Nikon D7100 Review
Introduction
The Nikon D7100 is a new prosumer DSLR camera with a 24.1-megapixel DX-format image sensor and no optical low-pass filter. Key highlights of the fully weather-sealed D7100 include Full 1080p movies up to 60i/50i and 30p/25p/24p with full-time autofocus and manual exposure control, an ISO range of 100-25600, a 2,016-pixel 3D Colour Matrix metering system, EXPEED 3 image-processing engine, 51-point Auto-focus system of which 15 are cross-type, 14-bit analogue-to-digital conversion, 6fps continuous shooting, 1.3x crop function, dust- and moisture-sealed magnesium alloy body, 1229k dot 3.2-inch LCD screen, and dual memory card slots. The Nikon D7100 costs £1099.99/ $1199.95 / €1329.00 for body only and £1299.99 / $1599.95 / €1579.00 for the body and the AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR kit lens.
Ease of Use
The new Nikon D7100 is externally very similar to the D7000, so a lot of the comments that we made in our review of that camera apply equally to the D7100. The Nikon D7100 slots in below the existing D600 and above the D7000 models - note that it isn't actually replacing the D7000 (yet) in the Nikon DSLR lineup.
The Nikon D7100 continues to ship with the 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR kit lens, which feels well-balanced on the Nikon D7100 and despite only having a plastic mount it fits into place with a reassuring mechanical click. It also adds the very important advantage of Vibration Reduction. Nikon bodies don't offer any form of in-camera image stabilisation, unlike similar models from Sony, Pentax and Olympus, so the relatively affordable and versatile 18-105mm VR lens is a good starting point if you don't already have any Nikon lenses.
The shutter release action on the Nikon D7100 is surprisingly quiet, with an exemplary dampened mirror slap that makes this DSLR actually quieter than some rangefinder cameras, and it's tested for 150,000 cycles. Furthermore, there is also a Quiet mode, in which the mirror is raised fairly slowly to further reduce the sound it makes. This, however, introduces some shutter lag, which usually isn't worth the few decibels of difference versus what is already an impressively quiet shutter (Nikon actually recommends using the Quiet mode for taking pictures of sleeping babies, a situation in which a bit of shutter delay obviously isn't a problem).
The overall control layout and 'philosophy' of the Nikon D7100 is very similar to the D7100, with two control wheels and dedicated buttons for controlling ISO sensitivity, white balance, metering and AF mode, and a lockable drive mode dial. The latter is somewhat awkward, requiring the use of both fore- and middle fingers. In addition the Playback button has is positioned to the left of the viewfinder in line with models higher up the range.
There are a few other interface changes as well, most notably the addition of a customisable “i” button and the swapping of the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons on the rear. The D7000's Live View lever has given way to a button encircled by a switch that toggles between Photo Live View and Movie Live View modes, while the red movie record button has been moved to the camera’s top plate, close to the shutter release - but overall, the Nikon D7100’s user interface has remained remarkably similar to that of its predecessor.
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| Front | Rear |
The D7100 uses the same EN-EL15 battery and MH-25 recharger as the D7000, but has a new battery grip, the MB-D15 Multi Battery Power Pack. It records images on SD/SDHC/SDXC cards via not one but two slots housed in the large right-hand compartment. This allows you to use two cards in tandem, with the ability to overflow images onto the second card, backup images from the first to the second, or save RAW to slot 1 and JPEG to slot 2. It also obviously greatly expands the overall memory capacity, useful if you shoot a lot of images in a short space of time.
The Nikon D7100 follows conventional DSLR design in having a shooting mode dial on the top of the camera, now with useful lock button in the centre, which allows you to select either one of the advanced modes like Manual, Aperture- or Shutter-priority, or 19 different scene modes. The new Effects shooting mode provides provide 7 different filters that can be applied to both still images and movies. The Night Vision effect is particularly worth of mention, pushing the camera's sensitivity to a whopping ISO 102,400, although a monochrome rather than colour image is recorded.
The Exposure Compensation button is thoughtfully positioned next to the shutter release. Hold down this button with your right forefinger and spin the control wheel on the top-rear of the camera with your thumb to adjust its settings - simple and intuitive. The other buttons sitting next to the shutter release are the aforementioned Movie Record button and one for setting the metering. The D7100 has a similar monochromatic status LCD to the D90, a pro-level feature that indicates who this camera is primarily targeted at. On cheaper cameras, the LCD on the rear usually has to do both jobs, but on this model most of the key settings are visible from above on the smaller panel. This can make the Nikon D7100 quicker to use and it may also extend the battery life, depending on how extensively you use the rear LCD screen.
