I am going to buy one, but which one? Hello everyone. I have been following this site for quite a while, but this is my first posting. I am hoping to get some advice from someone that...

Dexter56 Loc: Ohio

Hello everyone. I have been following this site for quite a while, but this is my first posting. I am hoping to get some advice from someone that has both a D600/610 and a D7100. I currently own a D200 and it has been a great camera for me. Love the layout and the feel of the semi-pro body. As long as I do not have to push the ISO too high, it performs great. My main interest in photography is high school sports. The D200 works great as long as there is plenty of light, but for night games under the lousy stadium lights, or inside a gym I am only good up to about ISO 800 before things get too grainy and too much loss of detail. So the question is, a D7100 or D610? Advantages of 7100; better focus system, more reach, slightly faster FPS and of course price. Advantages of 600, better high ISO image quality, which is very important. All my lenses are FX, including my main sports lens, the old but trusty 80-200 AF-S 2.8 By the way, I only shoot sports in JPEG so the buffer is not an issue, and I do crop most of my photos in PP. Thanks for any advice you can give me.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Wow! If there was anyway to swing it I'd go for a D800. Just saying... Good luck. I have a D7100 and I love it...and I'm trying to jump to a D800...soon.

Dexter56 Loc: Ohio

DavidPine wrote:

Wow! If there was anyway to swing it I'd go for a D800. Just saying... Good luck. I have a D7100 and I love it...and I'm trying to jump to a D800...soon.

You know, it's funny. That thought did cross my mind. Use the 800 in crop mode and maybe get the best of both worlds. With your 7100, how high of an ISO can you go and still be happy with the quality? In fast moving sports, you really have to keep a fast shutter speed, which puts a lot of pressure on the camera.

Moles Loc: South Carolina

The D610 with FX and bigger pixels would give better low-light performance. You might consider a used D700 with battery grip...great low-light performance and 8fps with aa batteries in the grip.

Dexter56 Loc: Ohio

Moles wrote:

The D610 with FX and bigger pixels would give better low-light performance. You might consider a used D700 with battery grip...great low-light performance and 8fps with aa batteries in the grip.

Yes, by far the biggest advantage to the D610, but a very important consideration. I thought about the D700, but when it is all said and done, I think if I were going to go FX it would be the 600. Why don't you sell me one of your D4's cheap, then we would'nt be having this discussion.

Acountry330 Loc: Dothan,Ala USA

Using the D-800 in crop mode takes away half of those amazing pixels. Get the D-800 and shoot in jpeg,that way the buffer is not a problem.

Dexter56 Loc: Ohio

Acountry330 wrote:

Using the D-800 in crop mode takes away half of those amazing pixels. Get the D-800 and shoot in jpeg,that way the buffer is not a problem.

Yes, but for fast moving sports, the FPS is just so slow. Like I said, if I thought I could get good image quality and a low amount of grain up to, say 6400 with the 7100, that seems like the camera that I need. I am just worried that I wont be able to shoot at that high an ISO. I guess either way it will be a great improvement in image quality compared to my D200.

steve_stoneblossom Loc: Rhode Island, USA

I can only speak for the 7100, but in my limited experience I think ISO 6400 is pushing it a bit. I prefer limiting it to 2500, sometimes pushing it to 3200. That's just my 2 cents.

Dexter56 Loc: Ohio

steve_stoneblossom wrote:

I can only speak for the 7100, but in my limited experience I think ISO 6400 is pushing it a bit. I prefer limiting it to 2500, sometimes pushing it to 3200. That's just my 2 cents.

Yea, everything I have read kind of says the same thing. I would be really disappointed if I could not get the shutter speed I wanted because I was limited with the high ISO capability of my camera. That is pretty much where I am at right now. I like everyone else would love to see the D400 and answer all of my needs, but I don's see that happening.

bjprovo Loc: Northeast CT

I had the same issue as you, I shoot high school with a D300 and wanted to move forward. After much researching and anguishing I decided to go with the D610. The higher ISO is probably the overriding factor. I know many sports photographers will tell you that fps is big, but I can't afford any form of the D4 so that ends that issue. I was taught that if you shot 7fps at 1/500 of a second than you have captured 7/500 of a second and missed out on 493/500 of that second. I try to anticipate and choose my moments and I have become good at it but there is a huge learning curve.

Dexter56 wrote:

Hello everyone. I have been following this site f... (show quote)

Dexter56 Loc: Ohio

bjprovo wrote:

I had the same issue as you, I shoot high school w... (show quote)

"After much researching and anguishing", that's funny. That is exactly where I am. And like you, any type of D3 or D4 is out of the question. I think I am with you though, the overriding factor is the high ISO. Have you been happy with your choice? Do you feel like you are missing the extra "reach" that you had with your D300? Since I pretty much crop all of my shots to isolate the action, I feel as though instead of cropping in the camera, I will just be doing it in PP.

bjprovo Loc: Northeast CT

I crop any how so that was no big deal. I really haven't had many opportunities as I just got the camera. The full frame pictures are just outstanding though.

Dexter56 wrote:

"After much researching and anguishing", that's funny. That is exactly where I am. And like you, any type of D3 or D4 is out of the question. I think I am with you though, the overriding factor is the high ISO. Have you been happy with your choice? Do you feel like you are missing the extra "reach" that you had with your D300? Since I pretty much crop all of my shots to isolate the action, I feel as though instead of cropping in the camera, I will just be doing it in PP.

JPL

Dexter56 wrote:

Hello everyone. I have been following this site f... (show quote)

Short answer. Get the D610. No Nikon camera in recent times has been as well prepared for as the D610.

I have a D200 like you and also a D600. Both very good cameras but the D200 feels like from the middle ages in comparison to the D600. And the D610 is the spotfree version of the D600. And when you start using full frame there is no way back to DX sensor. So the D7100, being a very good camera is just not in the same league as the D600/D610

With a D610 you can easily go up to ISO 3200 without noticing much noise. I have been doing that and sometimes higher. And if you want more reach you can crop in camera by selecting DX mode. Then you will get pics that are about 10-11 megapixels, the same as the D200 pics, but those are full frame pixels with high ISO capabilities.

amehta Loc: Boston

bjprovo wrote:

I had the same issue as you, I shoot high school w... (show quote)

I also think the fps is somewhat overrated. First, the difference between 8fps and 6fps is about 40ms per frame, 125ms vs 166ms. Is that really going to make a difference?

Meanwhile, two stops of high ISO performance means the difference between 1/60 and 1/250 shutter speeds. Will that make a difference in stopping action? It does for me shooting indoor volleyball. I upgraded from the D200 to the D700, and also upgraded from the consumer zooms to the pro zooms, so I got a 4 stop improvement. Dexter56, you already have the pro zooms, so you should get 2 stops from the FX sensor.

Dexter56 Loc: Ohio

amehta wrote:

I also think the fps is somewhat overrated. First... (show quote)

"two stops of high ISO performance means the difference between 1/60 and 1/250 shutter speeds." That kind of says it all, doesn't it? That is the difference between a good shot and a blur of motion. My gut all along was telling me to go with the 610, sounds like everyone agrees.