5500 or 7200/7100

[Ranchi]

Following Groovechick's posts, I have been considering an upgrade from my D3100 . I want to stick with Nikon and am quite take with the touch screen on the D5500, however I wonder how practical it will be in bright sunlight. My question is really; is the lcd on the 7100/7200 better than the colour display on the 5500 to show ( & adjust) the camera settings? Rather like the Kindle is far better to read a book on in bright sunlight than an iPad. I consider the 5500 above say the 3300 as the touch screen avoids all of the menus you have to use to access settings on the 3300.

Steve

[Ranchi]

Sorry, should have read Gordonchick

[Ranchi]

Not sure my initial post is clear. I'm trying to find out how the coloured Screen on the back of the D5500 works in bright light, not to view images but to view (and alter) the camera settings using the touch screen. The D7200 has a (traditional) monochrome lcd display on the top & I wonder if this is better as it won't be affected by bright sunlight (& command wheels alter settings.) The salesperson assures me the coloured screen on the 5500 is OK in bright light ( but I'm sceptical). The D7200 is quite a bit more expensive and I think I would be happy to use the touch screen method on the 5500- if it worked in satisfactorily in bright light. I want to stay with Nikon.

[TLCOhio]

Following Groovechick's posts, I have been considering an upgrade from my D3100 . I want to stick with Nikon and am quite take with the touch screen on the D5500, however I wonder how practical it will be in bright sunlight. My question is really; is the lcd on the 7100/7200 better than the colour display on the 5500 to show ( & adjust) the camera settings? Rather like the Kindle is far better to read a book on in bright sunlight than an iPad. I consider the 5500 above say the 3300 as the touch screen avoids all of the menus you have to use to access settings on the 3300. Steve

 

Having previously owned a Nikon D3100, I did some serious comparisons about a year and a half ago. Ended up getting the Nikon D7100 and have been super happy with that smart choice. As detailed below on an Australia-New Zealand adventure, we did about a month on that trip and I took 8,000 pictures, getting amazing results. Check out the live/blog connected below.

 

As I did my in-depth analysis at that time, the biggest pluses for the D7100 were its stronger, better body, the double SD memory slots and a wider range of features and options. For the D5300 at that time, the optional flip screen was kind of nice, but I did not believe that I would need to use this feature that much. After getting the D7100, one of the biggest surprises was the Nikkor 18-140mm lens. Really nice to have that added "range" in place of just a 18-55mm Nikkor lens. The down-sides with a D7100 and that lens are that it does cost more, does weigh a little more and is not quite as compact. It, however, has worked well for me and my needs, travels, etc.

 

As a Nikon owner and user since the 1960's, I am well-pleased with their products. But, the good news is that all of the main folks, including Canon and Sony, are getting better and better. Lots of good options out there to consider and use. This includes some of the mirrorless cameras, etc. It's great to have such amazing digital progress!! Lots of excellent options and personal factors to consider. You will be a winner regardless of your choice.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 123,417 views for this posting.

[fuzzel]

Question about which cam to get is quite a personal choice. For me, I am just a 'fun photographer that likes good tech'. Thus my choice was different from somebody who has a limited budget or somebody who want super-pro pix or wants to play with a lot of settings etc etc. It thus all depends.

 

I first suggest this excellent read:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/not-about-your-camera.htm

and everything else in his HowTo section.

 

 

As my trusty D60 mostly died (shutter wheel gets stuck unfortunately thus need to wiggle it a bit for it to take a few photos again) I had to research and fetch a new one.

 

Basically you got effectively three options with Nikon, indeed not even bothering with anything else, flash systems are better on Nikon and I like Nikon, thus the three models:

- D5500 - light (667gr inc lens/battery) AF-focus points (39)

- D7200 - heavier (1256gr inc lens/battery) - dual SD, more focus points (51)

- D750 / D810 - Full Frame (FX) thus requires new lenses if you come from DX

 

I am ignoring the D5300 as it is has a battery sucking GPS builtin that you want to turn off all the time. Price wise the D5500 will be ~300 USD/etc cheaper than the D7200. The D750's come in at 1500 USD about. Depending if you go body-only or go for a kit, which depends in turn if you have lenses already that you can use.

 

D750/D810's are heavy, and so is the D7200. Thus weight for those and the fact that I take vacation pictures, go hiking a lot with it is the biggest negative point there is.