The D7000's 16.2 megapixel CMOS sensor has been superseded by a 24.1 megapixel CMOS chip, capable of providing a Live View feed, recording Full HD video and capturing full-resolution stills at 6 frames per second for up to 33 Fine JPEG images and 6 14-bit RAW images, slightly more than the D7000 for JPEG but significantly less for RAW. There's also a slightly faster rate of 7fps in the new “1.3x” crop mode with an increased buffer of 73 fine JPEGs or 12 RAW files. The 1.3x crop function principally provides an additional 1.3x telephoto effect. As the Nikon D7100 is a DX camera with a “crop factor” of 1.5, the “1.3x” mode is in fact a 2x crop mode relative to 35mm full frame, essentially turning the Nikon D7100 into a 15-megapixel FourThirds camera while retaining the 3:2 aspect ratio. In this mode the camera's 51 focus points cover an even wider area of the frame for even better subject acquisition. It also allows for faster operation of up to 7 fps continuous shooting and Full HD movie recording up to 50i/60i.
The sensor can clean itself by way of high-frequency vibrations that will, at least in theory, shake off any non-adhesive dust particles that may have settled on it during a lens change. You can specify, via an option in the Setup menu, whether you want sensor cleaning to take place at shutdown, startup, both or neither, with the default being 'both'. The cleaning process pleasingly has no practical impact on startup times, which were near instant. The new image sensor is complemented by the more powerful EXPEED 3 processing engine.
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| Pop-up Flash |
Top |
The D7100 upgrades its predecessors excellent three-inch, 920,000-dot monitor with a bigger and even higher-resolution 3.2 inch screen that has 1229k dots. The screen is used not only to navigate menus and to review pictures, but can also act as a secondary status display, facilitating the transition for upgraders from entry-level DSLR owners who are not used to having a top-mounted status LCD on their cameras. It's also the rear screen that provides live view for capturing both stills and movies. For this reason, we were a little disappointed that the monitor is still fixed, lacking articulation of any kind, something that one of the D7100's key rivals, the Canon EOS 60D, does offer.
You still get a true optical TTL finder as well though, and it's an excellent one to boot, offering an impressive 100% frame coverage, 0.94x magnification and 170 degree viewing angle. The auto-focus system has also been significantly upgraded to the same 51-point system as the flagship Nikon D4 and the D800, with the centre point permanently marked on the focusing screen and the other 51 points lighting up as red boxes, and compositional grid lines that can be called up via a menu option. Three warning signs – reminding you that you are in black-and-white capture mode, the battery is running low or you have forgotten to insert a memory card – may also appear in the form of overlaid icons when appropriate. Below the finder is a traditional monochromatic status bar that is the same as the one seen in the D90.
The "info"button contributes greatly to the Nikon D7100's ease-of-use - pressing it displays virtually all of the camera's main settings on the large rear screen. Then pressing the "i" button as the bottom of the vertical row of buttons to the left of the LCD screen allows you to interact with and set the onscreen options, with 10 available in total.
As stated above, the D7100 now has 51 auto-focus sensors, out of which 15 are a cross type. The other 36 are of the line variety, consequently being only sensitive to either vertical or horizontal detail, but not both. In practice, this did not turn out to be a problem, with the camera typically locking focus on the subject easily, no matter which AF point was selected. Be aware though that the default AF area mode is 'auto-area' in most of the scene and exposure modes, including P, A, S and M as well. In auto-area mode it is the camera, rather than the photographer, that chooses which AF point(s) to use, which is usually not desirable. You can change this to single-point, dynamic-area or 3D-tracking AF. Single-point AF is what you will want to use most of the time, as it gives you the opportunity to specify which of the 51 auto-focus sensors should be engaged. In the viewfinder, the active AF point appears as a red square, which is easy to see. Selecting the active AF point is done by holding down the Af mode button and using the four-way pad, unless the focus selector lock is in the L (=Locked) position.
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| Front | Side |
If you select dynamic-area AF, you can also specify an AF point, but the camera 'will focus based on information from surrounding focus points if subject briefly leaves selected point', as the user guide puts it. This is the default AF area mode in the Sports scene mode. More interesting is the 3D focus tracking feature. Basically this lets you specify the focus point that is right on your subject, then the camera will attempt to track this subject as it moves across the frame, using whichever AF point it deems appropriate in any given moment. Apparently, the camera does this using colour information from the 2,016-segment RGB metering sensor to identify the subject. In the field, it was quite astounding to see 3D focus tracking in action.
The modus operandi of the auto-focus system can also be specified by the photographer. There is nothing new here: AF-S is for stationary subjects – an AF assist lamp is available for use at close range in low light – AF-C is for moving ones, while AF-A is the best of both worlds. Cycling through these modes is done by holding down the dedicated AF button on the left-side of the camera, and turning a control wheel. Note that some of the AF area modes, namely dynamic area and 3D focus tracking, will only work the way described above if you are either in AF-A or AF-C. The camera also allows you to focus on your subject manually. To do this, turn the AF/MF switch, found below the lens release button, to the position marked with an 'M', and use the MF ring on the lens to focus.
