D600 VS D7000/D7100

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 26 Jul 2014 at 13:23

I can get an ex-demo d600 for less than £700 with two year warranty. The d7000 with 18 to 105mm for 700 or a d7100 body for 800. I am mostly using it for tele work taking pictures if aircraft. I heard the d600 had some issues so is it a good buy? How is the AF?

James J · 26 Jul 2014 at 13:26

The AF points are crowded in the centre of the frame, forcing you to recompose shots on most of the third lines. For aircraft, I'd get the D7100 body as its pin sharp due to the lack of the AA filter and the crop factor would give you more reach with far cheaper lenses.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 26 Jul 2014 at 13:33

Thinking of the sigma 150-500mm.

D.P. · 26 Jul 2014 at 13:39

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
I can get an ex-demo d600 for less than £700 with two year warranty. The d7000 with 18 to 105mm for 700 or a d7100 body for 800. I am mostly using it for tele work taking pictures if aircraft. I heard the d600 had some issues so is it a good buy? How is the AF?

The AF on the D600 is fine but the D7100 is better.
Some early D600 models suffered from oil drops collecting on the sensor necessitating a few additional cleaning cycles. Check the sensor before buying, nothing that a sensor swab won't clean though.

I Would go for the D7100 if you are mainly interested in tele work.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 26 Jul 2014 at 13:44

To put it in context I use a Sony a200 with a sigma 135to400mm screw lenses which Is quite sloooooow.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 26 Jul 2014 at 14:25

I might consider doing some uwa work too at some pt, although currently wanting to upgrade the current cappola system since I want to through it in a lake. Is under £700 good for an as new d600 with full warranty?
Plus thx dp and James j.

Columbo · 26 Jul 2014 at 14:44

Under £700 for a modern full frame body is a bargain though if aircraft is your main aim the D7100 may be more suited due to the narrower field of view and wider AF point coverage.

D.P. · 26 Jul 2014 at 16:39

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
I might consider doing some uwa work too at some pt, although currently wanting to upgrade the current cappola system since I want to through it in a lake. Is under £700 good for an as new d600 with full warranty?
Plus thx dp and James j.

Under 700 is a bargain for such a camera, because of that it might make sense to buy it anwyway and if you don't get on with it you could sell it for a profit no doubt.

I'm pretty confident the D7100 will work better for airshows and wildlife etc., but the D600 wont be that far behind and will be better at other things like wide angle, portraits, narrow DoF work.

So it depends on your priorities. The D7100 is the best APS-C crop camera Nikon makes and is loaded with the best features (pro AF, no Anti aliasing filter, etc.), the D600 is the budget FF Nikon. The sensor is great, the AF a little behind the D7100 (but I wouldn't worry too much).

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 26 Jul 2014 at 19:15

Thanks again everyone.

D.P. said:
Under 700 is a bargain for such a camera, because of that it might make sense to buy it anwyway and if you don't get on with it you could sell it for a profit no doubt.

I'm pretty confident the D7100 will work better for airshows and wildlife etc., but the D600 wont be that far behind and will be better at other things like wide angle, portraits, narrow DoF work.

So it depends on your priorities. The D7100 is the best APS-C crop camera Nikon makes and is loaded with the best features (pro AF, no Anti aliasing filter, etc.), the D600 is the budget FF Nikon. The sensor is great, the AF a little behind the D7100 (but I wouldn't worry too much).

I checked in the shop and it seems to have only have had 200 shutter actuations. I decided to take the plunge on the D600 and see how I get on with. I realised I have an old AF nikkor 28-70MM/F3.5-4.5 and a 105MM/F4 AI-S micro nikkor in the cupboard which I can use for the time-being,until I get the 150-500MM in a few months(hopefully),and a newer wide angle lens.

Rojin · 27 Jul 2014 at 09:48

The one comment I see a lot on the D7100 is the buffer depth. Only an issue if you use the fps, but if you are shooting prop aircraft at very low shutter speed I guess you could hit it?

Edit: It looks like you get a seconds worth of burst apparently, that'd be plenty for me.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 27 Jul 2014 at 15:36

Thanks again. Had a look around on the interwebs,and the old 28-70MM is not too bad a lens.

I have had not much time to take any real pictures,but IQ does look promising!

Its only a jpeg snapshot of a flower,but its far better than the previous jobbie.

At The Gates · 27 Jul 2014 at 17:34

I have the D610 and the auto focus is alright. You get all the fancy business like 3D tracking etc, but i don't find it any more accurate at basic focusing than my F6 or F80, going by shots in/out of focus ratios.

Energize · 27 Jul 2014 at 18:04

That price is a bargain, a grey import D610 is £950, so to get that kind of price for a demo model in the UK is quite outstanding.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 31 Jul 2014 at 11:22

I have been having a play around with the camera with the 28-70MM/F3.5-4.5 D(which us surprisingly sharp),and TBH I am kind of amazed with the DR of the sensor.

danoliver1 · 31 Jul 2014 at 12:01

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
I have been having a play around with the camera with the 28-70MM/F3.5-4.5 D(which us surprisingly sharp),and TBH I am kind of amazed with the DR of the sensor.

The d600/d610 sensors are pretty awsome.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 5 Aug 2014 at 15:48

Out of interest has anyone used the Sigma 100-300M/F4 on a FX body with and without the 1.4X TC?? I know it has no VR,but would it be a reasonable choice??

D.P. · 5 Aug 2014 at 18:54

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
Out of interest has anyone used the Sigma 100-300M/F4 on a FX body with and without the 1.4X TC?? I know it has no VR,but would it be a reasonable choice??

The 10--300mm f/4 was discontinued some time ago. My understand was that it was a very good lens without a TC used on crop sensors but the edges were softer on FF and although the 1.4xTC was OK it wasn't fantastic. That was sometime ago, with modern sensors I think the shortcomings of the TC are probably more noticeable but the lens is probably great when naked.

Persoanlly I use a Nikon 300mm F/4.0 with a Nikon 1.4xTC. this lens is crazy sarp without the TC and pretty good with, AF goes a little rougher with the TC. There is likely a replacement due at Photokina.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 5 Aug 2014 at 22:04

D.P. said:
The 10--300mm f/4 was discontinued some time ago. My understand was that it was a very good lens without a TC used on crop sensors but the edges were softer on FF and although the 1.4xTC was OK it wasn't fantastic. That was sometime ago, with modern sensors I think the shortcomings of the TC are probably more noticeable but the lens is probably great when naked.

Persoanlly I use a Nikon 300mm F/4.0 with a Nikon 1.4xTC. this lens is crazy sarp without the TC and pretty good with, AF goes a little rougher with the TC. There is likely a replacement due at Photokina.

Thanks!!

alexthecheese · 8 Aug 2014 at 09:27

Though I've not used the D7100, I've never found the D600 autofocus to hamper me, I've never felt wanting - though I've never used anything better.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 17 May 2015 at 03:31

I managed to find a deal from the same place for an ex-demo D800 with a two year warranty for £1250 IIRC.

Not sure if I should sell my D600 to get it if its still available. I really liked the D800,apart from its noisy shutter.

OTH,it would mean it would be less money for the lenses I want to get.

ATM,I have the following lenses:
1.)Tokina 17MM ATX-Pro
2.)Nikon 28-70MM/3.5-4.5
3.)Sigma 100-300MM/F4 with 1.4TC(got a good deal on the lens)

I am thinking of the 18-35mm or 16-35mm G lenses,to replace the first two,but the D800 would eat a chunk out of the budget for either lenses!

Are there any good alternatives to the two lenses I listed??

Not sure what to do.