PHOTO QUALITY. This 24-megapixel SLR camera captured images with very good quality. Pictures were sharp though not as much as the better models, which means you can see much but not all details and subtle patterns in the image. In low-light situations without a flash, pictures were sharp. We judged this model very good for outdoor performance, such as shooting landscapes in the daytime; very good for indoor performance, such as photographing a well-lit basketball game in a gym. And very good for low-light performance without a flash, such as capturing a birthday party. Photos taken in our low-light performance tests displayed little image noise; subjects retained most of their correct detail and color.
FLASH. The D 7200 w/ 18-105mm VR with the 18-105mm kit lens captured flash shots that were very good. In our distance test, we found the camera's flash could illuminate subjects very well, both near and far. The flash also has very good, even coverage.
LENS. This camera includes a 5.8x zoom lens, a bit more zoom than a standard 3x. The lens also has wide-angle (27mm) capability that's useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance.
IMAGE STABILIZATION. This is an important feature; taking hand-held shots at the telephoto end of the zoom range can generally blur or soften images due to the slight movement of your hands. Shooting telephoto in well-lit scenes, this model did a very good job of minimizing the effects of camera shake. In low-light settings, it performed excellently and almost never produced blurry photos. Overall, the shake reduction results from our tests were very good.
SPEED. In terms of performance, the Nikon D 7200 w/ 18-105mm VR powers up instantly. It has a short interval between shots, which can be important when shooting fast-moving or unpredictable subjects.
VIDEO. The Nikon D 7200 w/ 18-105mm VR takes excellent video. It captures full HD video at 1920 x 1080 60p. As for sound, it captures excellent audio in stereo.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. Like all SLRs, it also includes a through-the-lens viewfinder, helpful when composing in bright light; this viewfinder has excellent quality. Although it has a display with 1,229,000 pixels, which should make it sharper than most in its class, we didn't find that the display stood out from the pack.
