Upgrade from Nikon D3100 to D7000

[APoc184]

As some of you know I've been getting more and more into sports photography lately. Mainly school rugby and then the odd Currie Cup, Super Rugby game if I don't have to cover the game for our website.

Lately I've been really frustrated with the limitations of my D3100 and after a friend borrowed me his Canon 7D last weekend I decided that I just have to bite the bullet and upgrade to a faster/better body.

Given the fact that I can now hire high-end lenses at very good prices I decided that I will not be purchasing a lens in the near future but rather hire.

I had a look at mid-range bodies and looked at both Canon and Nikon. The two that caught my eye (and more importantly my wallet) were the Nikon D7000 and the Canon 60D bodies.

Decided that I am going to stick to Nikon. Purely because I feel more comfortable with it and I really struggled with the Canon for half of the day and still didn't get the hang of it. I'm sure if I play around with it more it will grow on me, but the Nikon still feels better in my hands and I actually prefer the whole lay-out of the Nikon. Purely a personal choice. I'm not a fanboi of either makes.

So my question is: Who here has a D7000 and what are your thoughts on it?

Any other recommendations?

I've done my research and the specs are pretty awesome compared to what I have now. Sure it is a bit pricy but after this I am done. Should just have listened to the advice on this very forum from the beginning and save up for a decent body.

 

[bwana]

Any other recommendations?

Sports on a budget? 7D.

 

[APoc184]

Sports on a budget? 7D.

I'm really not in a spot to go any higher on the budget. If I could I would really have gone for something like the 7D or Nikon D700. But promised the wife a new leather lounge suite long ago. Unless I can twist her arm a little. But that is not likely as I already got the dirty look when I just mentioned the upgrade.

And I'm not looking to do it professionally. For that our website has photographers lined up at most games.

I'm really just a photo enthusiast and the D3100 is limited in so many ways! At least the D7000 is a big step up from what I have now!

 

[Dolby]

Of interest - why the 7D over the D7000 for sports?

They're similar speeds - aren't they (6fps vs 8fps) and the D7000 has more focus points (better tracking)?
It's also got the fast shutter speed - and is cheaper

Just asking

 

[Freaksta]

meh

 

[MaximusZA]

APoc84 quick question, i am saving up for the D3100 at the moment and was wondering what you didn't about it?
it will be my first DSLR so i nervous getting something much more expensive... but reading this has made me nervous now about the D3100. i know the D7000 is MUCH better camera but its more than double the price of the D3100.
anyway i don't mean to hijack the thread

 

[APoc184]

APoc84 quick question, i am saving up for the D3100 at the moment and was wondering what you didn't about it?
it will be my first DSLR so i nervous getting something much more expensive... but reading this has made me nervous now about the D3100. i know the D7000 is MUCH better camera but its more than double the price of the D3100.
anyway i don't mean to hijack the thread

No problem. Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with the camera. I just out grew it.

For what I'm using it(Sport), it is just too slow. Shutter speed/FPS

I also found the body will not be able to take the rough handling from running around very long. So it is not as rugged as the D7000 with a magnesium alloy body.

It also struggles in low-light conditions, even on it's highest ISO setting 3200

The screen is also not the highest resolution. So what you see on the screen and what you see later in post processing is not exactly the same.

Other than that I love the camera. Picture quality is great. It is very compact and packs a lot of features into that small body. The video mode is also great. It shoots at Full HD. And I initially thought I would never use the movie mode but it came in pretty handy plenty of times.

So depending on what you are going to shoot the majority of the time. The D3100 is an awesome camera.
I'm also not going to sell it. I will keep it as a second camera.

 

[bwana]

Of interest - why the 7D over the D7000 for sports?

They're similar speeds - aren't they (6fps vs 8fps) and the D7000 has more focus points (better tracking)?
It's also got the fast shutter speed - and is cheaper

Just asking

It's all about the fps and believe it or not even 33% faster makes a difference.

 

[Grimspoon]

I am loving my D3100. . . The D7000 does look nice, but for your average photographer I can't see the worth in upgrading yet.

 

[APoc184]

Found this review on OutdoorPhoto Forums. Although it probably focuses on wildlife and not sport photography it still answers some questions I had about the camera.

