# D7000-D7100 Sensors and AF modules



## gryffinwings (Dec 9, 2013)

I'm trying to figure out which camera I want because I'll be upgrading from my Nikon D5100. I keep going back and forth on them.

I've heard that the Sony sensor in the D7000 has an edge in the shadows and that the D7100 has some problems with banding.

The other thing is that the D7000 AF Module is being touted as not as good as the D7100 AF module, in my head it sounds like people are calling the 39 point module crap.

Here's what I plan on using my camera for. Portraits, Landscape, Ceremonies, etc. Nothing with fast action, maybe slow action, some of the situations will have not optimal lighting that I can really do much about except changing my position in relation to the sun, but I do take a lot of photos at around noon or afternoon.

Can someone please explain the differences between the sensors, pros and cons, as well as let me know if the there is as big of a difference between the AF modules as they say.


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## TheFantasticG (Dec 9, 2013)

I know from experience that banding will occur on a D7000 image if exposure is not right.


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## goodguy (Dec 9, 2013)

Upgrading from the D5100 to the D7000 is a relatively small update, the D5100 sensor is the same as you have on the D7000 so you will get the same picture quality.
AF on D7100 is superior to the D7000 but I wouldn't call the one on the D7000 crap.
D5100 is a very good capable camera and if you want a real upgrade then shell the extra cash and get the D7100, it has a bit better low light performance, more mega pixel, 1.3 crop mode which I found to be in some cases very helpful.
The lack of AA filter on the D7100 helps produce slightly sharper images then on the D7100.

Overall the D7100 is not a revolutionary camera compare to the D7000 but it is better in most regards.

My personal recommendation is go with the D7100


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## TheFantasticG (Dec 9, 2013)

Isn't the sensor in the D7000 a Toshiba? Or is it a Sony? I want to say Sony but I can't remember.


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## Derrel (Dec 9, 2013)

I would suggest that you ready the Thom Hogan D7100 review on-line. He specifically covers the D7100 sensor "banding issue", which is one of those internet amplified issues that results from "lifting" massively-underexposed shadow areas in post, which can reveal some banding. It's a byproduct I think of people who do a lot of epic exposure blunder "recovery"...it's really not an issue when shadows are left as shadows.

The 39 point AF system, is...the 39-point AF system. The D7100's 51-point AF system is...Nikon's top-line 51-point AF module.


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## coastalconn (Dec 9, 2013)

gryffinwings said:


> I'm trying to figure out which camera I want because I'll be upgrading from my Nikon D5100. I keep going back and forth on them.
> 
> I've heard that the Sony sensor in the D7000 has an edge in the shadows and that the D7100 has some problems with banding.
> 
> ...



What exactly do you feel is holding you back with the D5100?  What do you hope to accomplish by upgrading your camera?

I have about 8K clicks on my D7100 and have never noticed this mysterious banding thing..  I think like Derrel mentioned if you really underexpose by a lot and try to pull shadows out then maybe things get funky..  

This was (and still is) really underexposed and I raised exposure by almost 1 2/3 stops and even at ISO 1600 I don't notice banding unless I'm just oblivious to it..?



Great Horned Owl Flight Crappy weather by krisinct, on Flickr


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## robbins.photo (Dec 9, 2013)

coastalconn said:


> gryffinwings said:
> 
> 
> > I'm trying to figure out which camera I want because I'll be upgrading from my Nikon D5100. I keep going back and forth on them.
> ...



Well I can't speak for the OP but I know that when my D7000 arrives I feel confident that I will have everything I need to invade Puerto Rico.  Ok.. well not everything, I still need a boat.  But once I get a boat.. look out muchachos!


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## psran (Dec 10, 2013)

gryffinwings said:


> I'm trying to figure out which camera I want because I'll be upgrading from my Nikon D5100. I keep going back and forth on them.  I've heard that the Sony sensor in the D7000 has an edge in the shadows and that the D7100 has some problems with banding.  The other thing is that the D7000 AF Module is being touted as not as good as the D7100 AF module, in my head it sounds like people are calling the 39 point module crap.  Here's what I plan on using my camera for. Portraits, Landscape, Ceremonies, etc. Nothing with fast action, maybe slow action, some of the situations will have not optimal lighting that I can really do much about except changing my position in relation to the sun, but I do take a lot of photos at around noon or afternoon.  Can someone please explain the differences between the sensors, pros and cons, as well as let me know if the there is as big of a difference between the AF modules as they say.




