Nikon D7100 Review: Image Quality
The image quality of the Nikon D7100 is, hands down, the best of any APS-C sensor camera on the market right now. The detail, dynamic range and noise levels from the anti-aliasing-free 24-megapixel sensor are truly amazing. High-resolution digital images and prints will see a huge benefit from the D7100’s low noise and 24-megapixel resolution. The 24-megapixel resolution also allows a huge amount of leeway for cropping.
Part of the goal of this review was to see how the D7100 compared to my old Nikon D300s. Noise levels for both the both cameras are similar at 1:1 on the computer screen. That’s misleading though, because the D7100 has twice the resolution of the D300s, effectively minimizing any noise. To really compare the two cameras fairly, the D7100 images need to be viewed at 1:2 since the D7100 has twice the resolution of the D300s’ 12-megapixel sensor. When you look at it this way the noise levels of the D7100 are dramatically better at all sensitivity settings. And for prints or viewing at larger sizes, the 24-megapixel D7100 crushes the D300s. In this case, twice as many pixels absolutely mean better image quality.
While processing images for this review, I noticed the D7100 JPEGs seemed to have a lot more room for adjustment before they got weird. It doesn’t take much tweaking for D300s, D700, and D3s JPEG files to either loose contrast or get way too contrasty, especially at higher ISOs. The D7100 JPEGs acted more like RAW files in this respect. Regardless of what kind of adjustment I made, I was able to push the files a lot further before they started to look bad. Check out the edited and unedited mountain bike photos below to see what I mean. I’m not sure what Nikon did to improve the dynamic range so much compared to previous APS-C sensor DSLRs. Was it removing the anti-aliasing filter from the sensor? Better in-camera processing? Whatever they did, it’s great.
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But it’s the D7100’s low noise at high ISO that’s most impressive. Here are a few real world high ISO D7100 sample photos:
The best thing about this radish image is the red. Red is generally a terrible color for cameras to render – especially at high ISO. The red here looks perfect and natural without being over or under saturated. These radishes look just as good as they tasted!
The two photos below show how good the D7100 is when proper focus and exposure come together at the upper reaches of ISO.
The fight picture above was shot through a fence at ISO 5000. I actually bought the D7100 for this fight – as a backup for my D3s while it was at Nikon being serviced. I got several very sharp images at this event with the D7100. But the inconsistent auto focus and slow burst rate made me miss some photos, too. You have to take the good with the bad, I guess. In these terrible lighting conditions my old D300s is almost unusable.
In spite of the high ISO 8063 setting, the photo above is very usable for either print or computer display. Solid colors tend to exaggerate noise but notice how smooth the blue and black look. This image has had no noise reduction applied and minimal adjustments done in Lightroom. The D7100 is a huge leap forward for DX / APS-C sensor image quality. It might be right up there with some full-frame cameras – at least in the noise dept.
Although it’s great to have all that detail, there is a downside to the D7100’s 24-megapixel files. They’re huge. If your computer has trouble with 12 or 16-megapixel files, get ready to crawl with 24-megapixel images. My computer isn’t the fastest ever, but it’s no slouch, either. The D7100 RAW and JPG files took a lot longer to render in Lightroom 4 than my D300s, D700 or D3s files. Rendering time, upload and processing time are things to consider if you shoot a lot of pictures. These seconds can add up to hours of extra post-processing. Storage is also something to consider. Memory cards and hard drives aren’t super cheap. They’re my least favorite photography expenses, too. They’re just no fun. No one says, “Check out my new hard drive! It’s soooo cool!” Because it’s not.
Nikon D7100 Studio Sample Photos >>
No doubt, some of you are comparing the D7100 to the D600, wondering if the full-frame 24-megapixel sensor is really better. So how does the D7100 compare to full-frame DSLRs like the Nikon D4, D3s, and D600? There’s no doubt about it – full frame cameras are still better. However, if you compare our studio sample photos from the D7100 (click on the photo or link, above) and the D600 (Nikon D600 studio sample photos) you’ll see the D7100 compares very well. It even appears to have better noise control than the D600 at high ISO settings. Where it can’t compete is sharpness. The D600’s full-frame sensor delivers sharper images in all conditions. The D7100’s auto focus didn’t do as well in low light compared to pro-level full-frame digital SLRs, either. There’s definitely more to image quality than just the number of pixels; and auto focus performance is critical if you shoot anything moving. Without solid focus it doesn’t matter how awesome your sensor is. However, if you have perfect focus and exposure with the D7100, it’s very usable into the upper reaches of the ISO range.
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cool and nice goods, advanced
Very nice review and informative. I got mine last year, used once or twice so far and still trying to learn more about it. My passion is MTB and I will use the D7100 for outdoors shots. My other concern is the expose monitor screen, it doesn’t have the snap on for the screen protector. What screen protector do you recommend, glass or hard plastic type? Thanks.