Nikon D7xxx owners thread

Zachary? :lol:

Another angle I thought is that improvements year on year have slowed down.

In the 3 years from your D60 coming out until the D7000 things moved on leaps and bounds. I would suggest less so in the 2.5 years between D7000 > D7100, hence people suggesting the D7000 is 95% the camera the D71000 is?

And in reality, how much better will things get in the next 2 years?

Sorry Zarch, bloody ipad changing what I write!
 
Had my D7100 a couple of days now and must say I find it quite challenging.
Initially shooting in RAW I found the images quite soft using a variety of Nikon lenses and when trying to sharpen in CS6 or with NIK plugins a great deal of noise was introduced - I am wondering if this is an error with Adobe's converter or just my shaky hands :shrug:
I've swapped to shooting in jpeg fine and incorporating some in-camera sharpening and this seems to do the trick, not only producing a sharper image from camera but also don't get the noise introduced when using CS6 and NIK plugins.
Would be interested to get the views of any other D7100 users.
 
Hi gramps, seems i'm in the same boat as yourself.

I've had the camera for over 3 weeks now & unable to achieve the same level of detail as I got from my D7000. (I use Nikons ViewNX2)

I've taken nearly 2000 shots! most of which are multiple shots at a series of objects, indoors & outdoors, at varying distances, shutter speeds, apertures, AF modes, VR on/off.........

Initially I kept the settings the same (as far as I remembered) as on my previous D7000, but also tried just about every variation/change of settings since & apart from +7 fine-tune, nothing seems to help?

I'm waiting to hear back from a guy fairly local to me, who also changed from a D7000 & sees a big improvement in quality/detail of his pics.
I intend to swap cameras with him for a short time, just a few minutes will do, to compare shots from both bodies.
 
I've had my d7100 a few weeks but so far I've been out twice for good trials. I haven't noticed any noise being introduced when sharpening but I first found a difference with using the 300 f4 and 1.4 tc. They didn't seem as sharp as I thought they would be, but now I'm thinking it may be my technique. I use LR4.4 to process 12bit RAW files.

One of first photos on my first week, not as good as I thought it would be.

ISO1100


Havergate Hare by Rob'81, on Flickr

It got a bit better with 1.4tc.

ISO 640


Havergate Hare by Rob'81, on Flickr

Things got better once I took off the 1.4 tc

ISO 200


Havergate Gull by Rob'81, on Flickr

Next week with 300mm f4 (same location)

ISO 400


Brown Hare by Rob'81, on Flickr

With 300mm with 1.7tc

ISO720


Brown Hare Reflection by Rob'81, on Flickr

Ive not had a chance to test taking images further away, most images so far have been within 10m. I'm off on a photo weekend in a few days so I will get a better chance to try it out then. The resolution on this sensor I think will take a bit of taming, so far I quite pleased with the auto focus improvement, it just seems so much better. I've also only tried the 300 f4 lens so far too.
 
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I'm really enjoying the D7100. I'm finding the images very sharp when using the Nikon 16-85 VR lens and the colours excellent.

The focus system is fast and accurate, best camera I have owned TBH.
 
Decent images there Rob.

These are about as near as I can get for comparison. (D7000 traded in for D7100) SOOC jpgs which wouldn't be `keepers` anyway.

Both these were taken in shade (the robin maybe not quite as shaded though)

Both hand-held, but braced against tree/wall, similar distance 4-5 mts away & VR active.


D7100. 300mm F2.8 lens + 1.7TC, 1/1000th, ISO 360 @ F5.6

6s5phk.jpg



D7000. 300mm F2.8 lens + 1.7TC, 1/640th sec, ISO 1250 @ 6.3.

jpeg SOOC
.
35btms9.jpg
 
Carl, that was the sort of image I was getting when shooting RAW, disappointingly soft even though when looking at the rear LCD in playback they looked sharp, (I know it's smaller but even so).

There is something for me that is wrong with my RAW files when moved into CS6.

@architectfadi: I tried using View NX2 and they didn't look too bad as SOOC RAWs but any treatment in CS6 to improve them deteriorated the quality considerably.

