Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro (OS) HSM | C Real World Review

Last September when Sigma announced the reorganization of their lens line it caused quite a stir. These lenses really looked professional, but what people wanted to know was how do they perform?"

The first lens out of the stable was the 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A. This lens blew every other fast 35 out of the water with IQ and price. It was a stunning success. (See the review here.) The next up was the more modest Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro (OS) HSM | C, the first lens in their "Contemporary" lineup. This is basically an affordable upgrade from most kit lenses.

I'm no stranger to the Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4.  I owned the original version and gave it a review a few years back (you can see it here).

The new lens benefits from a different design and some added FLD lens elements. The old lens had 17 elements in 13 groups with one ELD element and two aspherical elements while the updated version has 16 elements in 14 groups with one SLD element, three aspherical elements, and two FLD elements.  The ELD and SLD elements are the last elements before the sensor which reduces flare from light reflecting from the sensor filters. In any case, all this gobbledy-gook adds up to a lens that performs somewhat better than the original.

In the end, the lens redesign seems to have improved it a little bit on the wide end, but on the long end it has gotten quite a bit better.

The thing about this lens is that for $500 it is a stellar performer. It's sharp, has excellent contrast, and is very versatile. It has a few things that anyone should expect from a lens at this price point. The corners are slightly soft wide open, but stopped down everything sharpens up perfectly  There's a small amount of barrel distortion at the wide end and a little pincushion starting at about 35mm, but, it's easily fixed with one click in ACR or Lightroom.

The Sigma lens benefits from a redesign at a very crucial time. All of Nikon's current DX cameras are 24MP and all of Nikon's current standard zoom lenses were designed around lower resolution sensors. From my experiences having owned all of Nikon's current 24MP cameras the current Nikon lenses aren't holding up to the strength of the sensors. So far I can say that the Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro (OS) HSM | C is the best and most affordable lens to pair with your 24MP camera. Even the top-of-the line Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G falls short in comparison to the Sigma, which is less than half the price.

In addition to updated optics the lens has also received a cosmetic makeover. The new look is sleek and professional. It's manufactured using a Thermally Stable Composite (TSC) material which allows the lens to be smaller, lighter, and more durable than the original.

The new lens still has all of the features that made it a winner in my book in the past as well.

• Speed. The aperture though variable is still plenty fast. Faster than Nikon's direct competition the 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 VR. 

• Focal length range. This lens has the perfect focal length for most everyday shooting scenarios from landscapes and street photography to portraits and still-life and some sports. This lens has a wide enough range to cover you for most subjects.

• Close-up focus. This is a great selling point for me. At 1:2.9 it's not a true macro, but it's still very good. I love close focusing at the wide-angle setting which allows me to do cool things with perspective distortion.

• HyperSonic Motor. The Sigma HSM is right on par with Nikon's Silent Wave motor. Fast and quiet. Better than any other third-party offerings so far.

• OS. While I don't rely on Optical Stabilization as a crutch, when out shooting during early morning or twilight this allows you to leave the tripod at home if you're shooting still subjects. Sigma's OS seems to have been improved since the early version and works very well even when pushed to ridiculous limits!

I almost forgot one of the biggest bonuses for the new lens! The USB dock! Along with the Sigma Optimization Pro software you can update the firmare and fine-tune the AF at all focal lengths (something you can't do with in-camera AF fine-tune). Sigma is the ONLY company that allows this kind of customization. To see how it works click here: http://vimeo.com/64665246

My final verdict is that if you can live without a constant f/2.8 aperture and you want a phenomenal lens for a low price. This is the lens to get. I am not embarrassed to say that this lens replaces my Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8G*. 

*The only caveat being that for work in extremely tough environments the Nikon 17-55 does exceed the Sigma in build quality with a more durable magnesium body.

