D5100 or D7000

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RCAnderson

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Hi all, got a decision I'm find hard at the moment...:shrug::shrug::shrug:

I'm wanting to upgrade my D40x, and I can't decide if I should get the D5100 or the D7000, has anyone made the same decision recently (or someone else, of course :)), and would be able to help me with it?

So far, the pros I have thought of for each are:

D5100:
Same, or atleast very similar, image quality, but at a lower price.

D7000:
AF drive motor. - The main advantage, as it allows me a larger choice of lenses.
Larger body.
Dual displays.

They're the main things that's causing the hard decision. If the price difference was less, I would probably go straight for the D7000, but as it's about £300, I could get a reasonable marco lens second hand for that (the next lens I'm wanting)

Another question, are the newer AF-S lenses any better/worse quality than their similar AF counterparts (were available), that it's not worth investing in a AF driven body, as I don't have any non AF-S lenses?

Cheers all :D:D
 
Not sure what the answer is here. But myself would be interested in the opinion of others also.

To throw something else into the mix secondhand D300/s are in that price bracket also. May find that the D7000 will soften in price once the D400 come out, as the D300 soften when the D7000 came out.

I guess if you cannot wait then D5100 if you can wait then D7000 (someday supply will equal demand, once production is up).
 
I have both and excellent cameras they are too.

They are aimed at different ends of the market, as for picture quality, I can't tell the difference between them.
One is heavy and expensive the other lighter, smaller and cheaper.

You-pays-your-money, you makes your choice, go and get a look at both before you choose.

Oh.....The D5100 does have that wonderful flip-out screen, D7000 does not. :'(

D in W
 
Well, I guess getting both is one way to get round, it :p

I think I'm edging towards the D5100, because it's almost the same camera, just shrunk in both size, and price.

I had actually forgotten about the swivel screen, however there's never been a point where I wished I could swivel the screen on my D40X, however I also don't have live view, so those two might go together quite nicely :)

And I will be going to have a look at them before I buy one, just wanted a few other opinions first, so have in the back of my mind whilst choosing :)
 
I think there are a lot more benefits of the D7000 compared to the D5100 than you have listed, such as screen, view finder duel card slots, more control buttons ect.

If cost is an issue I would think its s choice between the D90 and D5100, which are about the same cost.
 
I find the D7000 just big enough ...just. a smaller camera would cripple me.

The newer lenses all have better coatings so they have better colour rendition, flare prevention and contrast.
 
Here's my take on this; If you research and research something, you might end up drawing lists of negatives and positives to rationalise things.

If you end up with a list where the major negative is 'price', then that's what you need, and you just have to accept that you need to spend (or save) a little more to get it.

Otherwise, you'll end up focusing on the other little negative points until they become overwhelming, and you'll end up as part of the old adage 'buy cheap, buy twice'!
 
danbroad said:
Here's my take on this; If you research and research something, you might end up drawing lists of negatives and positives to rationalise things.

If you end up with a list where the major negative is 'price', then that's what you need, and you just have to accept that you need to spend (or save) a little more to get it.

Otherwise, you'll end up focusing on the other little negative points until they become overwhelming, and you'll end up as part of the old adage 'buy cheap, buy twice'!
Click to expand...

:thinking:
 
RCAnderson said:
Hi all, got a decision I'm find hard at the moment...:shrug::shrug::shrug:

I'm wanting to upgrade my D40x, and I can't decide if I should get the D5100 or the D7000, has anyone made the same decision recently (or someone else, of course :)), and would be able to help me with it?

So far, the pros I have thought of for each are:

D5100:
Same, or atleast very similar, image quality, but at a lower price.

D7000:
AF drive motor. - The main advantage, as it allows me a larger choice of lenses.
Larger body.
Dual displays.

They're the main things that's causing the hard decision. If the price difference was less, I would probably go straight for the D7000, but as it's about £300, I could get a reasonable marco lens second hand for that (the next lens I'm wanting)

Another question, are the newer AF-S lenses any better/worse quality than their similar AF counterparts (were available), that it's not worth investing in a AF driven body, as I don't have any non AF-S lenses?

Cheers all :D:D
Click to expand...

Hi mate, D7000 for sure! Bought mine 2 months ago and its brilliant. It won the advanced dslr camera of the year award. Not mentioning the functions advantage on d7k even. The biggest drawback on d5k should be, that it doesnt have a built in motor. So if u get lens like the superb tokina 11-16 f2.8, you wont b able to autofocus!! Thats my advice..
 