I'm sure that the OLP filter removal has an impact on technique (as was foretold for the D800E) but I wasn't expecting to need to use jpeg.
 
This was 300mm F2.8 lens (no TC) 1/1600th, ISO 720, @ F4, again braced against a wall.
Fine-tune +7 to get it as sharp as it gets.

SOOC jpeg

.
flzxgw.jpg
 
Gramps, I shot mainly jpg with my D7000, but could still seem to get better images than I can now????

I think slightly higher shutter speeds have helped, but something doesn't seem right somehow. I'm stumped!
 
I'm using jpeg fine and increasing the in-camera sharpening to around 6 to get useable images that I can work with in CS6 - I haven't kept any of my original RAW shots but they were extremely disappointing and worse than the output from any camera I have owned.

If it was just one lens I would be suspicious but I've used Nikon 10.5 f2.8, Nikon 35-70 f2.8, Nikon 24-120 f4 and Nikon 35 f2 so I've eliminated individual lens issues (they have all worked fine anyway with the D3S and D7000).
 
Had my D7100 a couple of days now and must say I find it quite challenging.
Initially shooting in RAW I found the images quite soft using a variety of Nikon lenses and when trying to sharpen in CS6 or with NIK plugins a great deal of noise was introduced - I am wondering if this is an error with Adobe's converter or just my shaky hands :shrug:
I've swapped to shooting in jpeg fine and incorporating some in-camera sharpening and this seems to do the trick, not only producing a sharper image from camera but also don't get the noise introduced when using CS6 and NIK plugins.
Would be interested to get the views of any other D7100 users.

I had a sigma lens that was quite soft. The nikon 10-24, 35 mm and sigma 105 macro are all very sharp.

I also find increasing iso to remove details as much as introducing noise. While playing about with the camera, i took a shot of some trees at f1.8, and wondererd how much sharper it would be at f4, and it was considerably softer. a quick check showed that the i had auto iso on (duh) and the camera had pusced the iso, reducing the detail. Note i was using the rear lcd to do this quick checks.
 
I haven't used it on a tripod as yet.
Handling wise it's not so different to the D7000 which I had no problems with, though of course that had the OLP filter ... it's just so noticeable that a really clean sharp shot isn't possible with RAW OOC and no amount of sharpening will bring it back.
I'm not so annoyed with the output at jpeg fine but that's not what I really wanted.
I'm going to do some shooting with RAW in slot 1 and jpeg fine in slot 2 and see how it compares like for like.
 
I had a sigma lens that was quite soft. The nikon 10-24, 35 mm and sigma 105 macro are all very sharp.

I also find increasing iso to remove details as much as introducing noise. While playing about with the camera, i took a shot of some trees at f1.8, and wondererd how much sharper it would be at f4, and it was considerably softer. a quick check showed that the i had auto iso on (duh) and the camera had pusced the iso, reducing the detail. Note i was using the rear lcd to do this quick checks.

10.5, 35-70 & 24-120 f4 are no slouches and worked well on the D7000 and still do on the D3S.
As for ISO, I was shooting at 100 - 200 so that shouldn't have been an issue.
 
Same here. The lenses are the same ones I used on the D7000, which I used without problems for over 2 years & got some half-decent pics.

I even took a few pics inside the house while the camera & lens were placed on a kitchen worktop & used delayed shutter......still not as sharp as expected.
 
10.5, 35-70 & 24-120 f4 are no slouches and worked well on the D7000 and still do on the D3S.
As for ISO, I was shooting at 100 - 200 so that shouldn't have been an issue.

I suppose if you get it on a tripod with a narrow aperture that rules out almost everything but a bad camera or lens. Im trying to think of any settings you may have inadvertently set but cant think of any that could soften a raw image, apart from autoiso bumping up the iso, but thats already been ruled out.
 
Well the D7100 went back this morning and I got a full refund - no way I can work with images that come out of camera in a mist!

Now what to get :thinking:
 
gramps, is it not worth trying another D7100? Lots of images i've seen look fantastic & folk are very happy with it & reckon it's an improvement on the D7000.
 
Store didn't have another one Carl and I'm a bit cautious.

