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I'm conflicted /gear/. I can't afford anything new, but I'd like to upgrade my body from the nearly 10 year old D200 I've been shooting with for the past 4 years. I'm torn between getting a D600 and a D7100/7200.
I have a few lenses, 2 of them are DX (the 35mm f1.8 which I use often and 18-200 VR which I rarely use). I mostly take photos of birds, insects and other wildlife, airplanes, cars, motorcycles and skateboarders. I do have a particular fondness for birds and macro. I very rarely do landscapes or architecture, being a student I don't travel very often, and I don't live in a place I find pretty.
I've really wanted to go full frame for the dynamic range and low noise, but I realize that the difference between the D7X00 and my D200 is FAR greater than the difference between the D7X00 and D600. I'm not sure whether I'll be losing potential cropping down D600 images when I'm shooting birds through my modest telephoto lens or dealing with a little more noise and less DR with the crop body. Am I off base? I've really been hurting for better low light performance lately, when I'm forced up to ISO 800+ to get a shot, even with RAW I find myself unhappy with the noise and dynamic range. Is it better to have to crop down but get a little less noise and better DR, or to not crop down and put up with slightly worse low light performance? Spending $6-800 on a body with better high ISO performance feels like a good way for me to supplement my current inability to afford fast glass. A used 300mm f2.8 would cost 4x+ what I paid for my 300mm f4, and any reasonably fast zoom lens costs more than I'm looking to spend on a body. The DRTV video on just this didn't help me make up my mind much and I'm trying to avoid worshipping the numbers on DXOmark.
Oh, and video is of very little importance to me.
What do you recommend /gear/?
