Moving from D300 to D7100 for wildlife?

Joeturner11

Joeturner11

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Joe
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After looking into monster sigma lenses to buy for wildlife I think I have finally come to the right ending, buying a D7100 this means using the 1.3x crop mode with my AF-S 300mm f/4 makes the lens a 600mm f/4 with no converter! I know the image quality lowers to 16mp but still 4 million more than my D300, Iam slightly worried about the feel as I love the solidness of my D300 but then again I hear the D7100 is built well, be great to hear some views on this one if its a good move, and if anyone has samples with the crop mode for wildlife that would be brill cheers!

Joe
 
Sharpness is less about pixels, within reason, and more about lenses and sensor format. You have the perfect comparison, D300 and D700 with same pixel count - which gives the sharpest images?
 
Joeturner11 said:
After looking into monster sigma lenses to buy for wildlife I think I have finally come to the right ending, buying a D7100 this means using the 1.3x crop mode with my AF-S 300mm f/4 makes the lens a 600mm f/4 with no converter! I know the image quality lowers to 16mp but still 4 million more than my D300, Iam slightly worried about the feel as I love the solidness of my D300 but then again I hear the D7100 is built well, be great to hear some views on this one if its a good move, and if anyone has samples with the crop mode for wildlife that would be brill cheers!

Joe
Click to expand...

I got my 7k1 today and love it already. I hear alot of people saying that the crop is pointless as its what you can do in post but it isnt. If your shooting at 200mm on a 300mm lens and cant get the speed on a variable aparture lens stick it to 1.3x then to the same equivilant focal lenght and boom youve got your self another stop.

And dont worry about the buffer size. It just means you cant spray and pray which is a very ugly trait anyways :)
 
barratt1988 said:
I got my 7k1 today and love it already. I hear alot of people saying that the crop is pointless as its what you can do in post but it isnt. If your shooting at 200mm on a 300mm lens and cant get the speed on a variable aparture lens stick it to 1.3x then to the same equivilant focal lenght and boom youve got your self another stop.

And dont worry about the buffer size. It just means you cant spray and pray which is a very ugly trait anyways :)
Click to expand...

It's a handy feature, but it's not magic. No free lunch.
 
To be honest I thought the same before getting the D7100 and I thought I would use the 1.3 crop mode most of the time. In reality its worked out Ive used the normal mode and cropped the final image to my liking where needed. The difference between the normal mode and the 1.3 crop is quite small. The 1.3 crop helps when you want faster frames per second to not fill the buffer as fast (increasing FPS from about 7 to 12 images). I've started to use the normal mode and the centre 15 cross focus points rather than the

Not the 1.3 crop mode photos you want but mostly crops of about the same size (1024 just for web use)


Puffin by Rob'81, on Flickr


Brown Hare by Rob'81, on Flickr

And one very near full 24mp image ISO3600 (300 f4 + 1.4TC = 630mm @ f5.6). I have a wider image taken at 300mm that I could crop to a similar FoV, its a shame I didn't take one using the 1.3 crop mode to see what is the best method to get a 600mm equivalent FoV on the D7100. That gives me a good idea for a good comparison blog entry.


Water Vole by Rob'81, on Flickr

ISO performance can be pretty amazing given he right conditions too.
 
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Joeturner11 said:
After looking into monster sigma lenses to buy for wildlife I think I have finally come to the right ending, buying a D7100 this means using the 1.3x crop mode with my AF-S 300mm f/4 makes the lens a 600mm f/4 with no converter! I know the image quality lowers to 16mp but still 4 million more than my D300, Iam slightly worried about the feel as I love the solidness of my D300 but then again I hear the D7100 is built well, be great to hear some views on this one if its a good move, and if anyone has samples with the crop mode for wildlife that would be brill cheers!

Joe
Click to expand...

Surely if you put a 300mm lens on a crop sensor of 1.3 it then becomes 400
Not 600 as this woud be 2 times crop ??
I may have wrong end of stick so can someone explain
Cheers
 
holty said:
Surely if you put a 300mm lens on a crop sensor of 1.3 it then becomes 400
Not 600 as this woud be 2 times crop ??
I may have wrong end of stick so can someone explain
Cheers
Click to expand...

