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This made sense at the time. D7200 is old and will be discontinued soon, will it be mirrorless in the future?

I'm a photojournalist, so I should always have the latest toolkit, didn't you say? So my 2015 Nikon D7200 must start to look a bit like a dinosaur. It's like all the bad things in modern cameras merge into one. 

• Best Nikon Camera • Best DSLR Camera • Best Audiophile Camera • Nikon D7200 and D7500

When the whole world likes full-frame, it is APS-C, and when everyone knows that mirrorless is the future, it is SLR. It didn't shoot 4K, it didn't have phase detection autofocus on the sensor, and it didn't even have a tilted screen. How could it be worse?

I have countless reasons to trade my D7200, all of which are reasonable and technical reasons that make me give up an outdated camera.

So why do I feel so bad today? Why hasn't it gotten better?

I can tell you what I missed, and what I realized-too late-was pretty good. I can also say why cameras are not just sensors, processors, and algorithms, but your own physical extensions that you use to create things you care about.

So first is the body. The digital SLR cameras of the D7200 era were round things. They are not entirely elegant, but they fit your hand perfectly. Mirrorless cameras are excellent in all aspects you might measure (so please don’t email me), but they are small and hard things, sometimes suitable for human hands, okay, but it’s actually not their job, Okay?

I can still feel the D7200 in my hand like a phantom limb, and I have never used a mirrorless camera because it feels alike.

Okay, now the viewfinder. I know all the arguments against the optical "viewfinder" and how the latest EVF is so good that they are like the same thing. Well, it is not. The EVF is a digital display, and the DSLR viewfinder is to see things with your eyes. Okay, obviously an eye, but you know what I mean.

Yes, it is a sensor now. When the D7200 was first released, 24MP was the most advanced...As it turns out, it's not far off now. I tend not to shoot at super high ISO or high frame rate, so the D7200 can actually meet my needs today. (Or it will, if I didn't sell it.)

No, it does not do 4K video. And its live view autofocus is slower than you think. But you know what? If I want to shoot video, I have an iPhone, DJI Pocket 2, Olympus OM-D E-M5 III, which has the best stability I have ever seen in an interchangeable lens camera, and Sony A7R II can achieve 4K in Super35 mode. , And a Fujifilm X-S10, it has more ticked boxes than you know... I have no problem with 4K.

What I don't like is the camera I like to pick up, handle and shoot because I sold it.

For some people, the camera is a tool, just like a microwave oven or a set-top box. For others (including me), a physical object like a camera has form and design and empathetic appeal beyond its actual role. 

It turned out that the Nikon D7200 was/was an excellent camera. For many photographers (including me), it was as relevant, practical, practical and attractive as it was then.

Therefore, if you find a camera that makes you feel this way, please don't do what I did. Don't sell it.

Rod is the group review editor for the entire photography portfolio of Digital Camera World and Future. He has decades of experience using various cameras. Previously, he served as the technical editor of N-Photo, the testing supervisor of the photography department, and the Camera Channel editor of TechRadar. Since they first appeared, he has been writing articles about photography technology, photo editing and digital cameras. Before that, his career began to write about film photography. He used and reviewed almost all interchangeable lens cameras introduced in the past 20 years, from entry-level DSLRs to medium format cameras, as well as lenses, tripods, gimbals, light meters, camera bags, etc.

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