Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Obie303 on December 16, 2014, 04:42:15 PM
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Looking for some input from another source besides a camera forum.
I'm looking to upgrade my 10 year old Nikon (D80). I've done the comparisons between the Nikon D7100 and the D610 on www.DPReview.com (http://www.DPReview.com) Both cameras are highly rated and are very similar in most categories.
My question is this; besides the sensor size and the actual size of the camera body itself, as an amateur photographer, will I notice a big difference in the sensor size?
Any input/comments would be appreciated.
Regards,
Obie
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I wish I still had the two comparison pics to show you... A guy with an "amateur" DX camera, D200 class with a $1000ish telephoto lense, took a pic of an F-15 taking off at an airshow. The plane was banked up so you could see inside the cockpit. It was a beautiful shot, and you could even see the pilot sitting in the cockpit including where his legs were.
The comparison shot was from a professional photographer with better glass and a full size sensor. Maybe $12,000 worth of kit. You could see every panel line, and you could clearly see the pilot's lineup card on his leg and even see some of the writing and lines drawn on the card. The first photo was very nice, but the second one was jaw dropping.
It depends on what you're doing. Do you want nice photos suitable for framing and enlarging, or do you want holy crap that's awesome professional photos that you can crop and blow up and maintain amazing levels of detail and sharpness with fewer digital artifacts that either look weird or require time and photoshop skills to edit out?
The full size sensor cameras are coming down in price, but then you're tied to FX glass. FX lenses are more expensive but often higher quality. Again, it depends on what you're going for. For me personally, the balance tipped towards getting a "nice" DX Nikon and then saving up for really nice glass to go with it. FX glass on a DX camera will often result in greatly reduced edge effects (less pincushion or barrel), so you can use popular FX lenses on a DX camera with good results.
Putting it in perspective... My last Nikon cost $800 for the body and the kit lense, and the lense I want to get for it costs $3500. And that lense is considered at or below entry level for pro use. If you're serious, then go big or go home IMHO. If its just a hobby, then get a nice body and spend some real money on glass. A good lense will likely last far longer than the body too, and they're easier to resell or trade in.
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If you already have dx glass go with the d7100. I currently own a d7100 and I'm more than happy with it. Now I use a 17-55 2.8dx lens and the 70-200 2.8 vr lens. I would like to go fx but it would either be the d810 or the d4s. The d610 is not enough of a difference from the d7100 to warrant me switching to fx now.
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What do you shoot? Will you miss the crop sensor's extra reach?
What lenses do you have? If you have a lot of high quality DX lenses, you'll need to migrate to new glass, which would need to be figured into the cost.
I can't answer your original question, at least regarding those Nikon models, as I shoot Canon. I would do a bunch of research on them, and see if they'll be adequate as an upgrade to the types of photos you shoot.
Do you typically shoot higher ISOs, and want less noise? Typically, full frame is better than crop.
Also, have you thought about going to one of their newer models, with their newer processor?
If it was me, it would be the features of the camera (focus points, types of focus points), etc., and the glass that I had.
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Well, first off, I will never consider myself a Professional but I'm beyond the point and shoot or pre selected settings commonly found to today's cameras. This is a hobby to take up some spare time. I tend to shoot mostly nature shots. Lots of outdoor subjects with too much sunlight or not enough lighting. My shooting style is I prefer to shoot at low ISO settings. Every now and then, I will creep up to the higher settings on occasion. When I take my camera on hikes, I usually have a few of my dogs. I tend to take a lot of shots of them. So the action can be fast and I often find myself in a "hurry up and shoot" mode.
My lenses are DX glass. I own a 50mm, 85mm for my primes. 18-55mm (which I don't think I've used in almost 8 years), 18-105mm, and a 70-300mm. The bigger lenses are VRs and the 50mm is not the cheaper f/1.8 All are Nikon lenses. I shoot mostly with my primes
As far as cropping, I still use Adobe for most of my post editing, but I don't go too heavy on it. I find that the more I mess with my shots, the more artificial they look and I don't care for that type of photography. So, I would say, No. I don't do too much cropping, but I do some.
I figured the expense of dropping all of my DX equipment to switch over to the FX is one of my concerns. My wife would kill me for sure if I dropped 3k on a camera.
Thank you for the input. Posting something like this on a strictly camera forum, you tend to get some real whacked out replies and a lot of Prima donnas that tend to talk down to you like your an idiot. Looks like I have some real thinking to do. Thanks again.
Regards,
Obie
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If it helps, I went from a d90 to my d7100 and couldn't be happier. For what you are doing I would stick with dx format. If you are by chance in the central Florida area I'd let you take the d7100 for a spin.
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If it helps, I went from a d90 to my d7100 and couldn't be happier. For what you are doing I would stick with dx format. If you are by chance in the central Florida area I'd let you take the d7100 for a spin.
Was just there the end of October. (Mt. Dora). Lots of gator shots this year. Thanks for the offer. It does help. The D80 was about 2 years before the D90.
Doing a little more research. I found a place that has a few demo models that I could rent. I may just do that to finalize my decision. There are so many features on both these models that either one I pick will take me a few months to figure out.
Regards,
Obie
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If possible play with each to see what is going to meet your needs better. If you don't have a local rental place, try these;
http://www.lensrentals.com
http://www.rentglass.com
(yes they say lens/glass, but they also rent bodies)
Once you've decided on which to buy, keep an eye on this place https://www.keh.com for good deals on used gear.
Might also consider upgrading your glass before the body. Good glass will last you a lifetime. Bodies become outdated over time.
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Paging NikonGuy!