Which DX body do I buy 7000 or 5200 or other

[znelbok]

So with the quote in for the repair on my D80, I now need to make a decision on what to do and one thought is to just buy a new body.

The money from isurance will cover most of what I want to do fortunately (I am pretty sure I dont have to get it repaired).

Do I buy a D7000 or D5200.

The 7000 has been around a little while now and a grey body is in the order of $700-$800. The 5200 is not out yet but will probably be a little higher in price.

The megapixle rating of the 5200 is higher than the 7000, but thats not a sighn of quality. Is the 7000 any better than the 5200 [expected to be]?

Mind you, I have D600 now, but the D80 was my wifes camera and although she is a point and shoot photographer, I should relly replace it. I will use it as a second camera from time to time as well.

Maybe the 3200 is a better choice, but I am not so sure on that one.

I am thinking of a 18-300 VRII lens as well, something that is a good alrounder for just about any occasion. The FX lenses I have obviously can be used if the need arises to get a better shot from teh DX body.

Any thoughts on the matter appreciated.

Mick

[Tommo1965]

Id buy the D7000...the images it produces are still first class even when compared to the newer High MP count sensors, and being another step up the ladder from the D5200 Id expect its better built and has more user features..

its quite a lot of camera for around $800

[WhoDo]

If it's your wife's camera you're replacing, and you already have a D7000 with a full frame sensor (that's what a D600 is really, isn't it? :p)What about the D3200 instead? It's out now, is still a good body that can share lenses with you, and it will be a lot more useful for your wife! Just a thought. :confused013

[arthurking83]

D600 is more like a D80(10Mp sensor) in crop mode, otherwise the feature set of the D600 will be similar if not better in most ways to the D7000.

If I were in this situation, I'd be looking to a D5200 if it's for the wife, depending on how keen she is about photography.

[znelbok]

Why would you be considering the D5200? or the 3200?

Weight has always been one of her concerns, and while she is not a "keen" photographer, she enjoys taking photos when she can pry it out of my hands.

She thinks she can get a camera as light as the AW100 she has, but I keep trying to tell her that that is not going to happen.

The main thing is I want to be able to use it with all my lenses and flash so basically going by that it has to be Nikon. Video needs to be there but thats on all of them now.

[arthurking83]

3200 sensor is the same.
a good performer.
(a friend recently got a 3200 and the images look good).

Noise performance is better on the 3200/5200 than on the 7000 if the image is judged on a final output size only.
It looks to me that the 7000 actually has better noise performance at the pixel level, and (to me!!) this only affects colour accuracy on a final image.

That is, if better looking colour is more important, the D7000 sensor may actually look better at smallish output sizes(what I judged was only at 1024 sized images via ViewNX2).

If price and size are more important, then 3200 is good, but it'll have a lower spec focusing system and a few other hardware/software missing compared to the 5200.
5200 basically has similar hardware specs to the D7000, save for some 'more pro' features such as user memory banks and whatever else ... eg. the 5200(AFAIK) doesn't have Nikon wireless flash system, whereas the D700 has).
That's what I mean about 'how keen' she may be about photography.

A D7000 will have more features to keep most enthusiasts thrilled, whereas the larger sensor is the only advantage of the D5200(specs say that the D5200 will have slightly better video quality too tho!)

price/size/video capability(3200/5200), or system specs(7000)? .. which one is more important.

[swifty]

How bout a V2 and an FT1 adapter.
Seriously... its small, very capable and compatible with all your Nikkors (AF and all, via the FT1 adapter).
Ok.. we don't know exactly how capable it is yet and its kinda ugly but going by the V1, the V2 should solve all its shortcomings.
It does a few things even a D4 can't.

[znelbok]

I had this thought this morning when I got my copy of the myNikon Life magazien and saw the underwater housing for the V1. An now that you mention it I remember seeing the adapter for them as well. Something to look into - thanks

Decisions decisions. I am going to take a trip to JB and see which one she likes. Just got to keep away from teh prety red ones so she does not base it on colour:hb:

[Mathy]

I had this thought this morning when I got my copy of the myNikon Life magazien and saw the underwater housing for the V1. An now that you mention it I remember seeing the adapter for them as well. Something to look into - thanks

Decisions decisions. I am going to take a trip to JB and see which one she likes. Just got to keep away from teh prety red ones so she does not base it on colour:hb:

I'm pretty sure that the underwater housing is for the J1/J2. However, I was about to suggest the V1 with the FT1 mount, as the V1 price has dropped, and you can buy the FT1 mount from OS for about $250AU landed, and still use your other Nikkor lenses. Plus you get a lightweight camera with a very fast AF system (in good light) and pretty good HD video capability - gives you some added flexibility. Not sure that the V2 is shipping yet. Also, the V1 only comes in black or white :D cheers Deb

[Epoc]

These pages covers the pros and cons of the D7000 vs D5200

http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon-D5200-vs-Nikon_D7000

http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon_Coolpix_5200-vs-Nikon_D7000

D7000 wins hands down for me personally.

[AnthonyIneffable]

The D7000 has a metal body. The D5200 has a plastic body. Probably not a big difference really but the heavy metal body does feel better. 24MP is too much for an APSC sensor. The image is not really better than the 16MP D7000 sensor. Diffraction becomes significant with the D5200 at small apertures because of the small pixel size. Also, the D7000 has a focussing motor which allow you to fit lenses such as the Tamron 90mm. The D5200 does not have a focussing motor and will only be able to auto-focus with new lenses (AFS). Also, the D7000 is compatible with the Nikon flash control system, whereas the D5200 is not AFAIK. On the other hand, the D7000 does not have in-camera HDR or a flippy-uppy screen.

[Pezzie]

I went the D5200 without knowing squat about digital SLRs. I've only had it for a week, but am very happy with it so far. Still getting my head around DSLRs. I used a work D90 a while back, and was a Cannon A1 user pre-digital. (Miss my fish eye lens).