The Nikon d7200 is a Wifi enabled camera for photography. As a DSLR camera, the Nikon d7200 is a high tech piece of equipment capable of taking professional level photographs, recording bursts of video, and applying filters to images for improved quality. It is Nikon’s first DSLR camera with built-in Wifi.
What Is The Nikon d7200 and How Does It Work?
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Nikon D7200 Wi-Fi Digital SLR Camera Body with 18-300mm VR Lens + 64GB Card + Case + Flash + Battery/Charger + Tripod + Kit
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If you are new to photography, the first concept to understand is that DSLR (digital single-lens reflex cameras) are considered the standard for professional photographers. DSLR cameras usually give you manual control over important systems like aperture and shutter speed. The d7200 is Nikon’s latest DSLR, which specializes in night time and black and white photography.
The Nikon d7200’s digital screen renders images in 1080p. It can record video imagery at a rate of six frames per second. You can then parcel the video out, and choose specific frames to turn into photographs. The ISO rating can also increase to 25600, or 102400 in black and white. This allows you to capture images in dark settings and makes it an excellent nocturnal camera.
Although you can easily toggle between most settings, the camera asks you to confirm when you want to enter its highest ISO modes above 25600. At these settings, your images are usually reduced to black and white even if you didn’t intend to shoot in grayscale, so it makes sense. It has a unique 1.3x crop mode that’s useful for capturing sports and high-speed images, as well.
What Makes the Nikon d7200 Unique?
The Nikon d7200 doesn’t try hard to separate itself from its predecessors. Because it specializes in nighttime photography, however, the Nikon d7200 is unique and won’t see much competition in that specific field for now. Its other main features focus on making it easier to upload and share images and make it easier to capture high-speed images.
Connectivity
The Nikon d7200 has Near Field Communication (NFC), allowing it to connect to nearby phones or tablets using Wifi. You can use this to instantly upload photographs, and transmit them through social media using texts, online blog posts, and so on. This function makes the Nikon d7200 similar to a smartphone, but with a much greater emphasis on photography.
Good For Night Time Photography
The Nikon d7200 is a DSLR camera that specializes in black and white photography. Because it can go two ISO stops higher than its predecessor, at 25600 ISO, it is exceptionally good at capturing imagery in dim or dark lighting. This has a practical use when trying to photograph nocturnal or subterranean wildlife.
You can’t find ISO settings above 25600 on most cameras; even DSLRs. The ISO rating indicates its ability to pick up light, and the d7200 excels at this even in settings where human eyes struggle. If you don’t have a primary light source, the d7200 is one of few cameras that can make up the difference.
Historical and Black and White Imagery
Black and white photographs have several uses. Allowing you to capture images in dark settings is one. But these settings are also often used for photographs of disaster scenes or areas with fog or debris that can affect color pallets and confuse DSLR camera sensors. Black and white photographs also compliment historical pieces and work well when capturing landmarks.
Sports and High Motion Photography
The Nikon d7200 is a good camera for quick motion photography. It has an x1.3 crop mode to improve shots of athletes or other subjects in motion. When paired with the technology in the d7200 that makes it good at capturing nighttime images, it excels at capturing images of owls, hawks, and other nighttime predators that move quickly.
Top Of The Line Video Mode
For those new to DSLR photography, video mode allows you to capture a segment of time and imagery all at once. You can then come through the video frame by frame for the ideal photograph to cut out and use. The Nikon d7200 captures video at six frames per second, giving it one of the best continuous frame rates of modern DSLR cameras.
Its video mode can also process and buffer faster than other cameras. This lessens the static or noise in images captured for time-lapse movies or ripped from video segments. Users have said this improvement in quality is especially noticeable above ISO 1600.
Long Battery Life
The Nikon d7200 claims it has a battery life of up to 1110 images or approximately 80 minutes of video. This allows you to capture several hundred more images than its predecessor before you need to recharge the battery. You can also buy an optional battery pack, allowing you to capture even more images in the field.
Pricing
The Nikon d7200 is an expensive camera. At the time of this writing, its body can range from six hundred dollars, too well over a thousand. When you factor in lenses and equipment, you’re looking at an investment only professional photographers are going to want to make.
The main issue is that its predecessor, the Nikon d7100, costs only eight hundred dollars to the eleven hundred you might spend on the d7200. The main improvement in functionality is its night time image capturing. Unless you specialize in nocturnal photography, though, the three hundred dollar difference probably isn’t worth it.
Public Perception (Other Nikon d7200 Reviews)
The Nikon d7200 is a machine that appeals to photographers who are fans of the Nikon brand, specifically. It’s key selling point, its low light image capturing, makes it a tantalizing camera for anyone interested in night time photography though. But it does very little else to make itself stand out to the public, and the DSLR market is already highly saturated with quality cameras.
