As I mentioned some time ago, I do save money for a Nikon D7100 DSLR camera. I think most would agree, saving money is not always easy because at times there appear other unscheduled costs. However, I am very patient and motivated when I want to get to something special. So, to make it short and to motivate myself again, I am now not that far away from the camera anymore.
Overall I did put €630 into my money-box. Then I got a little bit sick about my Bitcoin “investment” as the exchange rate of this currency is still crazy volatile. I came to the decision that the camera is more important to me than the speculation that the Bitcoin technology goes mainstream, and apart from that I could re-invest at a future date, the exchange rate goes down anyway at the moment.
I decided to convert the Bitcoin money and was able to add €180 to my money-box on this way. That means I am now at €810 in savings. But I did lend someone close to me €120 and should get it back soon too. That would mean I would have €930 of savings then. That is extremely close to the price of the Nikon D7100 camera kit that comes with the 18-105mm lens.
I saw the kit in a local store now for €989 and that would mean I just need €59 to be able to purchase the camera with the kit lens. Of course, that means I could purchase the camera in January after I did put the difference in my saving box. But there is another problem…
Then I found out that the camera doesn’t come with any SD card. Then I researched and came to the decision that I would want to purchase an extremely fast SD card, in fact I am only interested in the fastest SD card. This would be the SanDisk SDHC Extreme Pro 32GB Class 10 UHS-I card that comes with a transfer rate of 95MB per second. Reason is that I want to shoot in burst mode too and I researched and found out that this card is just perfect for the Nikon D7100. The SC card will cost me additional €60 that were not planned. With this in mind, I am basically just €119 away to be able to buy the Nikon D7100 kit.
I would have no problem to pay the remaining €59 for the kit in January, but €119 is a whole nother story, especially because January is usually a long and hard month anyway when we talk about money. But Nikon has this money-back promotion running, and no matter where I buy the D7100, they will send me back €50 if I claim it online. Then I researched how long it would take and found out around 4 weeks, in this case by the end of January. That takes a long time and is the crucial point why I might wait until February. But if I do wait until February, I won’t get back the €50 as the promotion does only count if you buy the camera before January 31. They call this promotion winter cash back.
So, this is a little bit problematic. Not that it annoys me but it would make sense to buy it with the promotion, it’s just that I can’t wait 4 weeks to get €50 back, because this would make my January harder. Logic says wait until February because this would be the safe way, I just wouldn’t be able to claim the €50 cash back anymore then. But there is still a ray of hope, because I have still some things that I don’t need anymore and that I could sell via classifieds. For example my old digital camera that I won’t need anymore, and other stuff. Let’s see. At the end it also depends if I get the €120 back early enough, that I did lend someone close to me.
To be honest, to me it doesn’t matter too much if I get the camera in January or February, because time flies by anyway. But if all factors stand right, I might be able to buy the camera in January. That are the financial chances, I am at least very close to my plan to get me the D7100.
Now another aspect. As I mentioned in the other article, the D7100 seems to be perfect for what I want to do with it. There is just one minor problem that annoys me a lot. The D7100 has no tilt screen (flip out screen) while the way cheaper Nikon D5100 has a flip screen. But technically the D5100 is not what I am looking for, because that is the more expansive D7100. I will probably use the viewfinder most of the time anyway, but for insect or flower photos that you take on the ground, the flip screen is really useful, that’s what I assume. I found the opinion in forums that some people think that Nikon didn’t think that this would be a useful feature for semi-professionals, and apart from that some people said that flip screens are more vulnerable anyway. But if you ask me, I would love to have a flip screen because it might be handy in some situations.
What’s the problem? Well, as mentioned, the D7100 is what I am looking for, it’s just that I wish this thing would have a flip screen too. But a much bigger problem is that there are rumors that Nikon will release the D7200 anytime in 2015. When I say rumors, then I mean rumors that I found in all kind of photography related forums. To be honest, it doesn’t matter if they release the next model in this series as the Nikon D7100 specs are already good enough. What matters is that there are rumors that Nikon maybe will release the D7200 with a flip screen, and that would mean it will be a perfect model in my opinion, since the flip screen is the only thing that is missing in the recent model. The problem is that nobody knows if and when Nikon will release the D7200, and if the rumors about the flip screen are true at all. Nobody knows it, nobody knows what is true and what not.
