Nikon D7200 review: Discontinued but still a great camera

Nikon recently added the D7200 to its list of discontinued products. First launched over three years ago, the camera has now been superseded by the D7500, which adds an articulating touchscreen, higher max ISO, faster continuous shooting, Bluetooth connectivity and other features.

There’s plenty of reason to opt for the newer model if your budget will stretch, then, but otherwise, the D7200 remains a hugely capable camera. It even boasts some advantages over the D7500 including higher max resolution and dynamic range, and dual SD card slots. If you find a D7200 at a great price, we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. If there’s no new stock, you can normally find it in excellent used condition and Wex and MBP.

Original review continues below:

The D7000 range is a line of cameras I’ve always greatly admired, with nicely sized viewfinders, fancy autofocus and great metering systems, it’s always been a range I’ve been particularly fond of, especially when you take into account the abundance of physical controls. Nikon’s D7 line is ideal for avid photographers who want professional-level features but can’t quite justify the high price of a full-frame digital SLR.

Two years after we saw the Nikon D7100, at first glance it looks like not all that much has changed with the D7200. Both models look pretty much exactly the same, aside from the name badge, WiFi and NFC logos. The thing is, the lack of design change isn’t really a bad thing, the layout of controls with the older model was pretty much perfect and one of my favourite things about the D7100, so there isn’t much point in messing with a winning formula.

Wi-Fi is probably the most tangible new feature but there are lots of other improvements under the bonnet. Battery life has increased from 950 to 1,100 shots. There’s a faster processor and larger buffer for longer bursts of photos. Video capture is now at up to 60fps at 1080p. The autofocus sensor retains its 51-point array but this time they work better in low light, quoted as being sensitive down to -3 EV compared to the D7100’s -2 EV. There’s a new sensor with an ISO range that’s increased by two stops, although the highest 512,000 and 1,024,000 settings are black and white only.

We’ve always liked that Nikon’s controls lend themselves to two-handed use. Hold down one of the buttons to the left of the screen and the dual command dials are reassigned accordingly. This technique isn’t ideal when supporting a heavy telephoto lens but otherwise we find it easier than Canon’s approach where everything is done with the right hand, which can get a little fiddly.

We’re surprised that the D7200 no longer uses its top-mounted passive LCD screen to communicate white balance and JPEG/RAW quality settings during adjustment. Instead the rear screen lights up to show the selected setting. Ideally we’d have liked this information to be shown on the passive LCD and in the viewfinder display. The viewfinder can display exposure-related settings, the autofocus mode and selected point and remaining card and buffer capacities. For other settings, you’ll need to take your eye off the viewfinder and onto the rear screen. The Canon EOS 7D Mk II takes a clear lead here with its ability to show a much wider range of settings in the viewfinder.

NEW FEATURES

There’s no dedicated Wi-Fi button but it’s not too laborious to enable it in the menu. Phones and tablets that support NFC can simply be held up to the side of the camera to establish a connection. Nikon’s iOS and Android apps are simple but effective. Thumbnails are transferred on connection to allow for quick browsing on the connected device, and photos can be transferred at a choice of full, 2-megapixel or VGA resolution. The remote viewfinder mode only offers a shutter release and touchscreen autofocus function, but that’s good enough for capturing self-portraits.

There’s also an option to take photos on the camera in the normal way and transfer them instantly to a connected device. This is great for checking shots on a tablet, especially for collaborative work. However, photos only transferred when browsing thumbnails on the connected device; switching to a full-screen view stopped further photos from being transferred until you went back to thumbnails. Overall, we’re glad to see Wi-Fi making an appearance here but Nikon lags behind the pack for the sophistication of its wireless features.

There are a few other minor improvements. Bracketing is now in groups of up to nine frames, which could be handy for capturing very wide dynamic range shots in preparation for HDR merging. Auto ISO is now available in Manual exposure mode, which allows the shutter speed and aperture to be set manually but with the exposure set automatically via the ISO speed – a particularly useful feature for video capture. Videographers will also appreciate the ability to display Zebra patterns to highlight overexposed areas of the frame, as well as the Flat Picture Control preset that provides a useful starting point for colour grading. There’s finally a dedicated menu tab for the Movie mode. Not only does it make these settings easier to find, but it also allows various settings and button assignments to be made independently for photo and video capture.

VIDEO, AUTOFOCUS AND SPEED

The introduction of 1080p video at 60fps comes with strings attached. It’s only available when a 1.3x crop is selected, and recording time drops from 20 to 10 minutes per clip. The 60p option is simply greyed out until the sensor crop is adjusted elsewhere in the Menu, but there are no clues to help users. We’re happy to stick to 24 or 25fps frame rates but would have liked to see a move to 4K capture. Even so, video picture quality remains excellent with flattering colours and crisp details. The clumsy autofocus is only suitable for casual use, though. Keen videographers will prefer to focus manually, but we can’t imagine many of them choosing the D7200 over the Panasonic GH4.