Im happy to explain the dx sensor has a 1.5x crop thay is fixed. The camera has a 2nd crop which is 1.3x thus making it 1.97x or near as damn it 2x. This helps if you want 7fps. Also helps the buffer and like stated earlier if you want to pull back a stop on a variable apartue lens
 
holty said:
Surely if you put a 300mm lens on a crop sensor of 1.3 it then becomes 400
Not 600 as this woud be 2 times crop ??
I may have wrong end of stick so can someone explain
Cheers
Click to expand...

The D7100 is a 1.5 crop sensor camera. The 1.3 crop mode is an extra crop mode on the camera where you are using a smaller area of the sensor. The calculation is 1.5 x 1.3 = 1.95 or 2x as many call it for an easier calculation.

The 1.3 crop mode is effectively like cropping in post processing but doing it in camera to get a smaller file size and better buffer performance.
 
Joeturner11 said:
After buying a D7100 this means using the 1.3x crop mode with my AF-S 300mm f/4 makes the lens a 600mm f/4
Joe
Click to expand...

No, not even close. It'll just give you the same angle of view. You can get the same angle of view even on your D300 and still get enough pixels for moderate prints.

Why not getting rather lets say Coolpix P520. It has even smaller pixels, 1/2.3" chip with 18mpx and 1000mm eq. lens? That must be wildlifer's dream.

No. There is no free lunch. It all depends how much pixels you need at the output. Smaller pixels and chips don't make your pictures better, lenses longer or subjects closer. You are just magnifying the resolution of existing lens more.

Get the D7100 because it is a wonderful camera, but not because i'll give you 600mm lens.
 
For image quality and ability to recover highlights and shadows you will be so happy in comparison Joe :) I came from d7000 so not a massive lead but definitely better but from d300 it will be I'm sure
 
barratt1988 said:
I got my 7k1 today and love it already. I hear alot of people saying that the crop is pointless as its what you can do in post but it isnt. If your shooting at 200mm on a 300mm lens and cant get the speed on a variable aparture lens stick it to 1.3x then to the same equivilant focal lenght and boom youve got your self another stop.

And dont worry about the buffer size. It just means you cant spray and pray which is a very ugly trait anyways :)
Click to expand...

can't you shoot at 200mm and later crop in post to a FoV similar to 300mm without needing the 1.3 crop mode? You would still have the lower aperture at 200mm and now have the choice of either images at 200mm FoV or later cropped to 300mm FoV. If you use the 1.3 crop mode you will lose the choice of either the wider view or cropping down into a tighter view. The 1.3 crop mode just uses a smaller area of the sensor to give the 1.95 crop factor and throws away the pixels around the outside of the sensor, similar to what you do in post processing. You can't later get back those pixels around the edge if you shoot in crop mode and then want the wider image. The crop mode helps to increase FPS and reduce image size. I think it was nikons way of reducing the impact of the smaller buffer issue that many would be concerned about when upgrading from a D300.
 
I have both the D300 and the D7100, and I can only say that yes the the D7100 is superior in many ways, I got mine for the better ISO handling.
It couples wonderfully with the Sigma 150/500 even focusing in low light.

It handles closer to the D300 then any of the other lowerend bodies I have tried, my only bugbear is not having all the controls to hand and having to sometimes dive into the menus to change things, the only thing it doesn't seem to do so well is macro, but that may be a user fault ;)
 
Gremlin said:
I have both the D300 and the D7100, and I can only say that yes the the D7100 is superior in many ways, I got mine for the better ISO handling.
It couples wonderfully with the Sigma 150/500 even focusing in low light.

