The Nikon D7100 ($1,199.95 direct, body only) is the latest enthusiast-oriented APS-C D-SLR from Nikon. The 24-megapixel camera is a snappy performer with an excellent optical viewfinder, a great control layout, and an image sensor that holds its own in all kinds of light, both dim and bright. Focus performance is very quick, even in live view, when compared with other D-SLRs with optical viewfinders. We like it enough to award it our Editors' Choice for top-end APS-C D-SLRs. It ousts the Sony Alpha 77, which is still a good camera if you aren't turned off by its electronic viewfinder design.
Design and Features
The D7100 is available in a black finish with Nikon's classic red highlight on the front grip. This is a design that has existed in one form or another since 1980's F3 35mm SLR. It's fairly compact, measuring just 4.2 by 5.3 by 3 inches (HWD), but heavy at 1.5 pounds. The weight comes from a couple of places?its body is constructed of durable magnesium alloy, and it uses a glass pentaprism viewfinder. The information displayed in the viewfinder is lit using OLED technology, rather than the more common LCD. This results in crisp blue lettering that is easy to read and easy on your eyes; standard shooting settings are displayed at the bottom of the finder. The Sony Alpha 77 is a bit larger (4.1 by 5.75 by 3.25 inches), and just a smidge heavier at 1.6 pounds.
The D7100's viewfinder is one of the best you'll find in an APS-C camera. The pentaprism design uses a solid piece of glass to direct the image from the camera's lens and mirror to your eye. Lesser cameras, like Nikon's own D5200 often skimp here and use a series of mirrors, dubbed a pentamirror. You end up with a slightly dimmer, noticeably smaller image when you bring the camera to your eye. Aside from current Sony D-SLR models, all of which use electronic viewfinders, the current D-SLRs priced above the $1,000 mark all use a pentaprism. Magnification varies slightly from model to model. The D7100 delivers 0.94x magnification when a 50mm lens is mounted and focused to infinity, but the Pentax K-5 II is just a teensy bit smaller with a 0.92x magnification. The difference in actual use is negligible; both cameras have excellent viewfinders. Canon also offers a pair of APS-C cameras with pentaprism viewfinders, but both have been on the market for a few years and are due for upgrades soon?although that means you may be able to find the EOS 60D or EOS 7D if you're a Canon shooter.
Nikon has packed the D7100 to the gills with control buttons and dials. On the front of the camera, below the lens mount and operated with a finger on your right hand, is the Fn button. Its default function requires you to turn the front control dial while holding it down in order to toggle between the standard DX (APS-C) shooting mode and a 1.3x crop mode, which gives you a little extra telephoto reach and moves the autofocus area out to the very edge of the active frame. You can reprogram it to perform a number of functions. Some, like activating the virtual level in the viewfinder, require only a press. Others, like toggling between stored entries of older non-CPU lenses that you'd like to use with the D7100, require you to turn the command wheel, just as you do with the with its default setting. In total, there are about two dozen available functions to choose from, most of which require just a press of the button.
Above the Fn button is the Pv button. By default it activates depth of field preview, which stops down the lens to the shooting aperture in order to show you just how much of your frame is in focus. It can be reprogrammed in exactly the same manner as the Fn button. The other front controls are located to the left of the lens mount. There's a button that raises the pop-up flash; holding it down and turning the front command dial allows you to adjust the flash compensation, which effectively lowers or raises the power output of the flash. Using it conjunction with the rear dial allows you to select from default flash output, red-eye reduction, slow sync, and rear curtain sync modes. Below that is a bracketing control, which lets you set the camera to take multiple exposures at different exposure levels. This is good for working in tricky lighting, or if you want to capture multiple images in order to merge them into an HDR photograph. Finally there's a toggle switch to change between manual and autofocus. It's got a button that gives further control over focus. You can use it to change the focus lock mode?continuous, single, and auto are options?and to activate some of the D7100's more advanced focus features, including 3D tracking.
On the top of the camera you'll find a standard mode dial; underneath is a second wheel that controls the drive mode. Integrated with the grip is the power switch, which can also be used to illuminate the top information LCD display. There's a button to change the metering pattern, another to adjust exposure compensation, and one to start video recording.
With so many controls up top and on the front of the body, rear controls are fairly minimal. As far as shooting controls go, there's a rear control dial, an AE-L/AF-L button, and a control pad that can be used to navigate through menus or to select the active focus point. Buttons are available to adjust the white balance, image resolution, and ISO. There's a switch to change between still and video live view modes, as well as to activate it. And there's the "i" button, which allows you to adjust certain shooting settings via the rear LCD. The other buttons don't give you control over image capture, but there are the usual ones to launch the menu, change the amount of information shown on the rear LCD, enter playback mode, and delete photos.
The rear LCD is excellent, one of the best we've seen on a D-SLR. It is fixed, unlike the tilting screen on the Sony Alpha 77, but its 3.2-inch size and 1,228k-dot resolution make up for the lack of a hinge. The display is bright and sharp; I had no issues using it outdoors on a bright summer day. The menu system is largely text based, and gives you access to an exhaustive list of settings. Thankfully it's well organized, and there's a page that shows recently accessed settings, which will give you quick access to frequently used settings.
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