If you want the best camera out of the 2 then it's the d7k if you want the cheapest of the 2 then its the 5100

Compare a 5100 to a D90 not a D7000, not in the same league
 
The 5100 is more difficult to use if you want to do cool stuff as well as you constantly have to search through menus to customise things. On the 7000 its all done using the buttons and control wheels and is SO much nicer. I went from a 5k to a 7k and won't look back.

Plus the 7k has the LCD screen on top which I find really useful.

The 5100 does have the flip out screen but I found this to be fairly useless on the 5k. If Live View was actually any good then it might be worth doing but since LV is so **** where is the need for the articulated screen?
 
Has to be the D7000, I moved from a D5000, the D5000 was a fantastic 1st DSLR to have, but I found myself fiddling with menus too much. I just appreciated the extra buttons of the D7000 to control ISO WB etc. . I also love the fact that it has 2 thumb wheel dials instead of one, a great help when shooting in M mode as both both aperture and shutter speed are easily controllable.
The D7000 generally feels nice to handle, the D5000 felt really small in my hands.
 
RCAnderson said:
Hi all, got a decision I'm find hard at the moment...:shrug::shrug::shrug:

I'm wanting to upgrade my D40x, and I can't decide if I should get the D5100 or the D7000, has anyone made the same decision recently (or someone else, of course :)), and would be able to help me with it?

So far, the pros I have thought of for each are:

D5100:
Same, or atleast very similar, image quality, but at a lower price.

D7000:
AF drive motor. - The main advantage, as it allows me a larger choice of lenses.
Larger body.
Dual displays.

They're the main things that's causing the hard decision. If the price difference was less, I would probably go straight for the D7000, but as it's about £300, I could get a reasonable marco lens second hand for that (the next lens I'm wanting)

Another question, are the newer AF-S lenses any better/worse quality than their similar AF counterparts (were available), that it's not worth investing in a AF driven body, as I don't have any non AF-S lenses?

Cheers all :D:D
Click to expand...

RCAnderson said:
Well, I guess getting both is one way to get round, it :p

I think I'm edging towards the D5100, because it's almost the same camera, just shrunk in both size, and price.

I had actually forgotten about the swivel screen, however there's never been a point where I wished I could swivel the screen on my D40X, however I also don't have live view, so those two might go together quite nicely :)

And I will be going to have a look at them before I buy one, just wanted a few other opinions first, so have in the back of my mind whilst choosing :)
Click to expand...


That's where the swivel screen comes into it's own.

If you want a major upgrade, go for the D7k. Personally I'm trying my best to hold out from buying a D300s and saving up more money for it's replacement.
 
The big difference as far as I can see is in the Hi ISO performance. If you generally shoot in good light up to say ISO 800 on you existing camera you are unlikely to get any real benefit from the D7000. If you use ISO above 800 then you will probably get much more value out of the D7000.
 
Ok, I had the same situation, upgrading from a D40. Spent hours and hours on forums, comparison sites etc trying to decide between the D90/D5100/D7000. Strong reason for every one, but in the end I went for the D5100.

Why? The D90 is loved and revered by many, turns out great images, but it IS an old tech camera. So between the D7000 and 5100... I could afford the 7000 but did I NEED it, yes, it had all the bells and whistles, things I'd never probably use, all the weather proofing, mag body, etc etc. I kept reading how if I was going to "grow" as a photographer the 7000 was the one.

Well, I've been taking pictures for nearly 45 years and I think I've grown enough. I was a pro for 15 years, used Nikons since 1981, Hasselblads since 1984, I mean I KNOW how to take photos.

So I went for the 5100 - same image quality (for what I do) as the 7000, but in a light body. Yup, that was the decider, the weight of the 7000. I have a 16-85 as my walk around lens, and that teamed with the 5100 suits me fine. I've got to an age where I don't want to lug massive weight around all day. (The D40 with the kit 18-55 turns out terrific images, in fact I'm going to keep it as it REALLY light, and is a great backup.)

So far I'm more than happy with the 5100. Haven't even tried the video yet!!
 
Ok, well I've been reading though the replies, and I popped into Jessops this afternoon after work, for half an hour with the pair of cameras, and although it's not really enough time to fully get to know how the cameras would be, I loved the D7000. So now it's hard again, as I was kinda hoping I would just decide the D7000 is fairly similar.

Thanks to everyone for their input so far, hopefully I'll make a decision soon :)
 
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