One area of photography that the D7100 is particularly well suited to is flash photography. The camera has a built-in speedlight with a guide number of 12 (in metres) at ISO 100. In auto mode, this flash will pop-up automatically if the camera thinks it's necessary, but in most other exposure modes, it is left to the photographer to decide whether to use it or not. This little flash can not only be used as an emergency light source or a fill light, but also as a commander for up to two groups of wireless flash units. In such a setup, you can specify if you want the on-board flash to give only a signal to fire off the wireless slaves or also to provide some fill light. It is also possible to chose the mode of operation (TTL, Auto or Manual) for one or both of the slaved flash groups, and even to regulate their output from the camera. Compatible flashguns include the SB-900, SB-800, SB-700, SB-600, and SB-400 flash units.
As with most recent DSLR cameras from both Nikon and the other manufacturers, the D7100 offers Live View off the main sensor. The D7000's Live View lever has given way to a button encircled by a switch that toggles between Photo Live View and Movie Live View modes. In Photo Live View mode, press the button and the mirror flips up, the shutter opens and the rear screen displays the scene as seen through the lens. Live View is either delivered on the high-resolution rear monitor or on any LCD panel or plasma screen connected to the camera via an HDMI cable. There is a red rectangle in the middle for focusing , which you can move practically anywhere in the frame. When in manual focus mode, you can magnify into this rectangle in five steps simply by repeatedly pressing the button marked with a loupe icon, but this magnification seems to be interpolated rather than real. This means that you cannot see detail down to the pixel level, unlike with many competing cameras, which is a disappointment given the excellent LCD screen.
Manual Focus is not the only focusing option in Live View when taking still images. The D7100 has two AF modes in Live View, AF-A and AF-F. Both employ a contrast-detect method of focusing, with AF-A locking onto the subject when you half-press the shutter button, and AF-F (full-time-servo AF) automatically tracking the subject continuously even if it moves. The D7100's Live View auto-focusing isn't very fast, typically taking between 1 and 2 seconds to lock focus on a subject in good light, and even longer in low-light conditions. There are selectable AF-area modes according to the subject; face-priority AF, wide-area AF, normal-area AF and subject-tracking AF. 'Face-Priority AF' had no problem finding and keeping track of human faces as long as they were facing the camera, and the system can detect up to 35 faces and will attempt to focus on the one closest to the camera.
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| Memory Card Slot | Battery Compartment |
The amount of overlaid information is user selectable, and can include a shooting grid similar to what you can see in the optical viewfinder and also the virtual horizon which helps to keep your images straight. This feature can also be turned on and off via the reprogrammable Fn button, which can be assigned to a range of different functions, and also appears in the optical viewfinder status bar via the exposure compensation scale. But there's still no live histogram, as on the D90, which is a glaring omission that makes Live View much less usable than it could be, and again puts Nikon behind the competition in this area. Photographers who intend to use Live View mainly for tripod work will, on the other hand, be delighted to learn that the camera offers true mirror lock up.
Live View is also employed by the Nikon D7100's movie mode. After moving the Lv switch to the Movie Live View position and optionally presetting the aperture, shutter speed and focus, you can start recording video by pressing the Movie button with the red dot sitting within the Lv switch. The camera records full high-definition, wide-screen video in 1920x1280 pixel resolution, at a frame rate of 60i/50i in the 1.3x crop mode and 30p/25p/24p in the DX format,both in AVI format using the motion JPEG codec. As with Live View, contrast-detect AF is possible whilst shooting movies, although as with still images there's an audible whine as the camera refocuses and it's still too slow to focus on any fast-moving subject, so much so that we suspect most serious users will use manual focusing instead.
You can set both the aperture and the shutter speed from the camera in movie mode, although the slowest shutter speed is limited to 1/30th second, plus exposure compensation and AE-Lock can also be set. Out of the box the D7100 can now record stereo sound via its built-in microphone with three different levels of sensitivity on offer, and stereo recording can be recorded using an optional external microphone. The maximum size of a single video clip is 2 gigabytes which, given that movies occupy about 100 megabytes of storage space per minute, would theoretically translate into about 20 minutes of continuous recording, but – apparently because of certain legal regulations in the EU –, Nikon decided to limit the clip length to 5 minutes for high-definition movies.
For the images already captured, the Nikon D7100 offers a broad range of retouching tools, including post-capture D-lighting (useful if you forgot to turn on Active D-lighting before capture), red-eye correction, trimming, monochrome conversion, different filter effects, colour adjustments, image resizing, image overlay, in-camera raw processing, quick auto retouching, straightening of crooked pictures, lens distortion correction, perspective control (reduction of keystoning), and fisheye, miniature, colour outline and colour sketch effects. Many of these functions make it unnecessary to buy specialised computer programs or plug-ins and spend hours in front of a computer to achieve a desired/popular effect. Interval timer shooting is a powerful feature and something that isn't offered by the older D90.