Here are some sample images taken with the new Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro (OS) HSM | C (click on image to view large)

You can capture extremely detailed  macro images with this "kit" lens.
1/60 sec @ f/16, ISO 100
70mm

Sharp detail from edge to edge even wide open
1/125 sec @ f/4, ISO 180
38mm

Silky smooth "bokeh". Better than most inexpensive prime lenses and a lot of 3rd party dedicated macro lenses.
1/400 sec @ f/4, ISO 100
70mm

Close focus + wide-angle = cool perspective distortion
1/6 sec @ f/9, ISO 3200
17mm

Sigma's OS works like a charm to get sharp handheld shots at night.
1/10 sec @ f/3.3, ISO 3200
31mm

For tech specs and MTF charts see the Sigma website: Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC HSM (OS) | C

To buy one click here:

Nikon D7100 Real World Review

This review is a bit overdue, but I wanted to wait awhile before I put up my real world review of Nikon’s newest flagship DX camera the D7100. Being that the D7100 was closely based on the D600 I was prepared to thoroughly dislike the camera. The D600 was kind of awkward to handle, the AF system was not pro-level despite having 39 AF points being a $2000 FX camera, the oil spot/crud issue, etc. Not to mention my D600 has been into the shop for repairs three times (but let’s not get into that).
I wanted to give the D7100 a fair workout. I spent a couple of weeks shooting around town doing some small jobs with it, but when I was asked to go on the road to play bass for a touring musician I figured I’d put the review off. The best way to really get to know a camera is to bring it on the road. Traveling with a camera affords you the opportunity to put it to use in a plethora of shooting situations.

Handling

As with the D600 the D7100 is a compact yet robust camera. It doesn’t have the satisfying heft of the D800, but it’s not engulfed in your hand like the D5200. The D7100 feels a little more solid due to the fact that the back plate of the camera has been upgraded to magnesium making the camera frame ¾ magnesium rather than ½ like the D7000/D600. Despite this there is no noticeable gain in weight.

One problem I had with the D600 was that a lot of the Nikon FX pro zooms dwarfed the camera, being a DX camera the D7100 can be used with the Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G and it handles perfectly, especially with the MB-D15 grip. This makes the camera much easier to handle.

In short the D7100 pretty much follows Nikon’s typical design, which is nicely balanced and feels good in your hands.

Controls

Nikon camera controls are usually well placed and intuitive and the D7100 is no exception. Anyone upgrading from a D7000 or using it in addition to the D600 will have no problem. The D600 and the D7100 have pretty much the same layout with a few only a fewminor changes. The new i-button allows you to access the Info edit menu with a single press.

The D7100 also fixed an issue that people were having with the D600, which was the limitation of the OK button in playback to only access the retouch menu. Once again it’s programmable for 100% zoom and histograms (and more), this is a great thing. One of my biggest issue with the D600 was this OK button problem.

As usual the menu system is pretty much standard Nikon, easy to navigate, if you’ve used any Nikon DSLR since the D100.

Shooting

The D7100 is equipped with the same 24MP Toshiba made CMOS sensor that first appeared in the D5200 with one major difference, the Optical Low-Pass Filter / Anti-Aliasing filter has been completely removed (as opposed to the dual filter design of the D800E). This allows the D7100 to capture finer detail, which is necessary because at 24MP when viewing at 100% you need all of the fine detail you can get. I didn’t notice any increased moiré in any of my images despite the fact I went out of my way to shoot subjects that would test this out.

finely detailed patterns like bird feathers are notorious for causing moiré in cameras without AA filters as you can see here there is little to no moiré in this 100% crop. Click to view full size.

I really liked the D5200 sensor. The images were excellent, and the D7100 is pretty much on par with that. The images this camera puts out especially with a lens stopped down about 2 stops are astonishingly detailed. This camera is great for landscapes because of the fine detail and the great dynamic range. A decent wide-angle like the Sigma 10-24 stopped down to about f/8 is going to get you extremely sharp and finely detailed images.

This brings me to a major issue with the D7100 sensor. Well, not an issue with the sensor itself, but with the lenses that need to be used with it. I’ve been using a Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G for a long time with great success. The problem is that this lens is old. It was released a decade ago, which in digital terms is a lifetime. The lens simply cannot keep up with the D7100. I shoot wide open a lot and at f/2.8 this lens is soft. It’s not that the image is blurry, you can clearly see detail, but it’s veiled in a soft glowing haze with lots of CA and doesn’t improve until it stopped down. Nikon, if this is you flagship camera you need a flagship lens that is comparable. So, luckily Sigma has released the 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC OS HSM “C”. And guess what? It is sharp. It’s much smaller and lighter, better range, also does close-focusing, and has OS. Since the Nikon needs stopped down to f/4 to look good, the Sigma eclipses Nikon’s flagship lens that costs $1000 more in every way. Great job Sigma! (Sigma 17-70 review coming soon). So I sold the Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G. I recommend you sell yours too before this news gets out, because Nikon must be upgrading this lens soon. Buy the Sigma, it’s worth every penny.