This is the biggest problem. In case Nikon would release the D7200 in 2015 after I bought the Nikon D7100, and in case the new model would have a flip screen, I can assure you it would drive me crazy and I would regret that I bought the D7100. Not that the flip screen is the most important feature to me, but I wish the D7100 would have this thing, it would round all other specs up. This is the biggest problem and question. Should I buy the in my opinion perfect D7100 where just the flip screen is missing, or should I wait that the D7200 rumors come true and that I can get a perfect camera plus flip screen? That question drives me nuts, because my financial plan worked already out and is not the biggest problem anymore. It’s the flip screen that is missing with the D7100.
I don’t know, as long as I have the rest of the money not together, I still have some time to think about it. Let’s see.
Diary of Dennis 
Dennis, no matter when you finally buy your camera, there will be another one brought to market that looks even better than the one you just saved forever to buy. It works that way for all manufactured things. That doesn’t make the older model less desirable, just less fancy.
Try not to get too tied up in what might happen if you can get the benefit of the camera you currently want, even without the flip screen. Get the camera you can use now is my advice if that flip screen is just a “might be nice to have” feature.
If you really, really, really want that flip screen, though, take a chance that the rumored new model will have one. In the time it takes to bring it to market, you may have enough time to continue to save up any difference in price from the one you can buy now and the new improved (presumably…!) model that might come out in 2015. It, of course, will cost more than the one you currently want.
That is really true, the technology progress happens so fast. But overall I am really happy with the specs of the D7100. Not that I touched any DSLR in the past, but I research about all available models and asked myself “What do you want from the camera?”. It’s really just the “nice to have” flip screen feature that is missing, but anyway I also told myself “Do you want to wait for something that is at the moment nothing more than a rumor?”. It’s indeed maybe just a minor problem, especially because I might use this flip screen rather just in 5% of all photography situations. So, I agree, maybe I shouldn’t be too crazy about it. I told me this several times too when I thought about it.
I have read in forums too that many think, it doesn’t matter, there will always be new fancy models as you said. Apart from that, if I stay with Nikon and if I have a nice pool of lenses later, they will work on other Nikon cameras. It’s just not a problem. In this case I could just sell the body, not the lenses, in case I want a new camera. But most said, that I will probably be excited for several years with the D7100. Apart from the fact that I probably will do nothing else than learning to use this camera, at least the first year 🙂
BUY IT! I have been a loyal Nikon fan for decades. To hell with the flip screen. It’s just a gadget to attract amateurs with too much money. Through the eye lens and a small display to confirm you haven’t cocked it up, is the way to go. It has the fastest imaging sensor on the market and your right, the 32GB disk is fast. I use it exclusively when I do equestrian events, which entails over 1,000 frames a day. Plus as you add lenses, they never loos their value. Oops, there I go, running of at the keyboard. 😉
Yes, you bring up some very good arguments. I think the flip screen that is missing would be otherwise handy in a few situations, mainly every photography situations on the ground, like flowers or insects, but what you said is also what others in forums suggested me, the viewfinder is the way to go, not the display. Yes, the fast sensor is one of the reasons why I became attentive about this camera when I saw several reviews 🙂
I didn’t think of ground shots, but I’m used to laying on my stomach in the dirt to shoot upwards at a horse. You remind me of what the general manager at the equestrian event I was covering said, when a photography club came out for the day and asked if there was someone who could help them find a good spot to shoot from. “Find Tom, he’s the one in the ring with a camera and covered in shit.” 😉
I love that way of thinking “No matter if I get dirty, I want that shot!” 🙂 and I guess as a photographer you probably must perform contortions sometimes to get some fancy results. 🙂
I remember when I saved up money for my Canon 500D, and when I bought it, it was such a really awesome feeling! 🙂
I can imagine that 🙂 I am already curious to learn and to try out all the things. However, I decided to wait one more month since christmas days are expansive too 😀 But I think in february I should get myself the camera.
I wish you nice christmas days. Enjoy the time with your loved ones 🙂
Do you like film cameras?
Not so much, I rarely create videos and if so, I really dislike the work to edit videos and to upload videos. I am much more into photography. Which is why I would rather buy a Nikon D7100 than a Canon EOS 70D for example. The Caon EOS 70D is a little bit better for taking videos while the D7100 is a little bit better with photography features as I researched. The D7100 has more features that I would use.
I’m curious about the old type of camera that use photographic film, not digital camera. Have you ever interested in them?
Do you mean the cameras of the time when you still had to bring the photograpic film to a shop so that they did develop or print the photo for you? I had those cameras as a child and used them. It did always cost money when I wanted to photos on paper 🙂 If you mean that, I still remind of this time.
Wow childhood.. Yah, I like photos taken by them [[feellikeadinosaur]]
Yes I have good memories of this time too 🙂