As far as connectivity goes, there are USB / VideoOut and HDMI ports as well as accessory terminals for the connection of an external microphone and either wired remote or a GPS unit, and a new headphone jack for monitoring audio while you shoot, all sheltered behind three rubberised doors on the left side of the camera, when viewed from the back.
Image Quality
All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 24.1 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 10Mb.
The Nikon D7100 produced images of outstanding quality during the review period. The D7100 produces noise-free JPEG images at ISO 100-1600, with ISO 3200 also looking pretty good. ISO 6400 only shows a little noise, while the fastest settings of ISO 12800 and 25600 are quite a lot noisier and suffer from softening of fine detail and a loss of saturation, but the images are still perfectly usable for small prints and resizing for web use. The images were a little soft straight out of the D7100 at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting for JPEG files. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds and bulb mode allowing you to capture plenty of light. Red-eye was not a common occurrence with the built-in flash, and when we did encounter it, it was very moderate and easily cured by setting the flash to red-eye reduction mode. Active D-lighting managed to squeeze most of the dynamic range captured by the sensor into the JPEGs the camera produced.
Noise
There are 9 ISO settings available on the Nikon D7100 and the ISO speed can be adjusted in 1/3 EV increments. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting, with JPEG on the left and RAW on the right.
The Nikon D7100 also has ISO Sensitivity Auto Control, activated from the shooting menu. If set to On, the camera will automatically adjust the sensitivity if proper exposure cannot be achieved at the value chosen by the photographer. The user can put a limit on the maximum sensitivity selectable by the camera.
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JPEG |
RAW |
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ISO 100 (100% Crop) |
ISO 100 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 200 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
ISO 400 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 800 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
ISO 1600 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
ISO 3200 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 6400 (100% Crop) |
ISO 6400 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 12800 (100% Crop) |
ISO 12800 (100% Crop) |
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ISO 25600 (100% Crop) |
ISO 25600 (100% Crop) |
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File Quality
The file quality settings available on the D7100 include Basic, Normal and Fine for JPEGs, plus you can also store your photos in Nikon's proprietary raw format (NEF). Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.
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Fine (10.2Mb) (100% Crop) |
Normal (6.95Mb) (100% Crop) |
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Basic (3.81Mb) (100% Crop) |
RAW (27.8Mb) (100% Crop) |
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Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes by changing the Picture Styles.
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Original (100% Crop) |
Sharpened (100% Crop) |
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Flash
The pop-up flash on the D7100 has several settings including Auto, Fill-in flash, Red-eye Reduction, SlowSync, Red-eye Reduction with Slow Sync, Rear-curtain Sync and Off. The mode of operation can be TTL, Auto or Manual, and there is Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) available as well. These pictures of a white wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m using the kit zoom.
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Flash Off - Wide Angle (27mm) |
Flash On - Wide Angle (27mm) |
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Flash Off - Telephoto (157.5mm) |
Flash On - Telephoto (157.5mm) |
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And here are a couple of portrait shots. Neither the flash on or the red-eye reduction mode casused any amount of red-eye.
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Flash On |
Flash On (100% Crop) |
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Red-eye Reduction |
Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop) |
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Night
The Nikon D7100 lets you dial in shutter speeds of up to 30 seconds and has a Bulb mode as well for exposure times of practically any length, which is very good news if you are seriously interested in night photography. There is an optional long-exposure noise reduction function that can be activated to filter out any hot pixels that may appear when extremely slow shutter speeds are used. Do note that this works by way of dark frame subtraction, which effectively doubles the exposure time. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 25 seconds, aperture of f/8 at ISO 100. We've included a 100% crop for you to see what the quality is like.
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Night |
Night (100% Crop) |
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Image Stabilisation
The Nikon D7100 does not offer body-integral image stabilisation, but the 18-105mm kit lens bundled with the camera features Vibration Reduction, Nikon's proprietary lens-based optical stabilisation system. This allows you to take sharp hand-held photos at slower shutter speeds than with lenses that lack this function. To illustrate this, we took two photos at the short and long end of the zoom, with VR turned on and off.
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Shutter Speed / Focal Length |
Image Stabilisation Off (100% Crop) |
Image Stabilisation On (100% Crop) |
| 1/6 sec / 27mm |
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| 1/6 sec / 157.5mm |
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HDR
The Nikon D7100 has a HDR mode with four levels of manual exposure and an Auto setting. The camera only combines two shots, one under and one over exposed, to produce the final image, and it's only available when shooting JPEGs.