Anyway, I digress. The D7100 is a nice camera to shoot and has some new features that I really enjoy. The i button is a great addition to quickly access the Info edit menu and replaces the useless retouch menu button on the D600 (which also had the OK button call up the retouch menu, really who needs TWO buttons to get to a menu hardly anyone uses?). I also find the 1.3X DX crop to be a great feature. Not only does it speed up your frame rate to 7fps it gives you an equivalent 2X (1.95X actually) crop factor. This is great for sports and wildlife shooters. It turns my 300mm f/4 into almost a 600mm f/4 with no teleconverter to lose resolution and no loss of light. Coupled with a 2X teleconverter you get an astounding 1200mm f/8, and guess what? The D7100 new AF system center point can focus down to f/8. Of course using the 1.3X DX crop you lose some MP’s, but 15MP is more than enough for most any applications. And with the new Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 coming out, you can get a 240-600mm f/2.8 equivalent lens in a manageable size without spending a million bucks!

The AF-system of the D7100 is far and away better than the D600. While the D600 focus points are all jammed into a tiny spot in the center the D7100 has a great spread covering most of the frame allowing you freedom to compose as you want while the D600 required you to either compose loosely and crop later of focus and recompose which can lead to focus errors especially when using fast wide-angle lenses. When switched to 1.3X DX crop you get almost 100X frame coverage with your focus points. Once again, great for sports and wildlife shooters as well as portrait photographers.

At high ISO’s I find the D7100 quite capable for most situations. The noise is well under control at 3200 and the grain looks pleasant enough. If you shoot mostly low light this may not be the best option, but it is quite good for the occasional foray into darkness.

The D7100 is about as prefect a camera you’re going to find for under $2000. It’s definitely a step above the D600 in my eyes although the D600 has the edge in low-light performance. I’d say that the D7100 could replace the D600 if only there were a 10-24mm f/2.8 lens that performed as well as the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G.

So, the D7100 is a keeper for me. It’s one of the best cameras Nikon has released in awhile. It’s aces compared to the dog of a D600. I can’t wait to get the new Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 on this thing.

If you’re looking for a new camera I highly recommend the D7100. Even if you’re considering FX take a look at this camera and give it a test drive. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I sure was.

Here are some photos taken with the D7100 and a variety of lenses:

Hopdoddy hamburger in Austin TX, taken with the amazing Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM "A"
ISO 100, 1/125 @ f/1.4

Downtown Texarkana AR taken with Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G
ISO 3200, 1/8 @ f/2.8

Somewhere in Louisiana taken with Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G
ISO 100, 1/200 @ f/11

Black's BBQ in Lockhart, TX taken with a Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC OS HSM "C"
(handheld) ISO 1000, 1/13 @ f/2.8

Stairway in Lockhart, TX taken with a Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC OS HSM "C"
 ISO 125, 1/125 @ f/9

Downtown Gilmer, TX,  taken with a Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G
ISO 640, 1/100 @ f/7.1

Tulip along Front St. in Natchitoches, LA,  taken with a Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G
ISO 180, 1/200 @ f/2.8 

Cypress tree at Caddo Lake, LA,  taken with a Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G
ISO 125, 1/500 @ f/8

Shure SM-55 taken with a Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM
ISO 100, 1/250 @ f/1.4

Poppies in south Austin, TX taken with a Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC OS HSM "C"
 ISO 140, 1/1000 @ f/4

Nikon updates firmware for the D600 & D800/E

Nikon has issued some firmware updates for the D600 & D800/E cameras.


Fixes for the D600 include:

• Support for the AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR has been added.

• Subject tracking performance in AF-C (continuous-servo autofocus) autofocus mode with framing using the viewfinder has been improved.

• Frame output size has been changed from 95% to 100% when movie live view display is changed to "Information off" and an HDMI-compatible device is connected.

• An issue that caused the right edges of images to be somewhat white when captured at an Image area setting of DX (24x16) 1.5x withActive D-Lighting set to Off has been resolved.

• When the camera's shutter-release button was pressed repeatedly for uninterrupted shooting with the "Record to:" option in Camera Control Pro 2's Storage tab set to "PC+CARD", the camera would stop responding with displaying "Err" in its control panel.  This issue has been resolved.

