PAR4DCR Loc: A Sunny Place

Would like to upgrade from my Niko D80 to either the D5200 or the D7000. Seems they are both about the same price.
At this point, from what I have read, leaning toward the D7000.
If it were your choice which one would you pick?
Thank you in advance for your comments and helpful insight.

Don

Db7423 Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

D7000, owned one and it was great. Many here feel it is the best DX camera Nikon has ever made and I would agree with that.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

The D7000 is a much more rugged and professional body. Excellent image quality. And most of the adjustable features are readily available via external controls rather than wading through the abyssmal menu selections. I have owned 4 of these bodies and they all worked flawlessly. Had it not been for the D800's I would still be shooting with them.

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Welcome to UHH

wildwing76 Loc: Wyoming

I just bought the d5200 and love it. The 7000 was my 1st choice but the movable viewfinder and in camera guide plus price decided me on the 5200. I really like the light weight of the 5200 and the way it fits your hand is perfect. All the dials are positioned well except the viewfinder diopter which is too close to the eye piece and hard to adjust while looking through the viewfinder. That's not much of a problem though as you don't need to adjust the viewfinder very often. the 5200 takes nice clear photos and over all a very nice smooth operating camera. The 7000 has been around long enough to be tested by users and well liked by both semi pros and amaeturs, wheras the 5200 just hit the US. Although I am more than happy with the 5200 I advise you find a camera store and try both in hand before deciding.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

If you use flash, one huge point in favor of the 7000 is that you can control remote flashes from the pop-up flash on the camera using TTL metering. It's the least expensive Nikon with that feature.

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

Follow MT shooters advice

I bought two last month to add to my gear

The D7000 will go places the D5200 will not, "movable viewfinder" ! "Its an articulated screen" I have one on my 60D, rarely used.

graham52 Loc: Scotland

I bought a 7000 before Christmas and was also considering the 5200. The main reasons I went for the 7000 was It was it's weather proof, (living in Scotland) a weather proof camera is not a bad idea,also has two card slots and flash commander.

GrahamS Loc: Hertfordshire, U.K

Comparing the D7k with the D5200 is like comparing apples to bananas. The D7k is a semi-pro camera, is built to take a pounding and most important, has a superb, big, bright optical viewfinder which uses a proper glass prism and has 100% coverage. The D5200 porro-mirror viewfinder doesn't compare. I also don't see the need for a 24mp sensor in an entry-level camera. 99% of the images taken with this level of camera are never printed, only viewed on a PC screen or a TV. I suspect that, if asked why they designed the D5200 with such a large pixel-count, Nikon's answer will be "Because we can."

frankm8

Please read the article in http://www.nphotomag.com/

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

I think this was the article you were trying to refer to:

http://www.nphotomag.com/2012/12/05/nikon-d5200-vs-d7000-which-camera-is-best-for-you/

MtnMan Loc: ID

I used to have a D5100 and now have a D7000. I'd like my D5100 back if my wife would let me have it back. She won't. I'd definitely go for the D5200.

The D5100 and D7000 have the same 16.3 MP sensor. The D5200 has the latest 24MP sensor with similar dynamic range and low light (high ISO) capability. I do a lot of wildlife shooting and thus often want to crop quite a bit. The more MP helps in that situation.

The thing I like best about the D5100/5200 is the articulated screen. I found it provided many uses I had never imagained. I can't do some things with the D7000 that I was able to do with the D5100 such as use it effectively on my telescope, take images from ground level, and see how we are composed for groups including myself in front of the camera.

I also have an issue with the little green LCD on the D7000. I usually can't read it without my reading glasses, which I usually don't have or want on when out shooting. Plus the large LCD layout on the D7000 sucks compared to the one on the D5100 making you find buttons to do stuff whereas on the D5100 all the things you want to change are easiliy accessible right there on the large LCD. The D7000 large LCD is cluttered with junk I never want to change.

If you have old lenses that require a focusing motor in the camera then you'd want the D7000.

If you plan to take pictures out in the rain then you'd want the D7000.

Otherwise I can't imagine why...especially since we now have the D5200!

Try this through your viewfinder or regular LCD...

MtnMan Loc: ID

Sorry but I did that all the time with my D5100 and SB700.

The D5100/5200 does not have the command mode to allow you to control banks of flashes but you can indeed control one. I also bought one of those $15 covers for the flash which lets enough light for the on-camera flash to control but does not light the subject.

MtnMan Loc: ID

I far prefer the D5100 way of having it all on the one LCD vs. having to search for buttons. I consider it a much more elegant design.

I find the buttons scattered about on the D7000 and the unreadable (without my reading glasses) green LCD and poorly laid out large LCD on the D7000 annoying.

Whether you prefer the size and weight of the D7000 over the D5100 probably depends on your hand size and strength. I am OK with either but my wife much prefers the D5100. I also prefer it when on my telescope. Well, the D7000 is failry unusable on my telescope anyway because it lacks the atriculating screen so I sneak the D5100 away from my wife when I want to do that.

To each their own.

MtnMan Loc: ID

Pretty fair comparision.

It has one typo: the flash speed is 1/200 s for the D5200, not 1/20 s.

BTW I do prefer the viewfinder on the D7000 and forgot to mention that. Not only is it larger and brighter but you can put a grid display on it to help level your images. I like that and don't know if they added it on the D5200.

I also like the front wheel which I only recently discovered lets you adjust ISO while in P mode. I had finally settled on programming the function button on my D5100 for ISO so just pushed it to switch the ISO with the thumbwheel but the second wheel is better...if I can get my finger trained to not turn off the camera instead of adjust the ISO. ;-(

Unfortunately some dope at NIKON made the grid use the "rule of fourths" instead of "rule of thirds". I wonder what that was about? Did they check that idea out with photographers?