will set up the BBF).

Really love the upgrade from D80. The camera has much more features and is a lot faster.

It does have the battery end up really quick but probably I should turn off the Bluetooth sync (using it for location tagging).

Positiivisesti Korsolainen said:

I just got the D7500 a few days ago and I am very satisfied.

First - the trigger is much better than what I thought. Yes, I do sometimes accidentally trigger the shutter, but you have a good enough feeling for holding the focus. That is good enough for portraits (I guess for landscape I will set up the BBF).

Really love the upgrade from D80. The camera has much more features and is a lot faster.

It does have the battery end up really quick but probably I should turn off the Bluetooth sync (using it for location tagging).

Click to expand...

+1

Enjoy your camera.

Take a look at micro focus adjust. IMHO well worth the time.

Take care & Happy Shooting!