• In some very rare cases, colors would change with shooting when white balance was set to a specific color temperature, as with Preset manual or Choose color temp.  This issue has been resolved.

Download the firmware for the D600

Fixes for the D800/E include:

• Support for the AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR has been added.

• Subject tracking performance in AF-C (continuous-servo autofocus) autofocus mode with framing using the viewfinder has been improved.

• Gamut for Adobe RGB images displayed in the camera's monitor has been changed. This enables more vivid display of images.

• With live view photography in [M] (Manual) exposure mode, exposure preview was always on.  This issue has been resolved.

• In some very rare cases when certain memory cards were used, movie recording would stop, even when the time remaining display indicated remaining recording time.  This issue has been resolved.

• With shooting at an image quality setting of TIFF (RGB) and an image size setting of Small, the right edge of images contained a purple line.  This issue has been resolved.

• In some rare cases, images recorded in JPEG format could not be opened by some software applications.  This issue has been resolved.

• In some very rare cases, colors would change with shooting when white balance was set to a specific color temperature, as with Preset manual or Choose color temp.  This issue has been resolved.

Download firmware for the D800 and the D800E

The Nikon D7100 is here. Is the D400 dead?

Nikon announced the new D7100 this morning. Once again Nikon has shocked everyone by doing something unprecedented. While you had to pay extra to get a D800 without an OLPF/AA filter (D800E), Nikon has just done away with it completely in the new D7100 which comes in at just 2/3 of the price of the D800E.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. The D7100 introduces a few more brand new features

• 3.2" 1.2M pixel RGBW LCD monitor (a Nikon first)
• 6fps (7fps in 1.3X high-speed crop mode)
• Spot custom WB setting
• 100% viewfinder with new EL (electro-luminescent) data display

The D7100 also inherits a few features from higher end cameras (and lower end cameras as well). 

• 51-point AF with 15 cross-sensors (supposedly upgraded from D300s with D4 features)
• 2016 pixel RBG metering sensor
• 1080i/60fps video
• Expeed 3 processor
• Enhanced weather sealing

If the D5200 is a measuring stick for performance of the D7100's IQ then we're in for a real treat. The D5200 is a very good camera and the D7100 should surpass at at least in sharpness due to the lack of OLPF/AA filter. 

The 1.3X high speed crop will allow 7fps (not too bad) as well as give your lens a 2X crop factor. This will leave you with a more than ample 15MP file as well as allow the AF points to cover more of the frame. I'm looking forward to having 400mm f/2.8 and a 600mm f/4 option without using a TC. 

The updated 51-point AF should be faster and more accurate (I hope) than the D7000. That was an area that really needed improvement. 

The D7100 looks to be the end of the line for Nikon's venerable D300 series DX pro camera. The D300s is 3.5 years old now and Nikon drawing direct comparisons of the D7100 to the D300s in their own news statement in regards to build quality and weather sealing I'd say that Nikon is definitely broadly hinting that the D300s is dead and there will be no D400. I'm quite sad to say this because I liked the D300 series cameras and having a DX camera with the excellent control layout is definitely a plus for a lot of pros, but what can you do? It's gone. Time to focus on the present.  

What Nikon is doing here is saying, "if you want a serious pro camera you gotta step up, spend the $3000 and buy a D800/E" In the meantime the high-end amateur cameras the D600 and D7100 are very capable for budget-minded pros, but also offer features that will appeal to the amateurs with deep pockets, killing two birds with one stone. Not to mention, the D300s retailed at $600 more than the D7100, so there's some savings to be had. 

So it looks like the DX pros aren't going to have a camera to one-up the ams with. I pronounce the D400 officially DOA. 

Nikon Lens Blowout!

Nikon is having a huge sale on lenses! Probably the best deal is the 85mm f/1.8 G. These lenses are flying off the shelves, so jump on this deal while you can!