I was in Same Boat 1 month  ago whether to Upgrade from D5100 to D7000 or not as D7100 was out of Budget. I finally upgraded with a used D7000 and have been very pleased with the results

Here are the Few differences that made the upgrade worth it :-

1 AF is faster, more accurate and more versatile due to 39 instead of 15 Af pts

2 Ergonomics are so much better that I cannot praise it enough. I am now hardly digging Menus for anything, everything has a dedicated button on D7000

3 Dual memory slot 

4 Viewfinder is brighter and has visibly more coverage

5 Build quality is miles ahead of D5100

6 Af fine tune has solved Back & Front focus issues on many lenses

7 You can buy older lenses which lack Autofocus motor

8 On-board flash of D7000 can be used as commander with Nikon SB600 and later Flashes


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## SCraig (Dec 10, 2013)

First, there isn't a HUGE difference between the D7000 and D7100.  Some difference, but it isn't huge.  I have both but have only had my D7100 for about 3 weeks or so.



> I've heard that the Sony sensor in the D7000 has an edge in the shadows and that the D7100 has some problems with banding.


I haven't noticed a banding issue with either body.  The D7100 seems to have slightly higher dynamic range and, in my opinion, has the edge in shadows.



> The other thing is that the D7000 AF Module is being touted as not as good as the D7100 AF module, in my head it sounds like people are calling the 39 point module crap.


I haven't noticed any significant difference between the AF on either body, nor have I ever had any AF issues with either body.  They both focus reliably from my point of view.  I only use single-point autofocus and tell the camera which AF point I want used so it doesn't really matter to me whether it has 39 points, 51 points, or 10000 points.



> Here's what I plan on using my camera for. Portraits, Landscape, Ceremonies, etc. Nothing with fast action, maybe slow action, some of the situations will have not optimal lighting that I can really do much about except changing my position in relation to the sun, but I do take a lot of photos at around noon or afternoon.


Either body would probably work fine in those situations.  The D7100 appears to me to have about 1 stop better low-light performance.  I can use about 1 stop higher ISO with the same level of noise on the D7100 compared to the D7000.



> Can someone please explain the differences between the sensors, pros and cons, as well as let me know if the there is as big of a difference between the AF modules as they say.


I can't explain the technical differences between the sensors and AF modules.  The biggest difference in sensors that I've noticed are the obvious ones:  1)  The D7100 has 50% more resolution (24mp as opposed to 16mp) and as such small details have more fine detail; and 2) Since the D7100 doesn't have an anti-aliasing filter it appears to be slightly sharper than the D7000.  I haven't done a side-by-side comparison of the two by shooting the same exact scene or test pattern but I tend to crop shots a lot (birds don't like me getting too close to them) and the D7100 appears to be a bit sharper.

Other items .....

1.  The D7100 image files are much larger than the D7000 image files.  The size varies slightly but shooting 14-bit RAW images on both I'm averaging about 30mb per image with the D7100 as opposed to about 18mb per image with the D7000.  It doesn't mean anything to me but to some people it may be an issue.

2.  The "1.3" crop mode is a gimmick.  All it does is crop the central 16mb of the image which is nothing that couldn't be done in post-processing with a little bit of cropping.  File size is reduced to about the same size as the D7000 in that case.

3.  The D7000 fills the shot buffer in 11 shots and it will stop completely until the shot buffer flushes entirely.  With 95mb / sec SDHC cards that takes about 8 seconds and when something is happening that I really want to shoot that is a very long 8 seconds.  The D7100 fills the shot buffer in about 10 shots however it will continue to shoot as each individual image is flushed from the buffer (as opposed to ALL of the shots with the D7000) so instead of stopping completely the frame rate is reduced but not stopped.  It drops to about 2 or 3 frames per second but does keep shooting, albeit at a much slower rate.

4.  There are a few minor ergonomic differences between the two but unless you have used the D7000 for a while you'd probably never notice those.

I personally think the D7100 is a slightly better body overall but nothing Earth-shattering.  Either one would be a good choice, however if I personally had to choose between the two I'd go with the D7100.


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## jaomul (Dec 10, 2013)

I got a good deal on a d7100 recently when I was about to buy a d7000. For people who regularly shoot sports and say birds in flight etc the 51 pts may make a difference but for my shots I have selected 11pts for my main mode. If i shoot a sporting event I may adjust this.

