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Discuss Nikon digital cameras, Nikon film cameras, Nikkor lenses, Nikon camera accessories, etc. - Your Nikon cameras forum moderator is Franglais.
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  1. #1
    Captain of the Ship Photo-John's Avatar
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    Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    Grandpaw started another thread about whether or not he should buy a D600. Because I'd just made studio tests with the D7100, and they look awesome, I encouraged him to give it a closer look. I understand why he would want to upgrade to a full-frame camera like the D600, though. However, since both the D7100 and the D600 are 24-megapixel cameras I got really curious about how the image quality compared. So I threw out a line to local photographers and got one in the studio with his camera today. No doubt about it, the D600 image quality is excellent. But I'm even more impressed with the D7100 now that I've looked at both sets of tests right next to each other. For the money, and for most photographers, I think the D7100 is probably the better camera. Check out the studio tests yourself and see what you think:

    Nikon D600 Full-Frame Digital SLR Studio Sample Photos >>
    Nikon D7100 Studio Sample Photos >>

    So let me hear it - what do you think? After looking at both sets of samples, does anyone else feel like the D600 might be overkill for most photographers?
    Photo-John

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  2. #2
    Member Footski's Avatar
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    Yes, I do tend to agree with you. the D7100 results are superb. That said, the D600 does offer a good, reasonably priced way to get into full frame.

  3. #3
    Captain of the Ship Photo-John's Avatar
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    Quote Originally Posted by Footski View Post
    Yes, I do tend to agree with you. the D7100 results are superb. That said, the D600 does offer a good, reasonably priced way to get into full frame.
    The question is - do you (that's the general "you") really need to get into full frame? A lot of photographers believe that to be serious they do. But I don't believe that's necessarily true. The D7100 is definitely muddying the waters.
    Photo-John

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  4. #4
    Be serious Franglais's Avatar
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    I think your D600 has a dust spot on it's sensor, just above the crocodile's neck. There is a shadow there that isn't on the D7100 images.

    I made a fairly small prints (A4 = 8x10 inches) at 400 ISO (my most-often-used setting). It was obvious to me which print came from which camera. The D600 image looks more real and more beautiful. The D7100 image is nice but slightly flat. It's the effect that I've noticed in going from a smaller sensor to full-frame. You get more images that leap out at you and impress.
    Charles

    Nikon D800, D7200, Sony RX100m3
    Not buying any more gear this year. I hope

  5. #5
    Senior Member volks's Avatar
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    That dust spot on the d600 is very obvious. Interesting to see it, but unfortunate that's it's there.
    Volker
    Nikon D7200
    Nikon P7100
    Nikon 16-80/2.8-4 ED VR
    Nikon 55-200 VR II

    Keeping it light and simple.

  6. #6
    Captain of the Ship Photo-John's Avatar
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    Quote Originally Posted by volks View Post
    That dust spot on the d600 is very obvious. Interesting to see it, but unfortunate that's it's there.
    Yes, there's a dust spot on the D600 sensor. It doesn't affect the tests at all, though. It's just a bit annoying.
    Photo-John

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  7. #7
    Captain of the Ship Photo-John's Avatar
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    Quote Originally Posted by Franglais View Post
    I made a fairly small prints (A4 = 8x10 inches) at 400 ISO (my most-often-used setting). It was obvious to me which print came from which camera. The D600 image looks more real and more beautiful. The D7100 image is nice but slightly flat. It's the effect that I've noticed in going from a smaller sensor to full-frame. You get more images that leap out at you and impress.
    Nice work, Charles! The main difference between the two sensors, obviously, is the size of the pixels. The smaller sensor and pixels causes means more diffraction, which softens the overall image a bit. That's principle cause of the image quality difference. There may be other causes as well, but the smaller pixels is the big one. And I agree, the difference is pretty obvious when you can compare back-to-back. But without being able to compare back-to-back, and the D7100 being half the price, it would make it tough deciding which one to buy.
    Photo-John

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  8. #8
    Be serious Franglais's Avatar
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    I hadn't thought of diffraction as being a cause for the DX image being less defined than the FX one. I thought it might be - bigger photosite = more surface and material to collect light = more electrons created = better transformation into a digital signal. Whatever it is, the effect is visible if you know what to look for.