Zooms
AFS 24-70/2.8 – $200 off
AFS 24-85/3.5-4.5 VR – $100 off
AFS 24-120/4 VR – $300 off
AFS 28-300/3.5-5.6 VR – $150 off
AFS 70-200/2.8 VR II – $300 off
AFD 80-400/4.5-5.6 VR – $350 off
Primes
AFS 24/1.4 G – $200 off
AFS 28/1.8 G – $100 off
AFS 35/1.4 G – $200 off
AFS 50/1.4 G – $100 off
AFS 50/1.8 G – $20 off
AFS 60/2.8 G micro – $60 off
AFS 85/1.4 G – $200 off
AFS 85/1.8 G – $100 off
DX
AFS 18-200/3.5-5.6 VR II – $250 off
AFS 18-300/3.5-5.6 VR – $300 off
AFS 16-85/3.5-5.6 VR – $100 off

Nikon D5200 real-world Review

I've had my D5200 for a few weeks now which has given me a chance to put it through the paces testing it out on all kinds of subjects in many different shooting situations. I've been keeping an eye out for reported issues and defects. I feel I have gotten a good feel for the camera and I'm ready to give a good real-world review.

If you're not familiar with my reviews, here's the skinny. Anyone can post specs and charts and details gleaned from the Nikon website and DxO Mark and many do. That's fine for some folks, but to me specs don't mean a thing. The most important thing to me is "how well does this thing work?". This is why I don't get all tech on you. You can find that stuff anywhere. On with the review...

Handling

The D5200 is an entry-level camera. It's compact and light. The first thing I noticed when I picked up the camera was that it felt nice and solid. I'm not sure if they're using a stiffer polycarbonate to make the cameras, but it felt nice and durable; more like a D7000 than a D5000. I was quite impressed by the feel. It definitely gave me confidence that this was a well-built camera. I will say that I was initially drawn to the candy-apple red, I have an affinity for that color. I had a motorcycle that color, a car that color, and some guitars that color. I just LIKE it. While the red looked really impressive in photos on the web in person it fell short. It looked kinda of junky like it was made of cheap plastic. It looked like a Holga, but not in a good way. As for the bronze, well, doo-doo brown was never my favorite color (I once sold a prime '62 Gretsch Country Gentleman because it was brown) so I didn't even bother to look. Needless to say, I bought the classic Nikon black. Can't go wrong with that. Anyway, I digress. 

So the camera feels nice and solid. I've got big hands so the D5200 is a little small in my grip, but still comfortable. My pinky pinger hangs off, but I fold it under the base which adds to the stability, so no real problem there. 

Being a compact DSLR the D5200 is really made for smaller lenses in order to balance right. Sticking my 17-55mm f/1.8G on there is great for image quality, but the lens dwarfs the camera, and with no real grip to add the D5200 can get a bit unwieldy without using the right holding technique. Of course the kit lens is right at home, but even as sharp as the kit lens is, I'm a fast lens junky so I don't use it often. Even the better Nikon DX zoom lenses such as the 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 VR is somewhat beastly on this camera as are the fast third party zooms. Basically any lens you put on the D5200 other than the 18-55 kit is going to make the camera front heavy. The lens that best compliments the D5200 is the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G hands down. Every DX owner should own one. It's cheap, sharp, and iIt's a perfect fit for a compact camera. 

So, bottom line is the D5200 is a sturdy little camera, but a little out of balance with larger lenses.

Controls

The D5X00 series cameras occupy a special niche in Nikon's camera lineup as the only camera with the movable Vari-Angle LCD monitor. This is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the Vari-Angle LCD is a great feature that make shooting at weird angles a lot easier. This allows you to experiment more with new angles and can be a real good thing for your creativity and composition. If you were ever hesitant about lying on the ground to get a shot, with the D5200 you don't have to worry about it. Very cool for both video and still photography. I think this makes the D5200 a great second camera for Nikon videographers to go to smaller spaces and get different angles for B-stock.

The curse of the Vari-Angle LCD is that in order to implement it correctly a lot of the buttons have been removed so most of the controls must me accessed by the Info Edit menu or directly in the menus themselves. For someone coming from a D3X00 or D5X00 series camera this may not be an issue, but if you're coming from the D90 or even from the D300 or D7000 you'll have a bit of a learning curve. A lot of good features can only be accessed through the menus so be sure you're set up before you start shooting because it takes time to change settings mid-shoot. My biggest qualm is that there's no dedicated ISO button. You can program it to the Fn. button, but they made a HUGE oversite. The only way you can turn Auto-ISO on and off is in the Shooting Menu. I use Auto-ISO a lot, but I also like to turn it off a lot and I want to do it quickly. I thought with the D800/D600 they had this fixed, but it seems like the D5200 lost this feature. I'd also like to see the playback button switch places, but I can see why they put it where they did (that's just personal preference anyway).

