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Nikon DX or FX Camera (1 Viewer)

tom24 said:
Having only taken up photography in the past year, I soon realised that I needed a bit more than the d3200 I started with.
I now have a Nikon d7000 and recently a d7200 and i'm more than pleased with both bodies.
I use a Tamron 150-600 and a Nikon 300mm f/4.

I'd recommend you go for the d7200 at the moment.
Next year i'll be going for the d500 when the price comes down, the crop factor in these bodies is why I can't see me needing a full frame body.

I recently put a pic or two in the gallery where you can see the results i'm getting.
Click to expand...

Thanks Tom for your thoughts.
As i replied to Dave, i think i will probably go for the D7200.

Neil M
 
nikonmike said:
Towards the middle of last year i decided to give up birding due to health issues,i traded my long lens and D7100 for a D750,i had made a mistake birding is in my blood so i added a 150-600 to use on the D750,could take bird shots at ISO 12800 no problem the downside was even at lower ISOs i couldn't crop much for the small birds.
Rather than let pride get in the way i sold the D750 and bought a D7200 i find it far better for birding and much better for cropping.
If i had the money still at the moment i would hang fire until some real world results come out from the D500.
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,
Birding is a big passion of mine, and i think the D7200 is the one i will go for as my first ever dslr.

Neil M
 
scatcat said:
Hi Lord Muck,
I would certainly recommend looking at the following:-

Do a search for Nikon d7200 Flickr pool
Also search for Nikon d750 Flickr pool

You will be able to view hundreds of photos taken with each camera body. It will give an insight into how various people are using their choice of camera body.
If exif data is included along with the photos, it also gives an indication of how good or bad certain lenses are.
Click to expand...

Thanks JoeBoy.
The D7200 is the one i will almost certainly go for, plus its half the cost.
I can always buy the D750 later, once ive got some experience behind me.

Neil M
 
opticoholic said:
Ha ha,
Silly me, I thought Lord Muck would not get many replies, but I forgot that the title of this thread invites a discussion of DX vs. FX, and everybody has strong opinions about that! The funny thing is, Lord Muck seems to have disappeared, but hopefully s/he will eventually see all these posts...

I agree with Vespobuteo: There are many different factors that come into consideration when deciding what body and sensor size to use. In general, for me and my own bird photography, I still prefer DX/crop sensors, but most of my photos are in good light with an ISO ~400; I use the best possible lenses, and I almost always use a tripod and often a flash. Given these specific factors, I think I can still crop my DX images a lot, and I often need to, and I think the end result is as good or better than if I had used a full frame body. We've been round and round with this... Here is an old post from over a year ago where I gave examples of how much I was cropping my DX images and still getting nice results: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=3126438#post3126438

A long time ago people on this forum convinced me that a D8XX camera might sometimes give me better results than my D7100/D7200, but I did not want to pay $3K for my camera body. I'm still not convinced that a D750 would match the resolution/detail I get with my D7200 for me, but I could be wrong. For someone who works mostly hand-held in lower light using much higher ISO, maybe the D750 would work better than a D7200.

Dave
Click to expand...

Ive had a long and busy week at work, so Im just catching up with all the good observations of you knowledgeable guys.
Im shocked at the amount of opinions, lol,...but i appreciate every ones thoughts.

Thanks guys,

Neil M
 
These big DX and FX cameras do offer superior optical performance, albeit at a huge cost in size and money. They really are professional tools, appealing perhaps also to enthusiasts with deep pockets (and strong backs, to carry the massive tripods these things require).
The smaller 4/3rds or 1" sensor based cameras do almost as well, but are much more handy and cheaper. For ordinary mortals, birders who travel in steerage with limited baggage allowance, they are much more relevant.
The camera industry is really stepping up their offerings in this space, with new 4/3rds lenses from Olympus and Panasonic/Leica addressing the 600-800mm equivalent telephoto market.
 
Lord Muck said:
Hi Mike,
Birding is a big passion of mine, and i think the D7200 is the one i will go for as my first ever dslr.

Neil M
Click to expand...