    I handled a D7100 this afternoon. It feels good. Nice viewfinder.

    But I'm going to sit this one out. I have the D300 + two DX lenses if I need a stand-in for the D800 (holidays). I can wait for another three years or so, put aside some money for the next generation of DSLR's...
    Charles

    Nikon D800, D7200, Sony RX100m3
    Not buying any more gear this year. I hope

  9. #9
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    Hello everyone.
    Regarding the resolution (the text on sample images), interesting and more fair could be comparition with the same lens on both cameras. On DxOmarks, the 17-55 on D7100 give 9Mpix while 24-70 on D600 give 15 Mpix, allmost twice. The 24-70 on D7100 give 12Mpix. I know, the differance in focal range, but I'm also thinking about D600 (D610) for shallow DOF and better Wide angle) so I will propably change my 17-55 (Sigma 2,8 OS) for 24-70. I have 10-24, then 24-70 and 70-200 covers all my needs.
    Anyway, D7100 is an awesome camera for the money, upgraded last month from D7000 because of affordable offer and I'm veray happy.

  10. #10
    Captain of the Ship Photo-John's Avatar
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    Welcome to PhotographyREVIEW.com and thanks for the good comment, Czes. And it is a good comment. You are absolutely right about testing both cameras with the same lens - that would have been the best way to do it. That said, the physics of sensors determines that the D7100 will have lower true resolution than the D600. Bigger pixels will always have better resolution. That's not a knock on the D7100, though. Even though the D600 definitely has better resolution, the D7100 is the first APS-C sensor DSLR I've tested that I thought had useable ISO 6400. I think it's an amazing camera and has the best APS-C sensor you can get right now.
    Photo-John

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  11. #11
    Senior Member volks's Avatar
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    I just downloaded both the d7100 and the d600 ISO 100 test samples and when comparing them side by side, the difference is very obvious as stated by Charles a way back. I'm assuming that both were taken with the same lens ? If not, would that impact the results ? Now I almost regret having chosen the d7100 over the d600/d610.
    Volker
    Nikon D7200
    Nikon P7100
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  12. #12
    Captain of the Ship Photo-John's Avatar
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    Quote Originally Posted by volks View Post
    I just downloaded both the d7100 and the d600 ISO 100 test samples and when comparing them side by side, the difference is very obvious as stated by Charles a way back. I'm assuming that both were taken with the same lens ? If not, would that impact the results ? Now I almost regret having chosen the d7100 over the d600/d610.
    No, they were not taken with the same lens as I don't have my own Nikon lenses to shoot with. I now wish I'd made an effort to use the same lens for both tests but it really wasn't possible at the time. They were both taken with good lenses, though.

    The lenses may have some effect, but the more important difference is the size of the pixels. The D600's larger pixels give it better resolving power and that equals better overall sharpness. However, I urge everyone to step back after viewing the images at 100% and make some prints. Viewing at 100% is useful but it's not real-world viewing. Making prints is a much better way to evaluate image quality. Plus, we should always consider what we *need* and not what is "best." While the D600 does have better overall image quality than the D7100, that doesn't mean the D7100 has bad image quality. It actually has great image quality. It's just that the D600 is better.
    Photo-John

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  13. #13
    Be serious Franglais's Avatar
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    I just read my post from January.

    "I'm going to sit this one out" I said. What a laugh.

    That lasted till after the summer holidays when I made a lot of large prints from the D300 and the D800 at 3200 ISO. At normal viewing distances the D300 ones were okay by themselves but I just couldn't get any life into the shadows the way I can with the D800.

    So far I haven't done much with the D7100. No holidays, the D800 is still my main camera. But the images look very much like ones from the D800.
    Charles

    Nikon D800, D7200, Sony RX100m3
    Not buying any more gear this year. I hope

  14. #14
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    I'm relatively new to photography, and loved learning and experimenting with the D7100. Love the wireless connectivity to my tablet!!

  15. #15
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    Re: Nikon D600 vs. Nikon D7100 - Studio Samples Posted

    How long is the range of W-1a? I have Aputure Gigtube Wireless II but have to add HDMI2AV converter to use Live Vew.

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