As for the controls that are there I like them. The addition of Drive Mode button is great, but it would have been better implemented if you could press the button and rotate the Command Dial to change instead of pressing the button, displaying a menu, using the multi-selector to find the option, then pressing OK to set. Much less work with my idea.

The Mode Dial being on the right side is good. It feels more natural here than it does on the right side like on the D7000/D600. Also I still love the Live View switch. I wish this was standard on all Nikon cameras.

Other than the lack of direct controls which is inevitable of a camera of this caliber, the D5200 controls are well laid out and intuitive.

Menus

As I've mentioned in previous reviews Nikon's menu system is well implemented. There are quite a few missing features that I miss from other cameras, but understandably Nikon leaves the features out to steer you towards the higher priced models. That's business.

Shooting

The D5200 gets a brand new Toshiba built 24MP DX sensor. The images it produces are very good. Photos are ultra sharp in good light and the camera performs pretty well up to ISO 3200 where it starts to lose quite a bit of detail, but still manages to keep noise levels under control. The EXPEED 3 image processor with this new sensor work very well together. IQ  and Dynamic Range is excellent. 

Taken from the D7000 is the 39-point Multi-CAM 4800 focusing module. The focus works great. It hunts a little in extreme low light and struggles in highly backlit situations (see image below), but those are taxing situations for even the top-tier cameras. Live View works great.

One quibble I have is the tiny optical viewfinder. it's really hard to see through, especially if you have glasses on. Maybe Nikon is expecting everyone to use the Vari-Angle LCD to compose, but they could have made it a little bigger. 

The D5200 also inherits the 2016 pixel RGB sensor for metering which makes it much more accurate. 

Some folks are always complaining about there being no focus motor, but that's to be expected. These have been gone for a number of years and no amount of complaining is going to bring it back to lower echelon cameras. Personally, almost all of my lenses a AF-S so it's not an issue. If you feel you must have a focus motor for legacy lenses you'll have to step up to the D7000 or down to the D90.

EDIT: Something I meant to add, but forgot until I got back from a gig tonight. The battery for the D5200 SUCKS. Bad. With minimal shooting I run through two batteries a day easily. You WILL need at least two batteries. I recommend three. If your going on a trip where there's no power access you might even need FOUR. Yes. The battery is that bad. No bueno. On a camera that is designed to rely heavily on the LCD to adjust settings and for video the battery charge is abysmal. 

Conclusions

This is a nice little camera. It's definitely a REAL upgrade from the D5100 as far as images go. For anyone looking for a well-built DSLR with a great semi-pro AF module and metering in a compact size I'd recommend this camera highly. 

While the image quality is better than the D7000 the control layout is definitely not geared towards pro shooting. Wait for the D7100 if you want a 24MP DX semi-pro camera.

This is an EXCELLENT camera for the money. Simple enough for a newcomer to operate, but with enough advanced features for an advanced amateur, and IQ good enough for a pro (I did a few high-end paid shoots with it). I'd recommend it as an upgrade for anyone coming from the D40/50/60/70 or D3000/5000 cameras. I'd even recommend it to pros for a snapshot/location scouting/vacation camera. 

Nikon has another good camera.

Nikon D5200 "sharpness issue" clarified.

Recently, the website pocket-lint.com reported that they were having "sharpness issues" possibly due to phase-detect (viewfinder) AF problems or mirror-slap vibration being magnified by the high-res sensor.

You can see their report here: pocket-lint: "not sharp when using viewfinder"

I am here to allay the fears that the D5200 is plagued with "soft" images. The images I have been producing with the D5200 are indeed tack sharp and there are no AF issues that I've found.

I tested my D5200 on a tripod using a variety of lenses at different focal lengths with different apertures at many different shutter speeds. Even at shutter speeds up to 2 seconds long I have found NO mirror-slap vibration related softness. I have found the phase-detect AF to be accurate on fast and slow lenses, pro lenses, kit lenses, zooms, and primes.

Here are a couple of example shots .The screen grabs show the images at 100%. The lens and exposure info is displayed. The images are displayed full size for easy viewing of the sharpness. These are straight RAW files. No sharpening, no exposure adjustment, Tungsten WB set in-camera.

The D5200 images are just as sharp as the images from my D600. If you're looking for a good sharp camera don't worry. The D5200 is so far excellent.

Stay tuned for a full review.