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HDR - Off |
HDR - Low |
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HDR - Normal |
HDR - High |
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HDR - Extra High |
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D-lighting
D-lighting is Nikon's dynamic range optimisation tool that attempts to squeeze the full dynamic range of the sensor into JPEGs. The available settings are Off, Low, Medium, High, Extra High and Auto. The following examples demonstrate the differences between the various settings.
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D-lighting Off |
D-lighting Low |
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D-lighting Normal |
D-lighting High |
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D-lighting Extra High |
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Picture Controls
Nikon's Picture Controls are akin to Canon's Picture Styles in being preset combinations of sharpening, contrast, brightness, saturation and hue. The available choices are Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait and Landscape. The following examples demonstrate the differences across these options.
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Standard |
Neutral |
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Vivid |
Monochrome |
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Portrait |
Landscape |
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Effects
The Effects shooting mode provides 7 different creative filters that can be applied to both still images and movies.
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Color Sketch |
Miniature Effect |
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Selective Color |
Silhouette |
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High Key |
Low Key |
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Night Vision |
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Sample Images
As of February 2025, we are no longer providing full size sample images or videos for download.
Please contact us if you have any feedback on our new policy.
Product Images
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Front of the Camera |
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Front of the Camera |
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Front of the Camera / Pop-up Flash |
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Isometric View |
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Isometric View |
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Isometric View |
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Isometric View |
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Rear of the Camera |
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Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed |
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Rear of the Camera / Turned On |
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Rear of the Camera / Info Screen |
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Rear of the Camera / Info Screen |
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Rear of the Camera / Playback Menu |
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Rear of the Camera / Shooting Menu |
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Rear of the Camera / Custom Setting Menu |
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Rear of the Camera / Setup Menu |
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Rear of the Camera / Retouch Menu |
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Rear of the Camera / Recent Settings Menu |
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Top of the Camera |
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Bottom of the Camera |
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Side of the Camera |
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Side of the Camera |
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Front of the Camera |
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Front of the Camera |
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Memory Card Slot |
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Battery Compartment |
Conclusion
The new Nikon D7100 builds on the considerable success of the 2 1/2 year old D7000 camera principally by significantly increasing the image resolution whilst maintaining outstanding quality for a DX sensor, implementing the same cutting-edge 51-point autofocus system as the flagship D4 pro DSLR, incorporating the same level of weather sealing as the D800, and debuting the the innovative 1.3x crop mode. At first glance it may seem like a modest upgrade of a camera that was ahead of its time, but there are a whole raft of major and minor improvements that add up to make this the one of the best Nikon DX cameras and a worthy successor to the D7000 (which is still considered good enough to remain in the Nikon range).
The D7100's 24.1 megapixel sensor makes it the highest-resolution Nikon DX DSLR, and thankfully that hasn't come at the cost of detracting from the image quality, which is excellent. There's virtually no noise from the base sensitivity of ISO 100 all the way up to 3200, with the higher settings of 6400, 12,800 and even to a lesser extent 25,600 all perfectly usable for smaller prints - very impressive for a 1.5x sensor. Exposure, colour and white balance were all uniformly reliable, with the option of the RAW format if you want to take control. Only the lack of any control over noise reduction using the ViewNX 2 RAW editing software supplied in the box detracts slightly from an otherwise impeccable performance.
In addition to the 51-point AF system, the 1.3x crop mode is the most surprising addition to the D7100, not only increasing the reach of all your lenses, but also widening the autofocus coverage, increasing the burst shooting speed and buffer depth, and allowing 60i/50i movies to be recorded. All good news for sports and wildlife photographers who perhaps don't necessarily need the full 24 megapixel resolution.
Videographers are still well-catered for, with the new headphone jack and stereo sound in particular improving this area of operation. We'd still liked to have seen an articulating screen though - you'll need to consider the cheaper D5200 (or the Canon EOS 60D) if this is one of your must-have features - and the D7100's contrast AF system is still too slow to keep up with fast-moving subjects, accompanied by an annoying whine that's audible in the video. Offering GPS and Wi-fi connectivity via optional accessories increases the potential flexibility of the D7100, but some rivals such as the Canon EOS 6D now more conveniently feature built-in wireless.
In summary the new Nikon D7100 further improves on the already excellent D7000 in several key ways and many minor ones, all adding up to make this the best DX-format DSLR to date. Nikon may be focusing on a full-frame future, but the D7100 clearly shows that they haven't forgotten the cropped sensor market. It may look almost identical to its predecessor, but the Nikon D7100 certainly proves that first impressions can be very deceiving...
| Ratings (out of 5) | |
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| Design | 4.5 |
| Features | 4.5 |
| Ease-of-use | 4.5 |
| Image quality | 5 |
| Value for money | 4.5 |
Review Roundup
Reviews of the Nikon D7100 from around the web.
whatdigitalcamera.com »
Three years ago Nikon announced the Nikon D7000 DSLR, a camera many probably weren't expecting. With the Nikon D90, Nikon D300 and Nikon D300S models already available, it didn't appear as through there would be much demand for a further line of models between the two. Nevertheless, the camera gained much popularity thanks to its high features-to-form ratio, and provided a logical stepping stone for accomplished entry-level DSLR owners looking to take their photography more seriously. And now, Nikon has gathered together some of the features seen in its most recent DSLRs and blended them with a handful of new ones to create the Nikon D7100 successor.