Being in the UK i will ask where are you going to purchase your D7200,if you have a good local dealer as i do and you intend to purchase from him thats great.
If you intend to look at gray imports then avoid EBAY,i can if you want give you a link to a UK seller of gray imports that has a shop and gives a 3 year warranty and the D7200 is only £599.
 
etudiant said:
These big DX and FX cameras do offer superior optical performance, albeit at a huge cost in size and money. They really are professional tools, appealing perhaps also to enthusiasts with deep pockets (and strong backs, to carry the massive tripods these things require).
The smaller 4/3rds or 1" sensor based cameras do almost as well, but are much more handy and cheaper. For ordinary mortals, birders who travel in steerage with limited baggage allowance, they are much more relevant.
The camera industry is really stepping up their offerings in this space, with new 4/3rds lenses from Olympus and Panasonic/Leica addressing the 600-800mm equivalent telephoto market.
Click to expand...

Nikon 300mm/4 PF is actually significantly lighter (755grams excl. tripod adapter), smaller AND cheaper than the Olympus 300/4 pro (1475g inc. tripod adapter, 1270g without)

D7200 have 1.3x crop mode so you can get 600mm "equivalent" with 16MP if you want to.

Most of the small MFT cameras is too small for using comfortably with a larger and heavier lens IMO.
 
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The Nikon D7200 Camera

nikonmike said:
Being in the UK i will ask where are you going to purchase your D7200,if you have a good local dealer as i do and you intend to purchase from him thats great.
If you intend to look at gray imports then avoid EBAY,i can if you want give you a link to a UK seller of gray imports that has a shop and gives a 3 year warranty and the D7200 is only £599.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot Mike.

Ive just sent you a PM

Regards,

Neil M
 
Vespobuteo said:
Nikon 300mm/4 PF is actually significantly lighter (755grams excl. tripod adapter), smaller AND cheaper than the Olympus 300/4 pro (1475g inc. tripod adapter, 1270g without)

D7200 have 1.3x crop mode so you can get 600mm "equivalent" with 16MP if you want to.

Most of the small MFT cameras is too small for using comfortably with a larger and heavier lens IMO.
Click to expand...

All true. But the larger micro 4/3 cameras are fine with large lenses IMO, and lighter than Nikon bodies. And so far the 300mm f4 PF is the only birding lens Nikon has produced in its "weight class." Also both Panasonic and Oly are moving towards 20 mp sensors, so a 16 mp crop isn't going to be m 4/3 equivalent any more. It's good to have competition and lots of choices though!
 
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Some great info guys, thanks.

Like Lord Muck, I have been looking at a new camera (long overdue upgrade to Nikon D40X). Having already bought several Nikon F mount lenses (Nikkor 18-55mm, Nikkor 70-300mm, Sigma 150-500mm and Top-Max 420-800mm manual lens), it seems logical that I'm again looking at Nikon - can't really justify spending huge amounts on what is a hobby, so had been looking at D5500, D7200 and D750, and had gravitated to the latter 2. Not interested in the video aspect, so that's not a consideration for me.

Before I read the comments here, I had been leaning to the D750, however I had read that the lenses I already have would be reduced in mega-pixels (by over half) when used with a FF camera. I've also read that they would work fine. Hmm. Can't find a definitive answer. Had thought to buy just the camera body, already having these lenses and saving somewhat on the purchase. Have been swirling back and forth for months now, and really not sure which way to go. Primarily for birding, BIF, far away subjects, and in Scotland, yes often low light.

Grateful if anyone has any knowledge on the lens compatibility, or indeed anything...!

Apologies for coming in on your topic Lord Muck, but the lens issue seems connected. Thanks.
 
Muso said:
Some great info guys, thanks.

Like Lord Muck, I have been looking at a new camera (long overdue upgrade to Nikon D40X). Having already bought several Nikon F mount lenses (Nikkor 18-55mm, Nikkor 70-300mm, Sigma 150-500mm and Top-Max 420-800mm manual lens), it seems logical that I'm again looking at Nikon - can't really justify spending huge amounts on what is a hobby, so had been looking at D5500, D7200 and D750, and had gravitated to the latter 2. Not interested in the video aspect, so that's not a consideration for me.

Before I read the comments here, I had been leaning to the D750, however I had read that the lenses I already have would be reduced in mega-pixels (by over half) when used with a FF camera. I've also read that they would work fine. Hmm. Can't find a definitive answer. Had thought to buy just the camera body, already having these lenses and saving somewhat on the purchase. Have been swirling back and forth for months now, and really not sure which way to go. Primarily for birding, BIF, far away subjects, and in Scotland, yes often low light.

