Best Nikon for around £400

Nawty said:
I just traded my D90+105vr for £550 (against a D700) and I've regularly seen bodies gor for £450 so a little patience will probably be rewarded.
Click to expand...
There is a glimmer of hope then :naughty: body only isn't much good for me though as i'll need to find the extra cash for a new kit lens. or else i'm stuck with just the 70-300VR and a 30y.o. 50mm f1.8 with no AF :bonk:


the more I think about it the more I think i'm better with the D3100 for a couple of years or so, and maybe trade it in for something different then. (prob a D7000) :lol:


Also, If I go for the D3100 now, I can afford a Prime AF-S early in the new year.
but with a D90, of course, the AF prime is half the price. :lol:
 
Last edited:
I think unless you want video you'll find the D3100 a bit of a sideways step, ISO will be similar (the D40 was a stop better than the D60 due to pixel density and ALL Nikons have a base ISO 200 nowdays, it's a good thing).

In reality, the best investment for you would be a better lens - there's no substitute for good glass and it holds it's value sooo much better than a body. In your situation I think I'd probably just buy the AFS 35mm 1.8 which is a cracking lens and will be fantastic on any DX bodied upgrade. I keep one permanently attached to my D60 (which I still use a lot).
 
Nawty said:
I think unless you want video you'll find the D3100 a bit of a sideways step, ISO will be similar (the D40 was a stop better than the D60 due to pixel density and ALL Nikons have a base ISO 200 nowdays, it's a good thing).

In reality, the best investment for you would be a better lens - there's no substitute for good glass and it holds it's value sooo much better than a body. In your situation I think I'd probably just buy the AFS 35mm 1.8 which is a cracking lens and will be fantastic on any DX bodied upgrade. I keep one permanently attached to my D60 (which I still use a lot).
Click to expand...


I have to agree about the 35mm AFS it's a cracking lens, I have one that gets more use than my 18-200mm Sigma :)
 
Nawty said:
I think unless you want video you'll find the D3100 a bit of a sideways step, ISO will be similar (the D40 was a stop better than the D60 due to pixel density and ALL Nikons have a base ISO 200 nowdays, it's a good thing).

In reality, the best investment for you would be a better lens - there's no substitute for good glass and it holds it's value sooo much better than a body. In your situation I think I'd probably just buy the AFS 35mm 1.8 which is a cracking lens and will be fantastic on any DX bodied upgrade. I keep one permanently attached to my D60 (which I still use a lot).
Click to expand...

Umm, agreed.
I've wanted a Prime for ages. the question recently has just been whether it should be 35mm or 50mm.

I'm not sure it would be a sideways step as such. the D3100 does have pretty impressive video, which i'll prob use more when the little one arrives, and the move from 6MP to 14MP will surely be noticeable. I know its more about glass than pixels though.
 
On a crop body I much prefer 35mm.

Pixels mean nothing unless you have the glass to resolve them properly, granted both your 70-300 and 50mm are capable of resolving more than 6mp but probably not 14mp. Put simply, with a high MP camera you'll not be able to crop and get the sharpness you want with your current lenses (I have both of those too ;)).

If you have a good prime on the front will make all the difference (actually, you're 50mm is supersharp, but MF is a pain without a focus screen).
 
Nawty said:
you're 50mm is supersharp, but MF is a pain without a focus screen).
Click to expand...

you can say that again. although it's f/1.8 I have to set the manual aperture ring to 2.8 to get anything workable. it's a shame really. maybe it's just me. it just seems incredibly soft below 2.8. i've never used it in low-light, which is where I imagine it's potential would shine.
 
i bought the mrs a brand new D90 with a 16Gb card & a cheapo "throw in" cleaning kit from ebay for £480. it arrived in 4 days :thumbs:

yeah i bought it from Hong Kong . shoot me :naughty:
 
Get lenses, leave the camera for the time being. Take your camera to a shop and try both the 50 and the 35 AF-S (assuming you will find those yet in stores).

