D7200 vs. D810

It is time for me to buy a new camera. I am not a gear/specs guy, so any help is appreciated. I am heavily invested in the Nikon line up. I use my equipment primarily for wildlife and landscape images. Occasionally I photograph portraits and wedding photography. I have very little interest in video. Currently, I use a Nikon D7000 with a D90 for a backup. I have been mostly happy with this combo. I wish that both cameras had more high ISO capability and a larger buffer allowing for longer streams of continuous RAW file shots for action sequences. The d7000 is more grainy than I would like and it sucks dust inside of it like a vacuum. Other than that, the D7000 has been a good camera. I think the D90, although outdated, was one of Nikon's best products. I still love that camera.

I had set my sights on the D810. For a long time, I had wanted to try a full frame camera. The D810 seemed to be a good fit for my needs, particularly with the ability to switch to a 1.5 crop for extended focal length for wildlife photography. The announcement of the D7200 has shaken my determination to purchase the D810.

I have three questions:
1. The D7200 will have 1 full stop improvement on high ISO ability over the D810. Will this be an apples to apples comparison? Or will the sensor size/noise ratio have a mitigating effect on the D7200?

2. I realize that the D810 will have better quality results due to the full frame sensor. Has anyone compared the D810 to the D7100? Is the difference worth $2000 more for the D810??

3. I have been mostly happy with the results from my D7000. I have been able to make some huge images from the D7000. The 50% increase of megapixels on the D7200 vs. the D7000 leads me to believe that I will have the ability to make even larger images if I choose to. However, I was disappointed with the amount of noise that is displayed on the D7000's images, at all ISO's. I believe (and may be wrong) that Nikon tried to jam too many megapixels onto the same sensor for the D7000 that they used on the D90. It is my understanding that the D7200 will use the same Expeed 4 Image processor that the D810 uses. Will this help the D7200 reduce the noise issue of the D7000?

Are there any other concerns/issues that I should be considering?

Thank you in advance for any help and for your patience if I misused the terminology.
Sincerely,
Greg

Greg,

I have a D-7100 and I like it a lot. It has a smaller buffer than the just released 7200, but that doesn't really matter to me since I shoot mainly landscapes. I like the size and weight of the 7100, and the 7200 is comparable in this regard. I've been quite happy with 7100 all the way around and the noise is very, very low even at higher ISOs.

Here's a "First Impressions" article about the D-7200 at dpReview that goes into a lot more detail.

--P

I have a D7200 (previously had the D300s) and love it (though the buffer size can be annoying).

The D810 is a monster of a camera with huge files and demands more from the photographer. Why not cross-shop with the D610?

The one area where the D810 beats out any camera on the market is the ability to recover under and over-exposed areas in Photoshop. With this capability, nothing comes close to the dynamic range this camera produces. I shoot a D800e and a D4. I generally use the D4 only for night photography because of extended ISO capabilities.

You might want to seriously consider the Nikon D750, or at least compare with the D7200 and D810. DXO Mark rates the D750 just slightly below the D810 in dynamic range and overall score, and gives it a slightly higher rating for low light performance. For wildlife, the D750 has a slightly higher frame rate than either the 7200 or 810. The D750 is a full-frame camera, but has a 1.5x crop factor setting (and a 1.2x).

The D7200 is certainly no slouch. I have a D7100 and have sold prints as large as 40x60 canvas from its files. I'm now using it as my backup for the D750.

I have a D7200 (previously had the D300s) and love it (though the buffer size can be annoying).

Luke, don't mean D-7100?

According to B&H, the 7200 should be available on March 19. Body Only: $1196.95. With DX NIKKOR 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Lens: $1496.95.

--P

Greg, thanks for posting this. I also have a D7000 and have been considering upgrading. I have been looking at the D750 fro all the reasons Greg Vaughn mentioned, but like you, the D7200 announcement has me rethinking my choice.

FYI - the dust you mention in the D7000 may actually be oil. The early models, like mine, have a problem with oil splattering the sensor. My Rocket-Air blower doesn't remove any of the spots so I clean my sensor frequently. I didn't learn about this until after the warranty expired.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I read the article Preston posted and I checked out the D610 and the D750. From what I can tell, Nikon has made the D7200 to have features that are the same or better than all of the superior models. The FPS is almost as fast as the D750, the ISO is superior to every camera, at 24 megapixels (DX), it has the same cropability as the D810. I realize that these are not all perfect comparisons, but it seems to me that the D7200 as an all purpose camera can't be beat. For $1000 less than the D750 and $2000 less than the D800, it seems like an excellent buy. The money saved can buy some significant glass or airfares....