The improved sensitivity of the autofocus sensor is hard to test objectively, but we were extremely impressed with the speed and precision of autofocus when pointing the camera at gloomy, indistinct subjects. The time between pressing the shutter button and capturing a photo was somewhere between 0.1 and 0.3 seconds, except in exceptional circumstances. This contributed to the D7200’s ability to capture a photo every 0.25 seconds in normal use – almost twice as fast as the D7100 managed.

Continuous shooting was at the same speeds as the D7100 but was sustained for much longer. Whereas the D7100’s 6fps mode lasted for 18 JPEGs or five RAW frames (only seven JPEGs when lens distortion correction was enabled), the D7200 captured 48 JPEGs and 13 RAW frames before slowing to the speed of the card. This was the D7100’s weakest area so it’s great to see it rectified this time around. One slight frustration remains, though. The highest-quality 14-bit RAW files are limited to 5fps capture, with 6fps only available for 12-bit RAW.

IMAGE QUALITY

The D7100 is still one of the best-performing cropped-sensor cameras for image quality, so we didn’t expect a huge jump in quality this time around. We had the opportunity to test a D7100 and D7200 side by side, and the two cameras were level pegging for detail levels and dynamic range, both for JPEG and RAW output. As we raised the ISO speed, it was hard to separate them for noise levels in RAW files. However, the D7200 showed a substantial improvement in the appearance of its JPEGs at high ISO speeds. The D7200 even outperformed the full-frame Nikon D610 for noise in JPEGs, although it couldn’t match it for RAW output.

^ Comparing details of the same shot taken with the D7100, there’s no contest.

This improvement should be taken in context. Anyone who spends the best part of £1,000 on a camera and who really cares about image quality will almost definitely be shooting RAW. Even so, should they need to switch to JPEGs – perhaps for more sustained continuous performance or for sharing photos via Wi-Fi – it’s reassuring that quality won’t suffer much.^ Natural, balanced colours, precise autofocus and pristine fine details. (1/200s, f/7.1, ISO 100, 52mm equivalent)^ The high-resolution metering sensor hasn’t been fooled by the dominant white subject. Highlights are just shy of being clipped and there’s plenty of shadow detail. (1/800s, f/5.6, ISO 100, 105mm equivalent)^ The autofocus sensor did a fine job of picking out these birds against the complex background. (1/640s, f/6.3, ISO 100, 158mm equivalent)^ Another fine example of precise handling of fine details. The automatic exposure level is spot on, too. (1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 100, 93mm equivalent)^ Limited light has pushed the ISO speed up a little but there’s no hint of noise or noise reduction. (1/60s, f/4.8, ISO 360, 63mm equivalent)^ There’s a slight grain at ISO 1600 but this is still within the realms of print quality. (1/200s, f/1.4, ISO 1600, 52mm equivalent)^ What looks like a daylight shot was actually taken handheld at dusk at ISO 7200. There’s some detail smearing but it’s remarkably presentable for a cropped-sensor SLR at such a fast ISO speed. (1/50s, f/4.2, ISO 7200, 48mm equivalent)^ Skin tones at ISO 12800 are looking pretty vague but it’s far from disastrous. (1/100s, f/4.5, ISO 12800, 52mm equivalent)

CONCLUSION

The D7200 may lack headline-grabbing new features but it takes an extremely solid foundation in the shape of the D7100 and improves in areas that make a genuine difference. We’re particularly delighted to see more responsive autofocus in very low light and more sustained continuous shooting. 4K video and an articulated screen would have raised the stakes for videography but photographers are unlikely to miss these features.

Currently priced at £920 body only, it’s a little more expensive than the Canon EOS 70D, which sells for around £740 body only, and considerably cheaper than the Canon EOS 7D Mk II which costs around £1,430. These prices are arguably a fair reflection on their features, with the D7200’s autofocus being closer to the 7D Mk II but with continuous performance that’s slower than both Canon models. The Nikon takes the edge for image quality, though, with slightly sharper details at low ISO speeds and a more marked advantage at high ISO speeds where the Canons’ noise reduction takes a heavier toll on fine details. We prefer its layout of controls, too. There are few bells and whistles but it’s superbly designed to let keen photographers get the photos they want.

If the D7200 doesn’t quite suit your needs then check out our regularly-updated Best Cameras and Buying Guide.