Nikon D7200 DX-format DSLR Body (Black) Review
The Nikon D7200 makes the 2-year-old D7100 seem like a terrific deal. With solely minor enhancements over its predecessor, the D7200 remains an excellent camera; however, given the D7100’s cheaper price, the D7200 is a robust sell unless you are a night owl or long burst shooter. Once the D7100 evaporates from the market, or the value stops dropping and starts rising, then the D7200 will seem more compelling. It is the same pattern the D7100 faced over the D7000 before it.
What are the differences?
Some enhancements in buffering for burst shooting, improved image quality higher than ISO 1600 (plus 2 black and white high ISO modes), and time-lapse movie creation The camera additionally gains wireless connectivity; however, Nikon’s app is one of the least capable I’ve seen (and as of this writing, hasn’t been updated since April 2015). Whereas auto ISO support and a flat color profile are welcome for movies, shooting video with the camera may require some expertise.
Image quality
The D7200’s picture quality is great for the money, and each JPEG and raw file looks slightly higher than the D7100’s starting at about ISO 1600, due to slightly finer-grained noise. Otherwise, they are pretty similar: JPEGs show nice color rendering and exposures and smart tonal range in the shadows; however, there is a bit more clipping in the highlights than I expected.
With the default noise-reduction settings, detail starts to get quite mushy in JPEGs with ISO sensitivities beyond ISO 1600, and you see quite a little bit of color noise at ISO 6400 and beyond. If you shoot raw, you’ll regain quite a little bit of detail (in exchange for simply a moderate amount of grain), making it doable to get usable results up to ISO 25600, depending on the scene content and the way you are displaying the picture.
Rather than offer expanded sensitivities that might look horrendously choked with noise, Nikon offers them in black-and-white mode. Whereas you continue to have a decreased tonal range, they are a little more usable than color versions would be. Sadly, it solely produces JPEGs, so you cannot tweak them, and there are still slight horizontal lines across the image (vertical lines if you are shooting in portrait orientation), a typical artifact in high-sensitivity photos in this category of camera.
The video looks superb too, although it will get pretty visually noisy in low light. By default, it tends to blow out highlights a bit like with stills; therefore, you ought to make the most of the flat profile.
Performance
This series has always performed well, and the D7200 continues the tradition; it’s more or less just like the D7100.
It powers on, focuses, and shoots in about 0.3 seconds, which is sort of good. I believe the comparatively slow lag—time to focus and shoot, about 0.5–0.6 seconds—reflects the sluggish kit lens instead of the autofocus system. However, in Live View, which uses contrast autofocus, it’s still a really slow 1.4 seconds in good light, which is not nearly as good as the Canon 70D’s 0.7 seconds.
The time for 2 successive shots, which takes focus out of the equation if the camera is smart, is a class-competitive 0.2 seconds, rising to solely 0.6 seconds with flash enabled.
The Good
Great picture quality, solid performance, and a durable body are the Nikon D7200’s highlights.
The Bad
Subpar wireless implementation and a fixed digital display.
The Bottom Line
The Nikon D7200 is a nice camera for the money, as long as you do not care about an extensive feature set.