It handles closer to the D300 then any of the other lowerend bodies I have tried, my only bugbear is not having all the controls to hand and having to sometimes dive into the menus to change things, the only thing it doesn't seem to do so well is macro, but that may be a user fault ;)
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Thanks for your input nice to hear from someone that has both camera :) I was abit worried about the build quality of the D7100 but compared to the D300 but sounds like its good! are be handling one at my local camera shop soon so that will be the decider :)
 
Joe, maybe stop chasing the equipment dream and learn how to use what you have better, just a thought.

The D700 and 300 is a great combo to have, both are good at differing things.
 
fracster said:
Joe, maybe stop chasing the equipment dream and learn how to use what you have better, just a thought.

The D700 and 300 is a great combo to have, both are good at differing things.
Click to expand...

Ade its just I use my D700 for landscape portrait etc. and looking for a camera for my wildlife photography to help me improve my images where I got alot in the forest that's on my doorstep and my local reservoir and iam really struggling with light ISO 1600 is okay and 3200 isn't good at all on the D300 even on the best days! I don't use the D700 as I prefer to use a DX Camera for extra reach and keep my D700 for other jobs :)
 
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The D700 is an outstanding camera mate, especially at high ISO. Maybe look at ways to get nearer your subject instead?

I`m not saying i`m right or wrong,or that you are right or wrong, just offering a different train of thought Joe.
 
fracster said:
The D700 is an outstanding camera mate, especially at high ISO. Maybe look at ways to get nearer your subject instead?

I`m not saying i`m right or wrong,or that you are right or wrong, just offering a different train of thought Joe.
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I agree with you there mate, I have done some wildlife in the past with it just struggled to get some images close enough, I loved the pics when I was close enough like this :

8988038375_cd352a4249_z.jpg


But moving onto the Owl shots Iam working on along with birds of prey etc. its hard to get close even when getting a setup going and don't want to get to close to disturb the birds, I appreciate your input and different ideas to bring up :)

Cheers Joe
 
I appreciate what you are saying Joe, birds of prey are damned difficult to get near, but with time and patience it can be done.

Wild juvenile peregrine shot with full frame D800 with the 300 F4 and 1.4 tc attached:


Peregrine juvenile 1 copy by Fracster, on Flickr


I recently,begrudgingly, sold my D300 and 700 and am now with the 800 only. I`m happy with that choice. Again, others will say different, but I can only say what works for me.
bud.
 
fracster said:
I appreciate what you are saying Joe, birds of prey are damned difficult to get near, but with time and patience it can be done.

Wild juvenile peregrine shot with full frame D800 with the 300 F4 and 1.4 tc attached:


Peregrine juvenile 1 copy by Fracster, on Flickr


I recently,begrudgingly, sold my D300 and 700 and am now with the 800 only. I`m happy with that choice. Again, others will say different, but I can only say what works for me.
bud.
Click to expand...


Thanks a cracking image I have got to say! :) Just seems what I do, I need the extra reach but as you say its what works for you personally best! Thanks for all your input and help on this!

Joe
 
The issue with the 800 or 600 isnt the cost of the body. Its having to buy all new lenses because even if your current ones are for ff all the focal lengths will be wrong. I have a superb macro lens for example. Cost me £350ish same equivalent for ff is twice that. With sensor proformance like the 7k1 its hard to justify going full frame
 
barratt1988 said:
The issue with the 800 or 600 isnt the cost of the body. Its having to buy all new lenses because even if your current ones are for ff all the focal lengths will be wrong. I have a superb macro lens for example. Cost me £350ish same equivalent for ff is twice that. With sensor proformance like the 7k1 its hard to justify going full frame
Click to expand...

That doesn't bother me personally as I always only buy FX lens as I use them on my D700 also
 
I don't really want to move to FF and previously had the D90 as 2nd body, I need the extra reach for some of the commissioned work I seem to be doing these days and 2 bodies as it far easier then keep changing lenses and missing important shots
The D7100 was purely for the better high ISO handling, so far I've not used it on indoor events but that season is fast approaching, have tested it out on some inside for pics and been very impressed :thumbs: alson under dull conditions outside when it's even better
Yes you do get some noise but nothing like on the D300 which I rarely pushed above 800 ISO
 
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