Noise with the d7100 is a hard fact to nail down. Many say its the best crop, others that noise creeps in early. From my point of view initially i was a little disappointed with this aspect (straight out of camera shots).I then read somewhere nikon are very light handed with their noise reduction on this mode, opting to keep detail(probably makes sense with 24mp and no aa filter). With raw files i noticed a little more noise than previous crop cameras from canon when zoomed in (usually doing the noise reduction thing at 100% in lightroom), but then again your zooming to 100% on way more resolution. what i did find though is that the raw  file seemed to really take processing very well. On an iso 4000 shot i took, I put 20 on the luminace slider in noise reduction and went from 25 to about 30 on the sharpening slider. It didnt take from the detail to any noticeable degree (or at least the shot was still very sharp). I don't know if this has something to do with the AA filter in the first place. Long story short high ISO shots are possible with this camera with a tiny bit of pp


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## pixmedic (Dec 10, 2013)

I have both the D7000 and the D7100. 
end product wise there is not a huge difference between the two (after LR, PS, or whatever you use)
you get a little better ISO performance on the D7100. 
larger file size on the D7100, but because of the better sensor and lack of AA filter, you get better results if you do heavy cropping.
I think you get better noise reduction results from the D7100 as well. 
if you are using single point focus (like I do most of the time) there is not really a big difference in the two (for the actual focusing) except that you have more points in a larger pattern to choose from on the D7100. the area AF and 3D AF tracking is much better in the D7100 if you are shooting moving objects, and you get smoother and more accurate tracking. the 51 point AF system on the D7100 is definitely better than the 39 point system on the D7000, and it was one of the biggest reasons i got the D7100. 
the D7100 also has the same weather sealing as the D800 and D300s. 

I cant speak much on the buffer, because we don't do much burst shooting so we have never actually filled the buffer on either camera. 
(we use sandisk pro 16gig 45mb/s cards)

I would say that if you have the money, get the D7100.
I have little doubt that the D7000 will do everything you want to do if you want to save some money, but the D7100 is definitely the better camera. 
I have also not noticed any banding on either of my cameras.


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## Braineack (Dec 10, 2013)

I wouldn't bother upgrading my D5100 to a D7000, but I would a D7100 or D600.


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## TheLost (Dec 10, 2013)

gryffinwings said:


> I've heard that the Sony sensor in the D7000 has an edge in the shadows and that the D7100 has some problems with banding.



You want D7100 banding.... hows this example..







Nikon D7100 | 1/1250sec | f/2.8 | ISO H1 (12800) .. +1.75 Exposure adjustment in LR.

Lets put this shot into perspective...  It was taken @ ~9:30pm on Nov 23rd at the USA Invitational Youth Football Tournament in Nevada, USA.   It was also during one of the worst storms/weather the area has seen in a few years.  And to top it off it was lit with probably the worst lights I've seen at any sport complex (a total of 6 lights for an entire 100 yard field).

So i was pushing the D7100 past its limits and had to bump up the exposure in post...  Yet the D7100 was still able to focus in such crappy conditions.

100% crop of that shot... notice you can still read the words on the ball..





I owned the D7000 for years and it struggled with focus in dark situations..  I know for a fact it wouldn't have done the job that night.

Do you know how many parents noticed the banding? complained about the grain @ ISO 12800?  None... ziltch.. nada..






The parents (myself included) just wanted shots of their kids playing a game they love.

IMHO... There isn't another DX camera that could have pulled that off.  D7100 FTW!


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## TheLost (Dec 10, 2013)

For the record... here is the same shot with the exposure adjustment set back to 0 (zero)..





Most 'modern' cameras will show banding... IMHO its a non issue because you hardly (shouldn't) push your images that far.


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## coastalconn (Dec 10, 2013)

TheLost said:


> For the record... here is the same shot with the exposure adjustment set back to 0 (zero)..
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Great job in the conditions!  Most "normal people" only look at an image for just that, the image.  On photo forums people tend to blow things out of proportion...  Content is and always will be king...  I would agree in those conditions that almost all cameras will show banding...


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## KmH (Dec 10, 2013)

The D7000 image sensor has an AA (anti-aliasing) filter in front of it, the D7100 has no AA filter.

Consequently the D7100 is more susceptible to moiré, which may be what many are calling 'banding'. Moiré pattern - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Braineack (Dec 10, 2013)

susceptible.


