In some markets, Nikon is touting the recently announced Nikon D7100 as its new flagship DX camera. Therefore - having compared the D7100’s specifications to those of its most obvious forebear the D7000 - we were curious to find out how it stacked up against Nikon’s last truly pro-oriented DX model, the venerable Nikon D300S (read review). The two cameras share a number of components - such as a 0.94x pentaprism viewfinder with 100% frame coverage, a shutter unit capable of a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000s and rated for 150,000 actuations, a weather sealed construction and an auto focus module with 51 focus points - and a legion of features; but there are some rather significant differences too. The Nikon D7100 comes with a 24-megapixel sensor that does away with the low-pass filter, a new LCD screen, a newly developed OLED display inside the viewfinder, an updated AF system whose centre point can be used with lens-teleconverter combinations as slow as f/8, a so-called “1.3x crop mode,” a 2016-pixel RGB metering sensor, and Full HD video with a number of frame rate options. At the same time the D7100 makes do with a much smaller raw buffer, slower continuous shooting speed and less robustly built body, and lacks the dedicated AF-ON button and PC sync terminal of the D300S. In addition, it uses a different battery and charger and is incompatible with the D300S’s optional MB-10 portrait grip. Upgrading from a Nikon D300S to a D7100 thus involves a number of compromises in addition to the obvious benefits.

In order to help you get a clearer picture of how they compare to each other specifications-wise, we have compiled a handy little table summarising the key differences between the two models, based on information available to us at the time of writing.

Key Differences	Nikon D300S	Nikon D7100
Sensor	12-megapixel CMOS With AA filter	24-megapixel CMOS Without AA filter
Image processor	Expeed	Expeed 3
Native sensitivity range	ISO200/24° to ISO3200/36°	ISO100/21° to ISO6400/39°
AF points usable through f/8	0	1
AF sensitivity range	-1EV to +19 EV	-2EV to +19EV
“1.3x” crop mode available?	No	Yes
Exposure bracketing	2 to 9 frames in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 2/3 or 1 EV	2 to 5 frames in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1, 2, or 3 EV
Continuous shooting speed (JPEG or 12-bit raw)	7fps 8fps with MB-D10 grip	6fps at full resolution 7fps in “1.3x” crop mode
Continuous shooting speed (14-bit raw)	2.5fps	6fps
Buffer size (14-bit raw, lossless compression)	30	6 (8 in “1.3x” crop mode)
Metering sensor	1,005-pixel RGB	2016-pixel RGB
In-finder status display	LCD	OLED
Rear display	3”, 921k-dots	3.2”, 1,229k-dots
Wi-Fi connectivity	Via Eye-Fi cards	Via Eye-Fi cards or WU-1a Wi-Fi adapter
Movie	HD 1280x720 / 24fps VGA 640x424 / 24fps QVGA 320x216 / 24fps	Full HD 1,920x1,080 / 60i Full HD 1,920x1,080 / 50i Full HD 1,920x1,080 / 30fps Full HD 1,920x1,080 / 25fps Full HD 1,920x1,080 / 24fps HD 1,280x720 / 60 fps HD 1,280x720 / 50 fps
Built-in microphone	Mono	Stereo
In-camera HDR exposure blending?	No	Yes
“Spot White Balance” in Live View?	No	Yes
Mode dial	No	Yes
Dedicated AF-ON button	Yes	No
PC sync terminal	Yes	No
Top-mounted ISO/WB/QUAL button cluster	Yes	No
Memory card slots	1x SD 1x CF	2x SD
Connection ports	10-pin Terminal HDMI USB Stereo microphone input NTSC PAL	Remote/GPS terminal HDMI USB Stereo microphone input WR-1/WR-R10 terminal
Battery	EN-EL3e	EN-EL15
Bundled charger	MH-18a	MH-25
Optional battery grip	MB-D10	MB-D15
Main magnesium alloy parts	Entire chassis (practically)	Top and rear plates
Weight	840g	675g
Dimensions	Width: 5.8 in. (147mm) Height: 4.5 in. (114mm) Depth: 2.9 in. (74mm)	Width: 5.3 in. (135.5mm) Height: 4.2 in. (106.5mm) Depth: 3.0 in. (76mm)

Do note that the table highlights the key differences only - there’s a number of interface changes as well, from the omission of the D300S’s physical AF area mode selector and metering mode selector to the inclusion of a D4-style live view mode switch and top-mounted movie record button as well as a completely new customisable “i” button on the rear plate; making the transition somewhat difficult for current D300S users.

NB: The image showing the two cameras side by side is not to scale.

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