Photography: Nikon D7100 Review

Nikon D7100

An attractive camera, aimed at the enthusiast, the Nikon D7100 follows on from the well-regarded D7000 which, I noted in my DPS review at the time, was described as a ‘professional-standard’ camera, not a professional one!

The company has bumped up the CMOS resolution to 24.1 effective pixels from the D7000′s 16.2 megapixels, reason enough to whet your appetite! However, don’t get too excited because the sensor is the same size, which means the pixels are working harder.

And that’s not all: the LCD screen is slightly larger and has increased resolution (1,229,000 pixels); the AF system performance has been lifted and given a higher low light ability; purists will appreciate the removal of an optical low pass filter. And more.

ISO range runs from 100-6400, reaching 25600 in expanded mode.
There is now a maximum rate of 6 fps continuous shooting at full resolution or 7 fps in cropped mode (4800×3200).
The camera can shoot in cropped mode for both stills and HD video. Stereo audio can be recorded via the inbuilt or an external mic. The AF system has 51 points, with 15 of these sensors of the cross type.
You can attain spot white balance in Live View mode.
Maximum image size is 6000×4000 pixels, or 51x34m as a print.
HD video at 1920×1080 pixel resolution can be shot. If you fire off a still mid video recording, the latter will stop.

Two SD card slots can be used for overflow or backup; files can be copied between cards.

The camera is built with magnesium alloy and has water and dust resistance.

Images can be shared wirelessly with an attached WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter.

Possibly because I had not encountered a DSLR for some time or was a little in awe at the swell of positive comment this ‘un was generating. I took things gently at first: by that I mean I jumped in at the deep end and set about the task of shooting my ISO tests without a glance in the manual.

I dialled A on the PASM dial, adjusted the f stop, dropped the ISO mark to its start point — and shot the tests.

Very straightforward. Easy peasy. Which means there is a degree of comfortable user friendliness. Well done Nikon!