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All things considered, the D7100 is still an attractive offering for enthusiast photographers that centres around the thing that these users value the most – detail. It produces sharp, detail-rich images straight from the camera and noise is well controlled up to ISO 6400.
However, if detail is your main interest, then the D7200 is better still. The D7100 is as good as its chief rival cameras in the mid-range enthusiasts market, but the D7200 is just that little bit better.
We liked
Those who like to dabble in sports photography will also not be disappointed by the D7100, provided you are happy to time your shots carefully and don't press the shutter release too early. The autofocus system is extremely capable and it gets the subject sharp even in quite low light. Thanks to the 1.3x crop, photographers can also get a little closer to their subject in-camera.
Image colours are typically Nikon-like, with the Standard Picture Control setting producing pleasantly vibrant images in most situations. If you do shoot JPEG images, though, you may find the new Flat and Clarity options in the D7200's Picture Control 2.0 system a useful advantage.
We disliked
We usually recommend that you keep an eye on the histogram view when shooting to ensure images are correctly exposed, and this is sound advice with the Nikon D7100, since the Matrix metering system is prone to underexposing in some situations. But at least it protects the highlights.
Although Nikon has given the D7100 a pretty extensive feature set, it would've been nice if the company had pushed things a bit further and perhaps included Wi-Fi technology in-camera to enable remote control via a smart phone or tablet. You can add this, however, with Nikon's inexpensive WU-1a adaptor.
If you're going to do that, though, you might just as well save the extra outlay and put it towards the D7200 instead, because this has both Wi-Fi and NFC built in.
Final verdict
There are a few extra things we would have liked to have seen in the D7100, but its performance as a conventional stills camera is still really competitive. If you're interested only in regular stills photography, the cost-saving over the newer D7200 is undeniably tempting.
But if you're interested in action photography, movies or wireless control and transfer, the D7200 is really the one to go for. For action fans the extra buffer capacity will be crucial, and videographers benefit from some useful new features. And while the WU-1a wireless adaptor works perfectly well with the D7100, it's much simpler to have it built in with the D7200.