I am trying to keep an open mind in this process, so if anyone can counter those points or push my thought process in a different direction, I would still welcome the suggestions.
Thank you again for your thoughts!

Steve, I haven't noticed the oil, but I can't keep the D7000 clean. The D90 is always spotless...

Just one comment regarding the D610/D750. You say you shoot wildlife - I would discount these two cameras for this reason alone. For wildlife you want pixel density, which of course the D7200 delivers most of, but let's focus on the FX cameras for a second. When using the 1.5x crop mode on the 24 MP FX cameras, you'll end up in the vicinity of 10 MP, which is really not much (less than the D90 even). The D810 is also inferior to the DX models in this regard, but at least you get a decent amount of pixels (16 MP) to work with. So, probably the D810 is "the best of both worlds" - class leading in FX (Canon's not out yet as far as I know ), and still useful in DX. But I full understand your enthusiasm for the D7200 - had it been around half a year ago, I might not have upgraded to FX.

Good luck!

Basil,
You have eloquently stated my thoughts. The D810 seems great, but for nearly $2000.00 less, the D7200 seems to be a better value for me right now. I am just hoping that the D7200 is a precursor for even more upgrades for the Nikon line up.
Greg

Hi Greg! Sorry I am joining this discussion so late, but I thought I would throw in a bit different perspective, having owned the D7000, D300's (similar to the D90 in sensor but with better depth), two D7100's and a D600.

The D7200 looks very intriguing (and promising) indeed, although I surely wish it were a D400. The increased buffer finally addresses the Achilles heel of the D7000, 7100, 600, 610 lines. I hope that if you indeed decide to go this way that you will be delighted with your decision and the results.

I just wanted to throw you a bit of a curveball, as I process a lot of D7100 files alongside my D600 files, and I can tell you there is a MARKED difference between the two...some might say there is no comparison. Specifically, the D600 files are infinitely nicer-looking across the board. I've formed this opinion over the last year+ of Jenaya, Josiah and I shooting theses models and oftentimes side by side in identical light, etc. Not only does the full-frame sensor pull away dramatically in low-light, but the files simply look significantly higher quality even down to ISO 100. Admittedly, I would be hard pressed to qualify or quantify that statement, but it's undeniable. Jenaya, Josiah and I often exchange cameras, sometimes mid-shoot, and it really doesn't matter which of the three of us took the pictures, when going through the RAW files we will invariably choose the D600 images every time for IQ and "feel."

I bring the D600 into the equation as a weak corollary to a D750 or the full-frame crowd of Nikon cameras in general. I have no doubt the D7200 will kick some butt on focus and buffer, my two biggest complaints of the D600 (again, I know that model isn't in the running).

For me, the larger pixel size of the full-frame cameras provide much nicer results in a number of areas of IQ. Interestingly, I can crop the D600 files more significantly with better-looking results than the tighter pixel density of the D7100 files.

Had the D7200 been out when I bought the two D7100's, I would have been overjoyed...but my general sense is I would still like the D600 files better (total speculation and rooted only in my experience thus far with DX vs FX files).

I'm surely not trying to sway you one way or the other, but if I were in the market right now I would find it hard to choose the D7200 over the D750 or D810...unless of course Nikon has made truly significant gains in DX file quality (I'm confident the files will be better than those of the D7100 but I have a hard time believing they will equal or better those from the two FX bodies).

I will go on record as saying the Nikon 24MP FX sensors yield beautiful results...great dynamic range, good noise characteristics and overall IQ and a wonderful overall feel.

I sadly also have to say I've had severe oil splatter issues with one of the D7100's and my D600 (which also had the "debris/shedding" shutter issue)...I currently have oil splatter on all three sensors actually.

Whatever you choose, I hope you are overjoyed with it and share with us all you love about the new Nikon in your kit!

Hi again, Greg! I was on Brad Hill's excellent blog today and noticed he just wrote a great entry on the D7200 for wildlife including thoughts comparing it to Nikon's FX offerings here (scroll to the March 9th entry).

Cheers!

Thanks John! I appreciate your perspective and I have read the review by Brad Hill. The more I think on it, the more I feel like I will end up buying a D7200 in the near future and a D810 a few months from now. I am in the middle of a wildlife project, where I would value the improvements that the D7200 can offer over my D7000. The D810 is a camera that I am sure I will want to put to use for landscapes. I am not impressed with the D750. 24mp full frame doesn't compare to 24mp DX for the extra reach that the d7200 will give.
Thank you for helping me to think it through. I truly appreciate it!
Greg