Home  Donate  New  Search  Gallery  Reviews  How-To  Books  Links  Workshops  About  Contact

Nikon D600, D7100 and D7000 Comparison
© 2013 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

Please help KenRockwell..com

This free website's biggest source of support is when you use any of these links when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live.It helps me keep adding to this free website when you get yours through these links — but I receive nothing for my efforts if you buy elsewhere. Thanks for your support! Ken.

April 2013   Nikon Reviews   Nikon Lenses    All Reviews

Nikon D600 Review

Nikon D7100 Review

Nikon D7000 Review

 

Introduction         top

Intro   Color   Sharpness   ISO 12,800  Depth-of-Field   Recommendations

Let's rack-up the Nikon D600, Nikon D7100 and Nikon D7000 and see how they compare for sharpness, resolution and high-ISO performance.

I shot my Nikon 35mm f/1.8 DX ($197) on the D7100 and D7000. I shot the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 G ($384) on my D600, which gives the same angle of view. The D600 is FX, and the D7100 and D7000 are DX, which uses a smaller sensor and thus shorter lens to give the same picture.

All were set to my usual AUTO white balance with A2 trim, LARGE BASIC JPG quality, and picture control was set to VIVID with 7 sharpening and +3 Saturation. (The D7000 was left at 6 sharpening, tough.)

Click any image for the original full-resolution file.

 

Color         top

Intro   Color   Sharpness   ISO 12,800  Depth-of-Field   Recommendations

 

Complete Images (click each for original file)

All at ISO 100, AUTO white balance with A2 trim, LARGE BASIC JPG, VIVID with 7 sharpening and +3 Saturation picture control. (The D7000 was left at 6 sharpening, tough.)

Nikon D600

Nikon D7100

Nikon D7000

 

Analysis

Hallelujah, with firmware C 1.01 in my D600, my D600, D7100 and D7000 match as they should.

 

Sharpness         top

Intro   Color   Sharpness   ISO 12,800  Depth-of-Field   Recommendations

 

Crops from above Color images at ISO 100 at 100% (click each for original file)

All at ISO 100, AUTO white balance with A2 trim, LARGE BASIC JPG, VIVID with 7 sharpening and +3 Saturation picture control. (The D7000 was left at 6 sharpening, tough.)

Nikon D600

Nikon D7100

Nikon D7000

If these images are 6" (15cm) wide on your monitor, the complete images printed at this magnification would be over 8 feet (2.5 meters) wide!

(The D7000's lower-resolution files are shown at the same image magnification as the other two cameras, whose images are at 100% here.)

 

Analysis

I didn't expect it, but the D600 and D7100 are identical. They are both 24MP, and when shot under the same conditions with the same settings with lenses with the same fields of view at ISO as these were shot, the images are indistinguishable from each other.

As expected, the D7000 has less rated resolution, 16MP versus the 24MP of the D600 and D7100, and it looks softer.

ISO 12,800         top

Intro   Color   Sharpness   ISO 12,800  Depth-of-Field   Recommendations

All at ISO 12,800, AUTO white balance with A2 trim, LARGE BASIC JPG, VIVID with 7 sharpening and +3 Saturation picture control. (The D7000 was left at 6 sharpening, tough.)

ISO 12,800 is an insanely high ISO, but since all these cameras work well there, let's see how they do:

 

Complete Images (click each for original file)

Nikon D600 at ISO 12,800

Nikon D7100 at ISO 12,800

Nikon D7000 at ISO 12,800

 

Crops from images above at 100% (click each for original file)

Nikon D600 at ISO 12,800

Nikon D7100 at ISO 12,800

Nikon D7000 at ISO 12,800

If these images are 6" (15cm) wide on your monitor, the complete images printed at this magnification would be over 8 feet (2.5 meters) wide!

(The D7000's lower-resolution files are shown at the same image magnification as the other two cameras, whose images are at 100% here.)

Analysis

The D600 is cleanest as expected, but not by enough for me to want to pay the extra money or to lug it around. The D7100 is more than good enough for me.

The D7000 is no slouch either, for half the price in April 2013 as the new D7100.

 

Depth-of-Field         top

Intro   Color   Sharpness   ISO 12,800  Depth-of-Field   Recommendations

These just happened to have been shot at ISO 3200, and are blow-ups from the right side of the above High ISO shots at 100% as before.

Nikon D600 depth of field

Nikon D7100 Depth of field

Nikon D7000 depth of field

If these images are 6" (15cm) wide on your monitor, the complete images printed at this magnification would be over 8 feet (2.5 meters) wide!

(The D7000's lower-resolution files are shown at the same image magnification as the other two cameras, whose images are at 100% here.)

 

Analysis

As expected, the D600 has much smaller depth-of-field at the same aperture with a lens with the same angle-of-view. This is because focal length has a huge effect of depth of field, much more than does aperture or enlargement ratio.

 

Recommendations         top

Intro   Color   Sharpness   ISO 12,800  Depth-of-Field   Recommendations

The D7100 and D600 are stellar performers. The D600 is a bit better at high ISOs, while the D7000 and D7100 have much better depth of field. The D600 and D7100 are indistinguishable in resolution shot at ISO 100, differing only in depth of field.

If money is tight, the D7000 is no slouch either when you look at the images at any reasonable distance. What I've shown here are sections from 8-foot-wide prints. Stand as far away from your screen as you'd stand from an eight-foot print, and they look the same.

See also Is It Worth It. If you have the money, sure get a D600, but the D7100 is as good, and the D7000 is as good for all practical, real-world purposes.

If you've found all the time, effort and expense I put into researching and sharing all this, this free website's biggest source of support is when you use these links when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks! Ken.

 

Help me help you         top

I support my growing family through this website, as crazy as it might seem.

The biggest help is when you use any of these links when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. It costs you nothing, and is this site's, and thus my family's, biggest source of support. These places have the best prices and service, which is why I've used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.

If you find this page as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone.

If you've gotten your gear through one of my links or helped otherwise, you're family. It's great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!

If you haven't helped yet, please do, and consider helping me with a gift of $5.00.

As this page is copyrighted and formally registered, it is unlawful to make copies, especially in the form of printouts for personal use. If you wish to make a printout for personal use, you are granted one-time permission only if you PayPal me $5.00 per printout or part thereof. Thank you!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Mr. & Mrs. Ken Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

 

Home  Donate  New  Search  Gallery  Reviews  How-To  Books  Links  Workshops  About  Contact