 

Thus lets ignore the FX editions and chose between D7200 or D5500, reading a stupid feature comparison, which ignores that things like NFC are useless:

 

http://www.imaging-resource.com/cameras/nikon/d5500/vs/nikon/d7200/

 

This will give you a 'features on the box comparison', not super useful, but as you can see the cameras are basically the same internally, lest focus points and weight and SD cards.

 

Now read somebody who has been using a LOT of Nikon cameras:

 

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d7200.htm

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d5500.htm

 

Read these two fully if you want to make a good decision. Read just "recommendations" if you want to get the gist of it.

 

 

and then _the_ camera review site's opinions:

http://dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-d5500

http://dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-d7200

 

Make up your mind from there.

 

The weight is the most important factor for me, especially as the D7200 and D5000 are mostly the same tech points, except for autofocus points (thus if you are going to shoot lots of sports the D7200 might be worth it).

 

 

I went for the D5500 due to weight, but I found that:

- It is super fast (compared to a D60 ;)

- The swivel is useful for the rare selfie

- Swivel is great for taking 'low to the ground pictures'

- Touch screen makes it have a high WAF (Wife-Approval-Factor)

- Operation is fast due to the touch screen

- It is just a great amazing camera and it is lighter than my D60 :)

 

Oh and yes, point and click works amazing and the picture quality is amazing too.

(same quality as the D7200 mind you, which is 300 gr heavier.

 

Do get a (couple of) SDXC cards, the ones rated for 90+mb/s as that means you can snap faster and more, just in case you might see a dolphin jump somewhere.

 

As for GPS..... I got myself a Bad Elf Pro+ (http://bad-elf.com/pages/be-gps-2300-detail) attached to a Foolography Dx0000 (http://www.foolography.com/products/unleashed-dx000/).

The Bad Elf can log GPS points for ~32 hours with bluetooth enabled, which then talks to the Foolography and as that goes into the Nikon you get GPS coords in the picture. Note that the Bad Elf Pro+ is both GPS + GLONASS and thus has a perfect location (2m accurate) around the world. When you come home (back to the boat is home right :) you thus have a GPS route of where you went that day AND you have GPS coords already in your pictures.

 

Note again the D3200 does indeed come with a much cheaper edition as it is built-in, but that will require you to swap batteries all the time next to the fact that gps lock will require you to wait quite a long time, gps locks don't work in buildings, nor does it support the accuracy of the Bad Elf (~2m) nor do you get any track information of where you went, let alone that it works in a plane upto 60.000 feet ;)

 

 

Thus a summary of my current gear:

- Nikon D5500 + 18-55mm + 55-200mm + extra battery

- Bad Elf Pro+ (http://bad-elf.com/pages/be-gps-2300-detail)

- Foolography Dx0000 (http://www.foolography.com/products/unleashed-dx000/)

- Joby Gorillapod (http://joby.com/gorillapod/slrzoom)

 

and then for in the water for both snorkling and diving:

- GoPro Hero 3 Black

- GoPole Reach (https://shop.gopole.com/products/reach)

 

Next to other things, yep, a full bag, but I do get to take all those memories home ;)

[chipmaster]

After researching DP, imageresource and getting entertained by Ken, go read Thom Hogan :D

[havoc315]

The difference between the cameras is not the LCD.

 

They are both excellent cameras that will give very very similar potential, and image quality.

 

The D7100/D7200 is built for the enthusiast/semi-pro/pro -- Very tough body for rugged conditions. Lots of direct access to manual controls, for the more advanced shooter. More features that an advanced shooter would want to need.

 

The D5500 is built more for the amateur shooter. It is capable of giving the same results -- A pro could indeed still make all the manual adjustments he might want to make, but with less direct control. And in some advanced action type shooting, the autofocus system isn't quite as advanced, etc.

 

The D5500 is largely designed with an easy LCD to help the novice adjust the settings. The D7100/D7200 lets the advanced user change settings with their quick adjustment of dials... much like an automobile driver knows where the gas and brake pedal is.

[gambit57]

My sis has one of the 5000 series bodies. I had a 7000. The main thing for me, and it created an issue when trying to buy a lens to give her as a present, is that the 5000 (and 3000 series) bodies don't have that extra autofocus motor so they can't use certain lenses. Nikon makes cheaper versions of certain lenses (especially the prime lenses) that don't work on the cheaper bodies (5000 series and lower).

 

Honestly, if you fiddle with the camera for a couple days (like really play with it), what LCD it has won't matter. You get used to it. It's not really a big issue.