Nikon D7200 Conclusion

Nikon D7200 Conclusion

by Mike Tomkins

At first glance, the Nikon D7200 might seem to be a very minor upgrade. Visually, it's nearly identical to its predecessor, with the exact same weather-sealed body and control layout. If you're familiar with its rugged enthusiast-grade predecessor, you'll be right at home with the D7200. But that's not to say that there's nothing to separate the two: The Nikon D7200 is going to give you a lot more camera for your money if you're a sports shooter, or even just like to snap family photos of your hyperactive kids and pets.

Finally, the buffer we've been waiting for

The reason for that is simple: When it was creating the D7200, Nikon worked to resolve one of our main complaints with the earlier model. In our D7100 review, posted in the summer of 2013, we called out the limited buffer depth as a key concern. Now, the Nikon D7200 has triple the buffer depth of its predecessor, if not more.

That's a huge step forwards, and enough of an improvement that it would sway us towards the Nikon D7200 over its predecessor even bearing in mind that the older camera is now being discounted to some US$300 below the street price of the new model. It's not just sports and wildlife photography where you're likely to need that buffer, after all. Pets and kids can be just as active a subject, if not more so, and so the family photographer will doubtless make good use of that extra buffer capacity, as well.

An already-great camera is now even better

And we'd point out at this point that even with the limited buffer of the earlier camera, the Nikon D7100 was good enough to merit selection as a Dave's Pick in our earlier review. With our main concern answered, this camera is even better than ever, and it gives you an amazing amount for your money.

Image quality of the Nikon D7200 is superb for its class, and thanks to that rugged, weather-sealed body you can rest assured that it will give good results no matter where you take it. And this is a very responsive camera, as well, making it truly a pleasure to shoot with.

A steep initial learning curve, but it's worthwhile

That's not to say you'll feel immediately at home, at least unless you're already a Nikon shooter trading up from an earlier enthusiast-grade model. With around 30 or more controls scattered around its body and countless pages of menus offering controls over every aspect of its operation, the Nikon D7200 is a camera which is going to take a while to master. But while initially a bit daunting, that's a good thing, because it also means it's a camera which isn't going to feel limiting down the road.

There's plenty of room for you to grow here, and to tune the D7200's operation to your particular tastes. And as you shoot with it, you'll learn the locations of all of those controls to the point where they become second nature -- at which point they'll free you from needing to dive into the menu system repeatedly, as you would with a more consumer-friendly camera. And that is really good news, because every moment in the menus is a moment spent disconnected from your subject, and a moment that's potentially a missed photo opportunity.

A camera which you can become one with is just what you need if you don't want to miss those moments when they arrive unexpected. And that, in the Nikon D7200, is just what you have.

Some newer features are a little unpolished

That's not to say everything is perfect here, incidentally. There are still some rough edges in the Nikon D7200, and some areas in which we found it somewhat wanting. Perhaps the most significant of these is in its Wi-Fi connectivity, which we found to be rather troublesome, often failing to connect to our phone without first resetting both camera and phone's connectivity options completely.

And the Wi-Fi feature-set is also more limited than that of some competitors, which was rather surprising in a camera of this class. While remote live view and shutter release is possible, and the Nikon D7200 can also piggyback on your phone for GPS geolocation information, you can't change settings remotely. Nor can you even make settings changes on the camera body itself, without first disconnecting the Wi-Fi session.

If video is your primary focus, you may want to look elsewhere

And although there have been some worthwhile upgrades in the Nikon D7200's video feature-set -- key among them being zebra stripes to indicate overexposure, a new Auto ISO sensitivity function and 60p video frame rate at the highest resolution, in some respects the D7200 feels limiting in this area too.

Consumers will find the slow and somewhat erratic full-time autofocus in video mode isn't the equal of their long-retired camcorders. Pros will find the absence of focus peaking a great shame, as it's hard to really nail focus manually on the small live view image. And both will be frustrated by the fact that to change aperture, you have to exit video live view mode entirely, a limit that makes no sense at all given that the aperture can change without significant disruption to the still image live view.

An excellent buy for the enthusiast, particularly if you're already a Nikon shooter

But these concerns aside, the Nikon D7200 gives you a whole lot of camera for your money. It's not the best video shooter on the market, but its among the best options for an enthusiast-friendly still shooter, and it gives more than enough to satisfy if video capture and robust Wi-Fi aren't your primary goals. (And it's quite possible that the wireless connectivity situation will improve over time: Firmware updates for the body and app updates on the Android and iOS platforms could go a long way to making it easier to share your shots on Facebook.)

If you're a Nikon shooter looking to upgrade from an earlier enthusiast DSLR or to step up from a entry-level camera, the D7200 is a no-brainer: It will take your existing lenses and give them new life. Even if you don't already own any Nikon glass, the D7200 is still worthy of a close look if you enjoy the experience of shooting through a true optical viewfinder. There's something to be said for the immediacy and connection with your subject that a good viewfinder will give you that electronic viewfinders just don't match.

A clear Dave's Pick, the Nikon D7200 is the company's best effort yet in the enthusiast DSLR market. This rugged all-weather shooter will serve you well, give you room to grow as a photographer, and capture high-quality memories rain or shine for years to come!