Nikon D7000 Impressions
I am a Canon shooter, and my gear timeline goes like this, Rebel XT/350D, Canon 30D, Canon 40D, Canon 50D, Canon 7D up until today where my gear bag contains a 1Dmk3, a 1Dmk4, and a Canon 5Dmk2. I shoot mainly wildlife, birds and landscapes.
I recently had the opportunity to try out a Nikon D7000. I thought that it might be of interest to forum members to share my brief impressions of the camera. I only shot the camera with a Sigma 120-400 f/5.6 APO stabilized lens.
Starting with the viewfinder, the AF display is bright and clear, and the 39 AF points cover a large area which is good. The finder shows the selected ISO setting, but this disappears once you touch the shutter button, instead being replaced by the number of shots remaining in the buffer. I found the camera highly responsive with regard to autofocus, even fitted with a relatively “slow” f5.6 lens. I also found that the new processor in the D7000 enabled rapid formatting of cards, and very fast movement around menus or image reviewing. The camera has very deep menus, and there are a number of fine-tuning options for the AF system that I would have only expected to see on a top-end model. Some of these options include AF sensitivity (how long it stays locked on to a subject) as well as choosing whether focus or shutter-release take priority when shooting. There are a wide variety of options when it comes to grouping and selecting from the 39 AF points. A user can select a single point, or expand a variable number of active points around the selected point, just to mention a few.
The shutter response is extremely fast and quiet. Viewfinder blackout is minimal. At six frames per second, this camera is fast enough to take on action photography with confidence.
When it comes to image quality, the D7000 impressed. I found ISO 400 to ISO 800 to be very low in visible noise when shooting RAW images. Even when set at ISO 1600, image quality was still good, and it remained perfectly usable for print at magazine quality up to A4 size in my opinion. At ISO 3200, there was a fair bit of noise, but it was easily cleaned up in Photoshop or Lightroom 3. This is very impressive from a 1.5 crop sensor. I would have loved to have been able to shoot this camera fitted with a top-notch Nikon f2.8 lens.
I felt that the D7000 matched or beat the D300s at all ISO settings when it came to image quality and noise.
The camera feels solid and well built in the hand although it would feel still better with the optional battery grip attached. Battery life was good.
On the negative side, I found moving the AF points around to be very awkward with the multi-controller toggle switch which was too low on the back of the camera for me to reach easily. I also found changing ISO a bit time consuming as I had to hold the ISO button down whilst turning a control wheel . When shooting 14-bit RAW images, buffer size was limited to just 10 images, so it was important to keep an eye on the shots remaining when shooting action.
My impressions of the D7000 are that it offers unrivalled value for money for Nikon shooters looking to upgrade. Compared to the D90 and any Nikon older or lower down in the range, the D7000 offers major advances when it comes to image quality, autofocus, speed of response, frame rate, ease of use and customization. In a direct comparison with the D300S, the D7000 finds itself ahead in image quality, as well as responsiveness. The two cameras are very close to one another in AF performance. The D300s is built tougher, with a more robust, weather-sealed body and a bigger buffer, and more sophisticated AF in some regards. I believe we will soon be seeing some great wildlife images coming from D7000 users in the days ahead.

 

[GTi]

The D7000 is a remarkable camera for it's price and I have it now for just under a year, tried many different lenses with it, AF is fast and image quality, impressive. I just recently purchase a 70 - 300mm VR ED lens over my 18 - 200mm VR and so far it's an amazing combo. Great camera after having the D90 for a number of years and kept it as my backup camera. You won't be disappointed.

 

[APoc184]

Looks like I will have around R25'000 to spend on new gear.

What is the next camera up from the D7000? Probably the D300s?

Otherwise I'm thinking about selling my D3100(I've got someone who is interested) and then buying the D7000 with a 70-200mm F2.8

 

[MaximusZA]

APoc84 seeing as you got some extra cash, get me a D7000 as well hehehehe. i hope you enjoy it i should be getting my D3100 just after pay day

 

[cocococo]

APoc84 seeing as you got some extra cash, get me a D7000 as well hehehehe. i hope you enjoy it i should be getting my D3100 just after pay day

Have you considered getting a second hand D90? I am asking because I've had the D3100 for almost a year now and I'm also looking at trading it in for a D90. There are a few reasons for this inculding:

1) Better ergonomics: the second wheel makes a big difference to the general usability of the camera, also I preffer the larger size of the camera as it makes it easier to hold
2) Better display: The D90 features the same display as Nikons higher end camera's and it makes it ALOT easier to check the focus/quality of the photo on the camera
3) Built in autofocus motor: This allows you to purchase cheaper/lighter lenses. I have a 18-200mm lens on my d3100, and the small light body combined with a heavy lens (presumably due to the autofocus motor in the lens) leads to a camera that is very front heavy and not very easy to handle.

The d3100 is not a bad camera by any means, but I think that the D90 will be a better investment if you intend to take photography (fairly) seriously.

Also, the price difference between the two camera's is not that big. Orms has a special atm for a D90 body, 18-55mm lens, 55-200mm lens and a 50mm (f1.8) prime lens for +-R7500.

Another thing to keep in mind when deciding is that the video recording feature on the D90 is pretty much useless. This is not so much of an issue for me though.

 

[MaximusZA]

Cocococo thanks for the advice and Apoc as well! i decided to bite the bullet and ran out and got the D90 special from Orms

 

[Deezil]

Looks like I will have around R25'000 to spend on new gear.

What is the next camera up from the D7000? Probably the D300s?

Stick with the 7000 ... 300s not worth the extra moola

70-200 f2.8 is just awesome and WILL make that D7000 come alive ... just not sure how you will be able to squeeze both into your 25k budget (unless you're buying from overseas and bypassing customs)

Enjoy! (I'm very jealous)

 

[APoc184]

Stick with the 7000 ... 300s not worth the extra moola

70-200 f2.8 is just awesome and WILL make that D7000 come alive ... just not sure how you will be able to squeeze both into your 25k budget (unless you're buying from overseas and bypassing customs)

Enjoy! (I'm very jealous)

I will have to sell the D3100 in order to get both. And then it will still be rather tight. But sure I can squeeze and extra bit of cash out somewhere if it is needed. I'm actually hoping for a killer deal from Nikon at the Photo & Film Expo in October.

 

[Deezil]

Don't hold your breath waiting on "show specials"

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[Dolby]

Don't hold your breath waiting on "show specials"

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Don't say that :/

I'm also hoping for a few killer dealers ...

 

[APoc184]

Don't hold your breath waiting on "show specials"

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

I'm not going to lie. I tried planting the "seed" at Nikon by mailing them and also telling them on all their social platforms that "I hope they run a good D7000 special at the Expo. Plenty of interested people"

It's only 4 weeks away so I will wait before I buy. I also have a friend at Nikon SA that might be able to give me some insight on the possible specials before the actual expo starts.