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## goodguy (Dec 10, 2013)

KmH said:


> The D7000 image sensor has an AA (anti-aliasing) filter in front of it, the D7100 has no AA filter.
> 
> Consequently the D7100 is more supportable to moiré, which may be what many are calling 'banding'. Moiré pattern - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Well as Derrel like to show the comparison of the 70D to the D7100 then D7100 actually has much less moire then the 70D so I don't think this is an issue with this camera.
The AA filter is there to minimize moire but it seems Nikons engineers found way to do the same without an AA filter.


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## Derrel (Dec 10, 2013)

It's kind of an odd thing, but on newer sensors like those in the D800e and the D7100, as well as other cameras from other manufacturers, moire, which was once a BIG problem with low-MP sensors, is now not nearly as much of an issue...it's become for the most part, one of the digital imaging challenges that we no longer have to worry about all that often.Nikon,SOny,Leica, and probably other companies are now making high-MP cameras that have no anti-alisasign filters, and there's really not much of an issue. Just as in the early days of digital imaging, "the jaggies", or diagonal, stair-stepping on diagonal lines was at one time a HUGE problem...but that hurdle has been, for the most part, overcome. Moire was a BIG problem back in the days when a 6MP fuill-frame from Contax or Kodak was the state of the art...but that's now been six generations ago.

As goodguy alludes to, the Nikon D7100's moire tendency in video capture mode is practically nil, whereas the Canon 70D is riddled with moire. Even though the D7100 has no AA-filter, and the 70D does. So...check out the segment that starts at 17:45


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## qleak (Dec 11, 2013)

As a new owner of a D7100 I would certainly endorse it, but I can't make a meaningful comparison to the D7000. I'm sure it's also a great camera, I just want the newer sensor since I tend to use my technology a little longer than shelf life.  Here's a test i tried the other night. Take a dark frame (lens cap on) on bulb or 30 second exposure, wait a while do it again. It looks like at least on my camera, the low light noise is banded fairly predictably. So a dark frame with the same exposure as your shots should take care of most of the banding issues imho. This can be done in rawtherapee or darktable, I'm sure adobe also has methods to do this.  Best,  -Q


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## hamlet (Dec 11, 2013)

Don't upgrade just yet champ. Take a look at this little nugget here i thin you'll be pleasantly surprised: Nikon D7200, D9000 and D4x Rumors


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## Braineack (Dec 11, 2013)

did you see the date of the article?  They speculated the D7100 (calling it the D7200) one month before it was announced and and got the specs of the AF wrong.  Plus they completely missed the mark on the D9000.

Why does this one year old junk article have any merit to the current discussion?


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## hamlet (Dec 11, 2013)

A year? Then it cant be too long any more before they release it.


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## Derrel (Dec 11, 2013)

Thom Hogan mentioned the expected D9000, the D300s model's "replacement", just this week. I believe he thinks it might be announced in February of 2014. But speculation about future models does no good as far as actually taking pictures!


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## hamlet (Dec 11, 2013)

The op has plenty of cameras. I'm just trying to save him the pain of Nikon fiftythreevitis.


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## gryffinwings (Dec 11, 2013)

hamlet said:


> The op has plenty of cameras. I'm just trying to save him the pain of Nikon fiftythreevitis.



Say what??? Nikon fiftythreevitis????

So far lots of good comments, definitely a lot to sway me back to getting the D7100.

How is the Auto WB on the Nikon D7100, I feel that the Auto WB on my D5100 seems to be off, mainly a little too cool, oh and note that I shoot RAW, all the time.


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## hamlet (Dec 11, 2013)

That's when you buy a camera and a short time after that the new model comes out. Sadly there is no known cure for this, it has claimed many lives. :salute:


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## robbins.photo (Dec 11, 2013)

gryffinwings said:


> hamlet said:
> 
> 
> > The op has plenty of cameras. I'm just trying to save him the pain of Nikon fiftythreevitis.
> ...



On my D5100 I have the Picture control set to Vivid - like you I found on the standard settings the Auto WB came out a little on the cool side as well, but once I set picture control to vivid they came out pretty much perfect.


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## TheFantasticG (Dec 11, 2013)

Just get the D7100 and be happy, OP. It's always fun to spend other peoples monies.    

Oh, that picture setting to vivid is only going to affect the jpg output pic (and jpg preview file), not the raw file. Although IIRC if you use the picture setting and import raw with capture nx2 it should auto apply those settings to the jpg output file, but my memory is very iffy on that. The raw file is going to be that, raw.  



hamlet said:


> That's when you buy a camera and a short time after that the new model comes out. Sadly there is no known cure for this, it has claimed many lives. :salute:



Never heard/read anyone call it that. Buyers remorse, sure, but never what you said.


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