Both Camera can be bought for close enough the same amount of moneys, and there are differences pro/con between them! I still want to have a Nikon DX camera in my group and I've sold my D300 (shouldn't have), and my D7000 (Shouldn't have), and now trying to figure what to go back to?


Chuck

Chuck Vincent, P7000, F100, D100, D700, D4

Nion Lens- 50 1.8, 28-105 F3.5/4.5D Macro, 28-300, 24-70 2.8, 85 F1.4D, 70-200 2.8

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Hi Chuck,

The D5200 has more resolution and a newer sensor. It also has a penta-mirror finder, no sub-command dial (finger wheel), and doesn't have dedicated buttons to quickly change settings without going in to the menu.

The D7000 has a penta-prism finder (that is much brighter than the penta-mirror finder),
both Command and Sub-Command dials ( just like the D300 and D700), and dedicated buttons to quickly change settings without going into the camera menu.
It also has an AF motor built into the camera body that supports the screwdriver type AF lenses.
Good Luck and Enjoy your Nikons!

Best Regards,
Marty

My choice would be to go with the D7000. While the D5200 has the articulated LCD screen and a higher resolution sensor, in practical shooting situations the higher resolution of the D5200 is a benefit when extreme crops are needed and at that only a little. I would think that auto focus with your screw drive D lenses would be more important. You will also be able to meter with manual focus lenses after adding the lens data in non-CPU lens data menu.

I have the D5100 and the D3200 and mostly only see the resolution improvement of the D3200 when viewing at 100%.

Len

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I agree with all of the above, there are pros and cons to both, not counting weight.

The difference between 16 and 24 MP isn't very much in practical use, although it does make your files that much larger, but let's do a quick rundown:

D5200 Pros:
- Very slightly better low light performance.
- Higher resolution.
- Light weight.
- Articulated display.
- Better video modes.
- Mounts pre-AI lenses (read: very old manual focus).

D7000 Pros:
- More physical control points, including a sub command dial.
- Magnesium body (D5200 is plastic).
- Some weather sealing.
- AF fine tuning.
- Metering with manual focus lenses.
- Optional battery grip.
- Longer battery life.
- Higher speed continuous drive.
- Deeper effective buffer (smaller file size).
- Dual SD card slots.
- Can autofocus with all AF lenses, not just AF-S.

I have the D5100, and I'm very glad I own it, as it's a fabulously lightweight body, especially with the 35 f/1.8 on it; however I definitely feel it's lacking in certain tasks and wish I also owned a D7000. Even now that the D5200 is out in the US, and I obviously own a bunch of compatible accessories (not the least of which are power related), I'd still go with the D7000 as a second body - the weather sealing, higher build quality and extra command dial are invaluable.

That said, unless you're planning on going out and buying new glass for the D5200, your situation favors the D7000 even more than mine - you have a bunch of screw drive glass (every single one with an aperture ring, so go look at them), and the D5200 won't autofocus with them at all.