I love my 35mm on the D40 makes it extremely portable and it is very versatile. The 50 is also good if you are trying to keep the weight down but I will probably rather have something significantly longer like a 90mm Tamron / 105 Nikkor
 
D40 Guy said:
I'll say again, new D90's at Tesco for £490 delivered with a 2 yr warranty and a free cheapo Vivitar cleaning kit, wait for delivery is 2 weeks tho
Click to expand...

Hmm, seems like it's gone back up in price. now £540 body only (still a cracking price, but means with the 18-105 on top of that it'll turn my £450 budget into £775. :'(
 
Why 775? BTW there are D90s in the forum going for a lot less than that if you need a new camera. One last week or two went for 380 shipped I think and a S/H 18-105 VR is no more than 140-150 less if you try in the forums.
 
vrapan said:
Why 775? BTW there are D90s in the forum going for a lot less than that if you need a new camera. One last week or two went for 380 shipped I think and a S/H 18-105 VR is no more than 140-150 less if you try in the forums.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, i'll have to keep my eyes peeled. i'm more than happy buying from someone on here. it doesn't have to be brand new.

I was going on the fact that most new 18-105s are about £235-ish

and the D90 at tescos: Linky
 
if you search on the cex website tey have a d90 for 395 and a d40 is worth 108 trade in
 
I had this same decision to make over the last few weeks and have just taken delivery of a D90 this morning. It just seemed like the better choice from every angle.
 
Nawty said:
I think unless you want video you'll find the D3100 a bit of a sideways step, ISO will be similar (the D40 was a stop better than the D60 due to pixel density and ALL Nikons have a base ISO 200 nowdays, it's a good thing).

In reality, the best investment for you would be a better lens - there's no substitute for good glass and it holds it's value sooo much better than a body. In your situation I think I'd probably just buy the AFS 35mm 1.8 which is a cracking lens and will be fantastic on any DX bodied upgrade. I keep one permanently attached to my D60 (which I still use a lot).
Click to expand...

Not true. The newer bodies (D3100, 5100, 7000) all have a base ISO of 100.
The D3100 will print nicely at ISO1600, maybe 3200 if you expose well. I haven't had a chance to print D7000 images yet, but they look about a stop or so better (1600 looks like the D3100's 800).

AF wise the D3100 has an identical module to the D90 so you wouldn't see an improvement there. D7000 is better, as much for the customisability (release/focus priority, relocking delay) as the raw performance.

The D3100 will let you change aperture, shutter speed and ISO without taking your eye from the screen (in fact the D3100 is superior in this respect because the ISO button isn't in a stupid place where you'll get it confused or poke your eye :lol:). If you change aperture and shutter speed simultaneously (Say light level's same but you want more depth of field) then the higher end bodies are quicker, but I haven't seen many people do it often. The info menu is better than on the higher bodies (it has to be because it doesn't have the external controls). If getting to these controls instantaneously really was critical to a person, they wouldn't be asking the question, they'd be getting a D7000, D300 or better.
 
Personally I wouldn't go near the d3k or d3100 as they're just too limited. The same sensor can be found in the d5k, d90 and (I think) d300(s) so these bodies only really differ in there built quality and other features. In a similar fashion the d5100 has the d7k sensor.

So you need to decide what limitations you've found with d40 and pick the camera that addresses this limitation. If its manual controls, size and feel then the d90 or anything larger you can find within your budget may do for you. If its pixel count or high ISO performance then the d5100 may be best as it has the best sensor.
 
grudie said:
if you search on the cex website tey have a d90 for 395 and a d40 is worth 108 trade in
Click to expand...
hmm, there's also a couple of reasonably priced sigma 18-200's on there.
would you not be worried about what you are getting though? it could have 90,000 actuations on it, and you can't tell until you're it's new owner, i guess. :thinking:
The other thing is, do you get a warranty when you buy something like that from CEX?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top