Read the full review »
pocket-lint.com »
Cameras are evolving. The Nikon D7100 is testament to that - it not only employs enough top specs to rival even the well-established D300S from Nikon's own range but, and much like the Nikon D800E, has removed the low-pass filter from its imaging equation. This trick - if it can be called that - cuts out diffusion that said filter would otherwise serve to function and, therefore, images should have improved sharpness straight from camera.
Read the full review »
Specifications
| Type | Single-lens reflex digital camera |
| Lens mount | Nikon F mount (with AF coupling and AF contacts) |
| Effective angle of view | Nikon DX format; focal length in 35 mm [135] format equivalent to approx. 1.5x that of lenses with FX format angle of view |
| Effective pixels | 24.1 million |
| Image sensor | 23.5 x 15.6 mm CMOS sensor |
| Total pixels | 24.71 million |
| Dust-reduction System | Image sensor cleaning, Image Dust Off reference data (optional Capture NX 2 software required) |
| Storage - Image size (pixels) | DX (24 x 16) image area: 6000 x 4000 (L), 4496 x 3000 (M), 2992 x 2000 (S); 1.3x (18 x 12) image area: 4800 x 3200 (L), 3600 x 2400 (M), 2400 x 1600 (S); Photographs with image area of DX (24 x 16) taken in movie live view: 6000 x 3368 (L), 4494 x 2528 (M), 2992 x 1860 (S); Photographs with image area of 1.3x (18 x 12) taken in movie live view: 4800 x 2696 (L), 3600 x 2024 (M), 2400 x 1344 (S); |
| File format | NEF (RAW): 12 or 14 bit, lossless compressed or compressed; JPEG: JPEG-Baseline compliant with fine (approx. 1 : 4), normal (approx. 1 : 8), or basic (approx. 1 : 16) compression (Size priority); Optimal quality compression available; NEF (RAW) + JPEG: Single photograph recorded in both NEF (RAW) and JPEG formats |
| Picture Control System | Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, Landscape; selected Picture Control can be modified; storage for custom Picture Controls |
| Media | SD (Secure Digital) and UHS-I compliant SDHC and SDXC memory cards |
| Double slot | Slot 2 can be used for overflow or backup storage or for separate storage of copies created using NEF+JPEG; pictures can be copied between cards. |
| File system | DCF (Design Rule for Camera File System) 2.0, DPOF (Digital Print Order Format), Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format for Digital Still Cameras) 2.3, PictBridge |
| Viewfinder | Eye-level pentaprism single-lens reflex viewfinder |
| Frame coverage | Approx. 100% horizontal and 100% vertical |
| Magnification | Approx. 0.94x (50 mm f/1.4 lens at infinity, -1.0 m-1) |
| Eyepoint | 19.5 mm (-1.0 m-1; from center surface of viewfinder eyepiece lens) |
| Diopter adjustment | -2 - +1 m-1 |
| Focusing screen | Type B BriteView Clear Matte Mark II screen with AF area brackets (framing grid can be displayed) |
| Reflex mirror | Quick return |
| Depth-of-field preview | Pressing depth-of-field preview button stops lens aperture down to value selected by user (A and M modes) or by camera (other modes) |
| Lens aperture | Instant return, electronically controlled |
| Compatible lenses | Compatible with AF NIKKOR lenses, including type G and D lenses (some restrictions apply to PC lenses) and DX lenses, AI-P NIKKOR lenses, and non-CPU AI lenses (A and M modes only). IX NIKKOR lenses, lenses for the F3AF, and non-AI lenses can not be used. The electronic rangefinder can be used with lenses that have a maximum aperture of f/5.6 or faster (the electronic rangefinder supports the center focus point with lenses that have a maximum aperture of f/8 or faster). |
| Shutter type | Electronically-controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter |
| Shutter speed | 1/8000 - 30 s in steps of 1/3 or 1/2 EV, bulb, time, X250 |
| Flash sync speed | X=1/250 s; synchronizes with shutter at 1/320 s or slower (flash range drops at speeds between 1/250 and 1/320 s) |
| Release mode | Single frame (S), continuous low speed (CL), continuous high speed (CH), quiet shutter-release (Q), self-timer, mirror up (MUP); interval timer photography supported |
| Approximate frame advance rate | JPEG and 12-bit NEF (RAW) images recorded with DX (24 x 16) selected for Image area CL: 1 - 6 fps, CH: 6 fps JPEG and 12-bit NEF (RAW) images recorded with 1.3x (18 x 12) selected for Image area CL: 1 - 6 fps, CH: 7 fps 14-bit NEF (RAW) images recorded with DX (24 x 16) selected for Image area CL: 1 - 5 fps, CH: 5 fps 14-bit NEF (RAW) images recorded with 1.3x (18 x 12) selected for Image area CL: 1 - 6 fps, CH: 6 fps |