Final test this morning with a Nikon 24 mm f1.4 @f4 - AF marker point directly on the nearest flower head





 
No reason not to get another one, it's a great camera. Did the shop have any more in stock you could check?
 
No reason not to get another one, it's a great camera. Did the shop have any more in stock you could check?

No - the in-store demo had the same issues, as acknowledged by the staff ... "Its not a faulty camera sir it's a faulty design"!
 
gramps, I understand your thoughts.

Pic defo isn't right, that's for sure. Similar to what i'm getting really.

btw, did you try out the `fine-tune` at all?

Also, can I ask, did you have any problem returning it? What did they ask/say?

Only reason i'm asking is, IF I need to return mine (which has nearly 2k actuations now over the past 3 weeks) my local dealer will surely want proof/good reason.

Thanks.
 
No - the in-store demo had the same issues, as acknowledged by the staff ... "Its not a faulty camera sir it's a faulty design"!

Gramps, i shall dig out some un processed pictures for you to see that the D7100 is not designed to take soft pictures! See the picture of a robin above, though that did have some clarity applied.
 
Carl I tried AF micro-adjust but it made no difference at all and this was with multiple Nikon lenses.
The store initially talked about 'exchange' for a lens but that was a non-starter and as they didn't have another D7100 my options were limited, I asked about a D800 but they didn't have any of them either - I didn't want a D600 but they didn't have them anyway.
They wanted me to leave it with them and come back tomorrow for a decision but I wasn't having that and so they refunded to card.
 
Thanks gramps.

I keep hoping that there's some setting I can change, or technique I can adapt from my previous D7000 that will make a big difference, but I seem to have run out of options with it. Shame too, because I actually like the features & feel of the D7100.

I've been in touch with Nikon this past week via their web help service & sent a few pics off, but not entirely happy with their responses tbh, but i'll reserve judgement for now.


I managed to speak to and I'm meeting up with the guy, Saturday lunch time, who is local(ish) to me & he's more than happy with the sharpness & detail of his D7100 (he also moved from the D7000) so will be able to take shots with the same lens on both bodies & compare. That way there will be no ambiguity.
 
Have you tried using liveview to focus? Or used manual focus to rule out af problems?
I had the same problems with the d7000s i had just couldnt get a sharp detailed pic out of it.
 
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Nope, I like things to work when I buy them rather than fiddle about trying to make the camera work as it should - I know my lenses are good and tbh if you can't get a sharp pic with a 24 f1.4 then you know something is wrong.
For me it was get it back to shop!
 
I'm pretty impressed. Not really delved in to any menus or made any major adjustments yet.

16-85 VR - about 50% crop:

8666657211_f5d9c96cce_c.jpg
 
hence people suggesting the D7000 is 95% the camera the D71000 is?

And in reality, how much better will things get in the next 2 years?

If in two years we're onto the D71000 I'm giving up lol :lol:

From Dec 2009 until now I've been using a D3000. Made the decision after firing a D3s that I would get one of those someday. Have been looking around but not found anything within my price range at a time when I've had the spare cash to put forward. After looking at some other potential upgrades I started looking at the D7000 and was surprised at the current prices. Anyhow, I placed a bid on one I spotted on eBay expecting to get outbid at the last moment (turns out I didn't :eek:).

Has anyone here made this upgrade and if there is, what were your thoughts? My main gripes about the D3000 are the small buffer (3 RAW's and it freezes while it catches up) and a fair helping of image noise from the word 'Go'. On the D7000 I should be able to max it out at 6fps with a better buffer. I am hoping the noise control will be substantially better than the D3000 but we shall see when it arrives.
 
I met up with a guy who is happy with his new camera & saw some of his bird shots on his monitor, stunning sharp images. You could even see the barbs on feather detail, on blue tits, taken from 4-5 mts away.

Anyway, he tried my camera with his lens & couldn't get the same detail. Also mine seems noisier/grainier, especially in the shadows.

I rang the supplier this morning & I've to take it into them tomorrow & they're going to send it to off to Nikon.

I'd rather be without it for a few weeks, than struggle for evermore. Hopefully it'll be sorted soon, so in the meantime i'll have to use my trusty D700.
 
Let's hope they quickly get it sorted for you :)
 
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