Nikon D7100 images

42 mm equivalent, 1/50, f/8, ISO 220

I received my Nikon D7100 yesterday afternoon and shot some pictures that are posted on my website. They are not great shots (900 pixel jpegs), but I wanted to post them for my Amazon review and for a Facebook group I belong to; thought I would share comments here as well. I had the Nikkor 28-300 mounted so I was getting a 35 mm equivalent of 42-600 mm with the D7100's 1.3 crop factor feature. Note this is an FX lens. I have never encountered this before, but as of 3/23/13, Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom have not caught up with being able to process the D7100 RAW files, so all my images posted here were converted in Nikon NX2. Using NX2, you can do some crude editing (adequate for some, perhaps) and can convert to jpegs or 8/16 bit tiffs. All were shot handheld at f/8, ISO 200 (except for the tulips, ISO 1600) at shutter speeds ranging from 1/500 to 1/1000 (sunset was shot at 1/60, tripod mounted). Original raw files are 24 megapixels and were quickly transferred via USB 3.0 reader from Kensington. Operation of the D7100 is essentially identical to the D7000, which I gave to my daughter. A few minor differences, but nothing significant. Using the "i" button on the back of the camera makes switching between DX and 1.3 crop mode VERY simple; this would be great for bird stalking if you need a little more reach or sports where the 51 focus points would essentially cover the FOV. In DX mode, you get 24mp, in 1.3 crop mode, something less than 16mp. I think the best aspect of this is the way the focus points cover the entire width of the image area.

After shooting the quick "one offs" posted here, I would have to pronounce this camera "sweet." I like the DX format and the 1.3 crop factor. Expeed 3 processor seems comparable to my 800E. IQ seems terrific. Dynamic range is superb, but hard to completely tell at this point without proper software. Bottom line, while some may scoff at this model as merely evolutionary, to me, it continues the very strong reputation of the D7000, and "son of D7000" is not too shabby a moniker ;) I have encountered no QC issues with the images, sensor, or other bits, but I have only had the camera for less than a day. I will update this if things change. I loved my D7000; I can tell I am going to love the D7100 as well. I will use this camera primarily for bird and animal stalking, but may also take it when I don't want to risk my D800E (the D7100 IQ is terrific enough and the camera is weather sealed as well).

PS A note about moire. The D7100 doesn't have an anti-aliasing filter, the 800E neutralizes the AA filter's effects. With my 800E, I have NEVER seen problems with moire (after a few thousand images) and I don't see why the D7100 would be a concern in this regard. Yes, I am aware of all the technical caveats.

Processed in ACR and PS after hack

UPDATE: I found a way to hack the EXIF information so that D7100 NEF files can be processed in Adobe Camera Raw using EXIFTOOL. Pretty spectacular, I think. Compare above and to the right.

UPDATE 4/3/13: Adobe DNG Converter 7.4 and Lightroom 4.4 support the D7100.