| Self-timer | 2 s, 5 s, 10 s, 20 s; 1 - 9 exposures at intervals of 0.5, 1, 2, or 3 s |
| Remote control modes (ML-L3) | Delayed remote, quick-response remote, remote mirror-up |
| Exposure - Metering mode | TTL exposure metering using 2016-pixel RGB sensor |
| Exposure - Metering method | Matrix: 3D color matrix metering II (type G and D lenses); color matrix metering II (other CPU lenses); color matrix metering available with non-CPU lenses if user provides lens data Center-weighted: Weight of 75% given to 8 mm circle in center of frame. Diameter of circle can be changed to 6, 10, or 13 mm, or weighting can be based on average of entire frame (non-CPU lenses use 8-mm circle) Spot: Meters 3.5 mm circle (about 2.5% of frame) centered on selected focus point (on center focus point when non-CPU lens is used) |
| Exposure - Range (ISO 100, f/1.4 lens, 20 °C/68 °F) | Matrix or center-weighted metering: 0 - 20 EV Spot metering: 2 - 20 EV |
| Exposure meter coupling | Combined CPU and AI |
| Exposure – Mode | Auto modes (auto; auto (flash off)); programmed auto with flexible program (P); shutter-priority auto (S); aperture-priority auto (A); manual (M); scene modes (portrait; landscape; child; sports; close up; night portrait; night landscape; party/indoor; beach/snow; sunset; dusk/dawn; pet portrait; candlelight; blossom; autumn colors; food); special effects modes (night vision; color sketch; miniature effect; selective color; silhouette; high key; low key); U1 (user settings 1); U2 (user settings 2) |
| Exposure compensation | Can be adjusted by -5 - +5 EV in increments of 1/3 or 1/2 EV in P, S, A, and M modes |
| Exposure bracketing | 2 - 5 frames in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1, 2, or 3 EV |
| Flash bracketing | 2 - 5 frames in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1, 2, or 3 EV |
| White balance bracketing | 2 - 5 frames in steps of 1, 2, or 3 |
| ADL bracketing | 2 frames using selected value for one frame or 3 frames using preset values for all frames |
| Exposure lock | Luminosity locked at detected value with AE-L/AF-L button |
| ISO sensitivity (Recommended Exposure Index) | ISO 100 - 6400 in steps of 1/3 or 1/2 EV. Can also be set to approx. 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1, or 2 EV (ISO 25600 equivalent) above ISO 6400; auto ISO sensitivity control available |
| Active D-Lighting | Auto, Extra high, High, Normal, Low, Off |
| Focus - Autofocus | Nikon Advanced Multi-CAM 3500DX autofocus sensor module with TTL phase detection, fine-tuning, 51 focus points (including 15 cross-type sensors; the center focus point is available at apertures slower than f/5.6 and faster than f/8 or at f/8), and AF-assist illuminator (range approx. 0.5 - 3m/1 ft 8 in. - 9 ft 10 in.) |
| Focus - Detection range | -2 - +19 EV (ISO 100, 20 °C/68 °F) |
| Focus - Lens servo | Autofocus (AF): Single-servo AF (AF-S); continuous-servo AF (AF-C); auto AF-S/AF-C selection (AF-A); predictive focus tracking activated automatically according to subject status Manual focus (M): Electronic rangefinder can be used |
| Focus point | Can be selected from 51 or 11 focus points |
| AF-area mode | Single-point AF; 9-, 21-, or 51-point dynamic-area AF, 3D-tracking, auto-area AF |
| Focus lock | Focus can be locked by pressing shutter-release button halfway (single-servo AF) or by pressing AE-L/AF-L button |
| Flash - Built-in flash | Auto, portrait, child, close up, night portrait, party/indoor, pet portrait, color sketch: Auto flash with auto pop-up P, S, A, M, food: Manual pop-up with button release |
| Flash - Guide Number | Approx. 12/39, 12/39 with manual flash (m/ft, ISO 100, 20 °C/68 °F) |
| Flash control | TTL: i-TTL flash control using 2016-pixel RGB sensor is available with built-in flash and SB-910, SB-900, SB-800, SB-700, SB-600, or SB-400; i-TTL balanced fill-flash for digital SLR is used with matrix and center-weighted metering, standard i-TTL flash for digital SLR with spot metering |
| Flash mode | Auto, auto with red-eye reduction, auto slow sync, auto slow sync with red-eye reduction, fill-flash, red-eye reduction, slow sync, slow sync with red-eye reduction, rear-curtain with slow sync, rear-curtain sync, off; Auto FP High-Speed Sync supported |
