5100/5200

[Mike Leah]

well im def sold on getting a nikon and have narrowed it down to two, either the 5100 or the 5200. I dont know jack squat about nikons but I love some of the photos and videos ive seen online. My main use will be video and film making type stuff, almost strictly shooting in 24p and I heavily prefer manual controls and hardly ever would i use auto anything. My main question is should I spend more and get the 5200 or would the 5100 give me similar quality for less money? The main negatives Ive read is how hard it is to get the cameras into manual.

Some of the video footage Ive seen from the nikons just cant be beat so im willing to miss out on a few things for that excellent video quality but wondering about the manual controls and also how much better the 5200 is for video.

thanks.

[Jeff Zimmerman]

Full manual on the D5200 and the video quality is stellar. Slightly better than the D5100. In my opinion worth it.

[Paul Gallagher]

I've just ordered a 5100 today for video as I own a lot of good Nikon glass.
Both cameras are good but with the extra pixels on the 5200 it can sometimes cause the horrible aliasing.
It will do my job as I only intend using it on my glidetrack and for the occasional music video I shoot.

[David Stoneburner]

I have been using a 5100 for around 6 months now. I do a lot of stills and some video so far. I'm still learning how to control the video as you have to play a lot with locking it down since it doesn't have full manual control, but it is workable and great quality for the price. If I could have spent a little more I think I would have gone with the 7100, but my budget wouldn't allow it.

[Alex Humphrey]

I have tried to get good video with my Nikon D5200 and lenses. At best I call it "Meh" Using a incident light meter, heavy ND to keep aperture around f4.. ISO 100. 1080p at 24fps 1/50th shutter. I find really bad 8 bit garbage (red especially) and bad fixed noise pattern in dark shadows with weird macroblocking in what should be smooth bokeh.

I gave up on the Nikon D5200 a few years ago for video but revisiting it. Has anyone compared them to the current Nikon D5600? Not sure if I want to try another Nikon body or just go get a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera to be a B camera to my 4K JVC LS300.

[David Peterson]

For anyone else reading this, I would heavily recommend the Nikon D5200 over the D5100. (or the D5300/D5500, which are each a small step ahead over the D5200)

As for a low end APS-C DSLR, the Nikon D5200 is remarkably solid machine:

https://www.eoshd.com/2013/02/nikon-d5200-review/

https://www.eoshd.com/2013/02/nikon-...n-5d-mark-iii/ (basically the D5200 is more or less close to as good as the famous Canon 5D mk3, but at a small fraction of the cost!)

https://www.eoshd.com/2013/02/is-the...d-good-detail/ ("Is the cheap Nikon D5200 a better option than D800 for video? No moire & aliasing and good detail")


However, in late 2017 (almost 2018!), I'd suggest instead a secondhand Panasonic G7 or stretching to Panasonic G85/G80. Because as always, Panasonic provides products which give an awful lot of bang for your buck!

[Alex Humphrey]

Here is a link to some samples of the D5600 and some dowloadable video. Nikon D5600 Review - Field Test

I tend to think that the video is much better than the D5200. My bokeh is always macro blocked and just rather meh to unpleasant video. I don't know these 3 samples (ISO 800 is hideous sample 3) is how I would shoot it, but at least it's looking decent compared to what I've shot that was only good on foggy afternoon days for people.

But picture taking, my Nikon D5200 rocks. Video leaves me wanting....