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Perfect travel companion Nikon D7200 (05.01.2016)
January and February are still cold months and it may even be that we have a chance to getting some snow for skiing but many people decide to get closer to the summer warmth by travelling and this way, they shorten this weather wise non-existent winter time. Most people take a compact camera with them to their vacation or at least their phone. This way, they have some photos of the white sand and blue sky for making their colleagues jealous.
Today, I would like to talk about a vacation where the goal was not to take sun baths but to take photos.
As a photographer, the most challenging thing while planning a trip is to pack the photography equipment so that the additional weight of the hand luggage would not have a strain on the budget but yet we would have everything we need. Since there were many of us travelling and everyone has a Nikon camera, it became important to reach an agreement on who should bring what and what we should give up on. That is why we chose camera kits that use similar batteries (there is no point in dragging along many chargers). Lenses are what add the most weight to the camera bags because long focal length lenses weigh the most.
Cameras in our final list: Nikon D810, Nikon D750 ja Nikon D7200. Lenses: AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G ED ZOOM NIKKOR; NIKKOR AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8 VR; 70-200mm f/2,8G ED VR II NIKKOR; AF-S NIKKOR 300mm F/2.8 G ED VR II; 105MM F2.8G MICRO-NIKKOR AF-S IF-ED VR II ja AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-80mm f/2.8–4E ED VR.
Maybe someone attentive noticed that we only had one lens with us that is meant for half frame sensor camera. The point is that all the lenses meant for full frame cameras are also suitable for half frame sensor cameras. Besides, the 1.5x crop factor of the D7200 sensor makes telescopic lenses’ zoom much bigger. The zoom of a 300mm f/2.8 lens that we brought along corresponds to 450mm focal length lens in front of D7200. It is important that the optical power still remains f/2.8. While using tele converters, there is still a remarkable loss of optical power and every additional optical element slightly decreases the sharpness of the photo. D7200 sensor is 24 megapixels and thus, there is the option of cropping the frame a bit and there is still enough density in the file.
I was surprised by D7200’s ability to focus in the dim light. Multi-Cam 3500DX II 51-point autofocus system which is sensitive to -3EV gives a noticeable advantage when focusing in dim light. During shoots before and after the sunset, we also worried about the sensitivity of higher ISO. ISO 1600 is clean enough. ISO 3200 is not that clean anymore and the luminance noise becomes evident but it is easy to get rid of with a filter. The memory buffer of this camera is quite decent. 18 14bit or 27 12bit RAW files and up to 100 JPG files with the speed of 6 fps is quite a decent result. We were able to capture many important moments thanks to that.
The body of the camera is strong enough and it is also weather proof. The only worry was the dust. When our off-road vehicle without a roof was driving fast along the unpaved roads and another car happened to pass us, everything in our car was covered with a layer of red dust. Of course, during shoots, we had to keep our camera in a dustproof place but during shootings, there were all kinds of situations. The camera made it and there was no need to clean the sensor more often than usual.
To sum up, I am very satisfied that this camera found a place in my travelling bag. This camera is trustworthy and it has a strong body. Managing it is similar to pro cameras (two dials for changing the settings) and everything important is under the buttons of the rear end and thus, you don’t need to go into the camera menu too often. Fast focus and continuous shoot. I can recommend this camera to photography enthusiasts who do not wish give in on any aspects of the photo file but who need a powerful camera that is compatible with pro series camera equipment but is a mid-range camera itself.
If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to contact me for additional information.