| Flash compensation | -3 - +1 EV in increments of 1/3 or 1/2 EV |
| Flash-ready indicator | Lights when built-in flash or optional flash unit is fully charged; flashes after flash is fired at full output |
| Flash - Accessory shoe | ISO 518 hot-shoe with sync and data contacts and safety lock |
| Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS) | Advanced Wireless Lighting supported with: - SB-910, SB-900, SB-800, or SB-700 as a master flash and SB-600 or SB-R200 as remotes, or SU-800 as commander - Built-in flash can serve as master flash in commander mode. Auto FP High-Speed Sync and modeling illumination supported with all CLS-compatible flash units except SB-400; Flash Color Information Communication and FV lock supported with all CLS-compatible flash units |
| Flash - Sync terminal | AS-15 sync terminal adapter (available separately) |
| White balance | Auto (2 types), incandescent, fluorescent (7 types), direct sunlight, flash, cloudy, shade, preset manual (up to 6 values can be stored, spot white balance measurement available during live view), choose color temperature (2500 K - 10000 K), all with fine-tuning |
| Live View - Modes | Live view photography (still images), movie live view (movies) |
| Live View - Lens servo | Autofocus (AF): Single-servo AF (AF-S); full-time-servo AF (AF-F) Manual focus (M) |
| Live View - AF-area mode | Face-priority AF, wide-area AF, normal-area AF, subject-tracking AF |
| Live View - Autofocus | Contrast-detect AF anywhere in frame (camera selects focus point automatically when face-priority AF or subject-tracking AF is selected) |
| Movie - Metering | TTL exposure metering using main image sensor |
| Movie - Metering method | Matrix |
| Movie - Frame size (pixels) and frame rate | 1920 x 1080; 60i (59.94 fields/s)/ 50i (50 fields/s) * 1920 x 1080; 30 p (progressive), 25p, 24p 1280 x 720; 60p, 50p Actual frame rates for 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p, and 24p are 59.94, 50, 29.97, 25, and 23.976 fps respectively; options support both high and normal image quality * Available only when 1.3x (18 x 12) is selected for Image area. Sensor output is about 60 or 50 fps. |
| Video file format | MOV |
| Video compression | H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding |
| Audio recording format | Linear PCM |
| Audio recording device | Built-in or external stereo microphone; sensitivity adjustable |
| Monitor | 8-cm/3.2-in., approx. 1229 k-dot (VGA; 640 x 4 x 480 = 1,228,800 dots), TFT monitor with approx. 170° viewing angle, approx. 100% frame coverage, and brightness adjustment |
| Playback | Full-frame and thumbnail (4, 9, or 72 images or calendar) playback with playback zoom, movie playback, photo and/or movie slide shows, histogram display, highlights, photo information, GPS data display, and auto image rotation |
| Interface - USB | Hi-Speed USB |
| HDMI output | HDMI mini connector (Type C) |
| Accessory terminal | Wireless remote controller: WR-1 and WR-R10 (available separately) Remote cord: MC-DC2 (available separately) GPS unit: GP-1 (available separately) |
| Audio input | Stereo mini-pin jack (3.5 mm diameter; plug-in power supported) |
| Audio output | Stereo mini-pin jack (3.5 mm diameter) |
| Supported languages | Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (European and Brazilian), Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese |
| Power source - Battery | One rechargeable Li-ion EN-EL15 battery |
| Battery pack | Optional MB-D15 multi-power battery pack with one rechargeable Nikon EN-EL15 Li-ion battery or six AA alkaline, Ni-MH, or lithium batteries |
| AC adapter | EH-5b AC adapter; requires EP-5B power connector (available separately) |
| Tripod socket | 1/4 in. (ISO 1222) |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | Approx. 135.5 x 106.5 x 76 mm (5.3 x 4.2 x 3.0 in.) |
| Weight | Approx. 765 g (1 lb 11.0 oz) with battery and memory card but without body cap; approx. 675 g (1 lb 7.8 oz; camera body only) |
| Operating environment - Temperature | 0 °C - 40 °C (+32 °F - 104 °F) |
| Operating environment - Humidity | 85% or less (no condensation) |
| Supplied accessories | EN-EL15 rechargeable Li-ion battery (with terminal cover), MH-25 battery charger, DK-5 eyepiece cap, AN-DC1 strap, UC-E6 USB cable, BS-1 accessory shoe cover, DK-23 rubber eyecup, BF-1B body cap, ViewNX 2 CD, User's Manual |
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