Buying a camera!... Check-out the All New Nikon D7100

On the surface, the long-overdue update to the Nikon D7000 doesn't look like a huge advancement, but its replacement, the D7100, seems to have several subtle -- and a few not-so-subtle -- enhancements that have the potential to make it a compelling option in an increasingly competitive crowd.

Most interesting: though it has the same resolution as the D5200, the D7100 uses a new and different sensor that lacks an optical low-pass filter (OLPF), aka an antialiasing filter, much like the Pentax K-5 IIs. Dropping the filter is intended to increase the sharpness of the native images without introducing the types of artifacts you get when sharpening in post. The tradeoff tends to be increased moiré, which the camera can usually address adequately for stills but less so for video. Unlike Pentax, which offers a more traditional OLPF'd version, Nikon's putting all its pixels in one basket and offering just the one model -- for now, at least.
The sensor has improved readout speed over the D7000, which Nikon attributes to a more efficient design rather than more output channels, and improved noise reduction in part because of an upgrade to the current Expeed 3 image-processing engine.

	Canon EOS 7D	Nikon D5200	Nikon D7000	Nikon D7100	Pentax K-5 II/IIs	Sony Alpha SLT-A77V
Sensor effective resolution	18MP hybrid CMOS 14 bits	24.1MP CMOS 14 bits	16.2MP CMOS 14 bits	24.1MP CMOS 14 bits	16.3MP CMOS 14 bits	24.3MP Exmor HD CMOS n/a
	22.3mm x 14.9mm	23.5mm x 15.6mm	23.6 x 15.6mm	23.5mm x 15.6mm	23.7 x 15.7mm	23.5 mm x 15.6mm
Focal-length multiplier	1.6x	1.5x	1.5x	1.5x	1.5x	1.5x
Sensitivity range	ISO 100 - ISO 6400	ISO 100 - ISO 6400/25,600 (exp)	ISO 100 (exp)/ 200 - ISO 3200/6400 (exp)	ISO 100 - ISO 6400/25,600 (exp)	ISO 80 (exp)/ 100 - ISO 12,800/ 51,200 (exp)	ISO 50 (exp)/ 100 - ISO 16,000
Burst shooting	7fps 25 raw/130 JPEG	5fps n/a	6fps n/a	6fps (7fps in 1.3x crop mode) n/a	7fps 8 raw/30 JPEG	8fps (12fps with fixed exposure) 13 raw/ 14 JPEG
Viewfinder (mag/ effective mag)	100% coverage 1.0x/0.63x	Optical 100% coverage 0.78x/0.52x	Optical 100% coverage 0.95x/0.63x	Optical 100% coverage 0.94x/0.63x	Optical 100% coverage 0.92x/0.61x	Electronic OLED 0.5 inches/2.36 million dots 100% coverage 1.09x/0.73x
Autofocus	19-pt phase-detection AF all cross-type; center cross to f2.8	39-pt phase-detection AF 9 cross-type (Multi-CAM 4800DX)	51-pt phase- detection AF 15 cross-type (Multi-CAM 4800DX)	51-pt phase- detection AF 15 cross-type; center to f8 or faster (Multi-CAM 3500DX)	11-pt phase-detection AF 9 cross-type (SAFOX X)	19-pt phase-detection AF 11 cross-type
AF sensitivity	-0.5 to 18 EV	-1 to 19 EV	-1 to 19 EV	-2 to 19 EV	-3 - 18 EV	-1 - 18 EV
Shutter speed	1/8,000 to 30 secs; bulb; 1/250 x-sync	1/4,000 to 30 secs; bulb; 1/200 sec x-sync	1/8,000 to 30 secs; bulb; 1/250 sec x-sync	1/8,000 to 30 secs; bulb; 1/250 sec x-sync	1/8,000 to 30 secs; bulb; 1/180 sec x-sync	1/8,000 to 30 secs; bulb; 1/250 x-sync
Shutter durability	150,000 cycles	100,000 cycles	150,000 cycles	150,000 cycles	100,000 cycles	150,000 cycles
Metering	63-zone iFCL	2,016-pixel 3D color matrix metering II	1,005-pixel 3D color matrix metering II	2,016-pixel 3D color matrix metering II	77 segment	1,200 zone
Metering sensitivity	1 to 20 EV	0 to 20 EV	0 to 20 EV	0 to 20 EV	0 to 22 EV	-2 - 17 EV
Video	H.264 QuickTime MOV 1080/30p/ 25p/24p; 720/60p/ 50p	1080/60i/ 50i/30p/ 25p/24p; 720/60p/ 50p H.264 QuickTime MOV	1080/24p/ 25p H.264 QuickTime MOV	1080/60i/ 50i/30p/ 25p/24p; 720/60p/ 50p H.264 QuickTime MOV (60i/50i only in 1.3x crop mode)	1080/25p; 720/30p/ 25p Motion JPEG AVI	AVCHD 1080/ 60p @ 28, 24Mbps, 1080/24p @ 24, 17Mbps, 1080/60i @ 17Mbps; H.264 MPEG-4 1440x1080/ 30p @ 12Mbps
Audio	Mono; mic input	Stereo; mic input	Mono; mic input	Stereo; mic input; headphone jack	Mono; mic input	Stereo; mic input
Manual aperture and shutter in video	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	n/a	Yes
Maximum best-quality recording time	4GB/29:59 min	20 min	4GB/20 min	4GB/29:59 min	4GB/25 min	29 min
IS	Optical	Optical	Optical	Optical	Sensor shift	Sensor shift
LCD size	3 inches fixed 920,000 dots	3 inches articulated 921,000 dots	3 inches fixed 921,000 dots	3.2 inches fixed 1,228,800 dots	3 inches fixed 921,000 dots	3 inches articulated 921,600 dots
Memory slots	1 x CF (UDMA 7)	1 x SDXC	2 x SDXC	2 x SDXC	1 x SDXC/ SDHC (SDXC requires firmware upgrade)	1 x SDXC
Wireless flash	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Battery life (CIPA rating)	800 shots	500 shots	1050 shots	950 shots	740 shots	470 shots
Size (WHD, inches)	5.8 x 4.4 x 2.9	5.1 x 3.9 x 3.1	5.2 x 4.2 x 3.0	5.3 x 4.2 x 3.0	5.2 x 3.8 x 2.9	5.8 x 4.1 x 3.3
Body operating weight (ounces)	35	19.9	27.3	23.8 (est)	26.1 (est)	25.9
Mfr. price	$1,599.00 (body only)	$799.95 (body only)	$1,350.00 (body only)	$1,199.95 (body only)	$1,095.95/ $1,199.95 (body only)	$1,099.99 (body only)
	n/a	$899.95 (with 18-55mm VR lens)	$1,690.00 (with 18-105mm lens)	$1,599.95 (with 18-105mm lens)	$1,249.95 (with 18-55mm WR lens)/n/a	$1,699.99 (with 16-50mm lens)
	n/a	$1,099.95 (with 18-105mm lens)	$2,049 (with 18-200mm lens)	n/a	$1449.95/ n/a (with 18-135mm WR lens)	$1,399.99 (with 18-135mm lens)
Release date	December 2009	January 2013	October 2010	March 2013	October 2012	October 2011

 cnet.