So far, opinions about the Nikon d7200 seem to be consistent. It is an advanced camera with such high pixel counts and ISO ratings so high; it reduces the noise in photographs to a bare minimum. Some reviewers even complained that they were adding noise to their images in post-processing.
Its autofocus also works in low light settings where other cameras wouldn’t try. Users who rely on nighttime photography have complemented its dominant performance in darkness. And this pairs with its high-speed fidelity, to render crystal clear photographs of nighttime hawks and predators with ease.
The Nikon d7200 claims it has a battery life good for 1110 images before it needs to be recharged. And surprisingly, most testers have agreed that it does consistently last longer than its predecessor and competitors. The internal battery of the Nikon d7200 you receive on purchase will, therefore, beat out most of its competition easily.
It seems like those who used a d7100 or d7000 don’t notice much of a difference, however. The Nikon d7200 is an improvement on its predecessors, sure. But the d7000 line of cameras are already such high functioning machines; it takes a discerning eye to even notice the difference.
One complaint some users have is with the autofocus. The camera can take several seconds to detect a subject’s face and focus on it, which users felt was sluggish. But the autofocus works in low light settings and black and white, where most note that other cameras usually don’t even try.
Several testers pointed out the slow time to focus might be due to the lens, not the autofocus system. But in its Live View mode, the camera still takes nearly double the time to focus as its rival, the Canon 70D. While it might be able to focus in settings where other cameras can’t, it consistently takes longer to do so.
Connectivity is a big selling point of the Nikon d7200. Both its NFC and Wifi options are meant to help you upload images easily. But many users say Nikon’s app for uploading these images is one of the worst. The app hasn’t been updated since 2015, so these concerns are understandable.
The other issue is that Nikon has yet to release many lenses for the d7200. Nikon isn’t known for quickly producing interchangeable parts. Several members of the public have mentioned that off-brand lenses pair well with the screw-lens camera, but its official support from Nikon is slightly lacking at the moment.
How It Compares
The Nikon d7200 dominates the field of nighttime photography, which it specializes in. But when you compare it to other DSLR cameras that focus more on daytime photography, it comes off as pricey. Its specialization is niche, and while it is one of the best at the thing it focuses on, most photographers aren’t going to be taking enough night time to get the bang for their buck.
The Enemy Of Photographers
The first competitor to compare the Nikon d7200 is the general enemy of DSLR cameras: the smartphone. While smartphones have 1080p and can render images in high quality, DSLRs remain relevant because customizable parts and swappable lenses give them functions a smartphone can’t yet simulate. For the d7200, the main difference is low-light image capturing.
Most phone cameras have difficulty dealing with changing lighting situations. As a result, your iPhone or Android won’t compete with the Nikon d7200 at all. And when we consider daytime photography, the manual settings of the d7200 give you much more control than a smartphone.
Only A Small Step Forward
It’s greatest rival is its predecessor, the Nikon d7100. Because the improvements of the Nikon d7200 primarily revolve around night time photography, unless you specialize in nighttime photographs, you won’t notice much of a difference. And since it is equipped with new technology, the Nikon d7200 is going to have a consistently higher price point.
It Is In A Saturated Market
It has many rivals as an autofocus using, screw-lense DSLR camera. Its rivals include the Canon EOS Mark II, Pentax K-3, Sony SLT-A77 II, the Fujifilm X-T1, the Olympus OM-D E-M5 II, Samsung NX1, and the Sony Alpha 7 II. Sadly, picking from this large group of screw-lense DSLRs largely comes down to the camera’s specialization or brand preference.
The Nikon d7200 also takes time to focus. This means unless you take time to tweak its settings, you might miss an important play or photograph subject scurrying away before the camera’s done the adjusting. For that reason, other cameras like the Canon 70D are better for those whose specialize in split-second photography.
Not Easily Shared
While Nikon totes the d7200’s ability to upload images to social media quickly, that process is hindered by their app. The app you have to download to your phone or mobile device needs updating to compete with rival Wifi enabled cameras. The camera itself has quick uploads and consistent connection speeds though, so this one isn’t the d7200’s fault specifically.
What We Think
The Nikon d7200 is a high-quality camera, and definitely for professional photographers. But even for professional photographers and DSLR users, its specialization of night time and black and white photography is rare. Public perception is that its high tech parts have also raised its price point quite a bit, too.
If your livelihood relies on capturing nighttime photography, the Nikon d7200 is unbeatable. But if you just want a top of the line DSLR camera, its predecessors are cheaper options with nearly identical functionality. Nikon has also been criticized for having few interchangeable lenses, so if you own a different Nikon camera, you may not be able to swap parts with the d7200 if you upgrade.
If you want the Nikon d7200 model specifically, a good recommendation would be to wait for its price to drop, or for more customizable parts to become available. But if you need a DSLR camera now, and you’re not a nocturnal zoologist, you should grab a different camera. Though there is little bad to say about the d7200, it’s best qualities are unfortunately very niche.
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