Grateful if anyone has any knowledge on the lens compatibility, or indeed anything...!

Apologies for coming in on your topic Lord Muck, but the lens issue seems connected. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Its not a reduction in pixels as such its the crop factor your talking about,using say the 70-300 on the D750 would leave it at 70-300,using it on the D7200 with the smaller sensor would be like using a 105-450 0n the D750 due to the reduction in the field of view.
Cant remember exactly but if you cropped the FX down to DX you would be left with i think about 10mp but the DX would give you 24mp so in that sense the crop on the FX is losing pixels.
If you think you can fill the FX sensor with the image you want then the D750 is by far the best bet,if you think you will be cropping the image then go for the D7200.
 
Thanks Nikonmike - with a few exceptions, cropping is the norm for me, so leaning back to D7200. I'm not terribly "camera-techy", so appreciate the easy to understand explanation - thanks.
 
I have a D7100 and 300F4PF-VR with 1.4TC. If I'm very careful with hand-holding technique and try to expose to the right, I can get very sharp results and I can crop quite heavily and still get good feather detail. I also have an Oly OM-D EM-5 M4/3 and 100-300 (300-600) equivalent lens, that weighs about the same , and especially for flight shots, never has the same quality unless the birds is really close and I don't have to crop. Whenever I have tried to save weight by taking that gear with me when travelling, I have eventually regretted not having my Nikon, especially now i have this PF lens. (Before, I had the old 300 F4 then the Tamron 150-600, and this is less than half the size and weight).

Here -https://photographylife.com/nikon-dx-vs-fx is an excellent article about the 2 types, and what "crop factor" really means on a Dx sensor. Although they come down on the side of Fx, I think that emphasizes landscapes etc. rather than birds. I'm very happy with my current setup.

Richard
 
Just spent 7 weeks in S Africa, used the D750 and D7200 with 300PF, 300 f2.8VR + TC's etc

Taken a lot of shots of small birds, with both bodies

I have never liked the DX D7xxx and just still cannot accept the noisy images

There is no comparison between the ISO performance at every level (and clean images therefrom), between the D750 and D7200 - The D750 is way ahead - I bought my D7200 this year to replace the D7100

Glad I kept my D700 as a back up

I just cannot get on with the D7200 and will put if up for sale when I am next in the UK

IMHO the D7200 is just not the way to go if you are even just semi serious about cropped small bird images, performance is inconsistent and noisy in all but the best light - OK you will get some good images, but I was disappointed with many

I have read all the rave reviews ............ but just don't agree

The D7200 may be OK for general photography but not for birds, purely IMHO .. others will disagree - (but I am referring to bird images, particularly cropped small bird images)

If you are looking for a cheaper body than the D750 ... what's the D610 like - does it have the same sensor as the D750?
 
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BillN said:
Just spent 7 weeks in S Africa, used the D750 and D7200 with 300PF, 300 f2.8VR + TC's etc

Taken a lot of shots of small birds, with both bodies

I have never liked the DX D7xxx and just still cannot accept the noisy images

There is no comparison between the ISO performance at every level (and clean images therefrom), between the D750 and D7200 - The D750 is way ahead - I bought my D7200 this year to replace the D7100

Glad I kept my D700 as a back up

I just cannot get on with the D7200 and will put if up for sale when I am next in the UK

IMHO the D7200 is just not the way to go if you are even just semi serious about cropped small bird images, performance is inconsistent and noisy in all but the best light - OK you will get some good images, but I was disappointed with many

I have read all the rave reviews ............ but just don't agree

The D7200 may be OK for general photography but not for birds, purely IMHO .. others will disagree - (but I am referring to bird images, particularly cropped small bird images)

If you are looking for a cheaper body than the D750 ... what's the D610 like - does it have the same sensor as the D750?
Click to expand...

The D610 is close to the D750 in IQ but AF is not that great.

I kind of prefer FX also but the D7200 is not a bad camera, it's just the D750 that is so darn good...

and remember that good birds shots have been taken with far worse cams than the D7200... ;)

Also depends on if you are pixel-peeping at 100% on screen or actually printing photos in normal sizes like a3-a2.
 
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