Decisions for a newbie dslr

dbay

dbay

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David Bayley
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I' not sure f I'm posting in the right section, and this question probably has been asked a thousand times, so please bare with me.

Having decided I would like to take up photography as a hobby I've come to my first stumbling block, equipment?
After visiting my local and very expensive outlet of currys I'm 80% Sold on the Nikon brand. But could be swayed on other brands. After looking on the big auction site I see I can get new and used equipment for sub £500. The one's thats caught my eye is the d3400 (new) and the d5600 (used). The time lapse function on the d5600 is a very interesting feature.

The camera will be used for scenery and wildlife shots, but would like the option to expand my options in time to come.
 
All depends on how much disposable income you have, regardless of which brand you decide on.
 
As a starting point £500 is my budet. If I need a lens or two down the line I don't mind splashing out.
 
I have use of a d3300 at work, and have a D5300 at home.

I prefer the tilt screen on the d5300 as more flexible for low down shots (and on a tripod with live view when I had a stiff neck a few weeks back).

The built in WiFi on the d5300 allows me to upload direct/control from my iPad, and the wider selection of focus points are handy. Other than that I haven’t found a difference...
 
The d3400 has WiFi...but snapsort is utter pants. Nikon has royally places itself in 1982 with this - when I used Olympus, it just worked.

With Nikon, they do an update, you think you can still connect but no, you have to delete the app and reinstall and then cross everything and pray.

And it still probably won’t work
 
I think I'm swaying towards the d5600. It has more feaures than I need at present but I'm going with the mentality of of more is better and these features will come in useful in time. Could be wrong though....
 
Just hang on a minute.
Before you rush out and buy a camera look at the prices of the extras, lenses , flash etc.
You will definitely buy extra bits and once you have got a few lenses etc and you decide you bought the wrong camera changing becomes expensive.
There is no right or wrong , all cameras have their individual strengths and weaknesses , its what suits you , just do your homework first to avoid a potentially expensive mistake.
 
I hear your advice and thank you for your comment. The lenses are confusing me a little at the moment troutfisher. are there any guides to what all the numbers mean on the lenses? And what lenses fit which body?
 
Honestly, if you’ve decided on nikon consumer then it’s probably down to whether you want a flippy screen. If you do then d5xxx series, if not i’d stick with d3xxx series. If you dont need a touch screen i’d be more likely to find a great condition d5200 or d5300 from mob, wex, ffordes, lce, etc and save the cash. If you dont want flippy screen then maybe d3200 or 3300

Sensors are all 24mp, control wise i think they’re similar with one control wheel and no top display

ALL of them will take great photos and be an excellent beginners camera and l’d use whatever i saved buying used for better glass than kit lens.

Dont get hung up on the latest unless it is offering something which isnt available previously AND you need it. On the nikon consumer dslrs its every 2 yrs with incremental upgrades around the edges, the important basics are pretty consistent model to model as they cant improve too much here or they rob sales from the more expensive models and by keeping older models in the sales line up they make it essential not to push ahead too far with a model upgrade at the low end.

Tonight on mpb you can get an excellent condition d3200 with 7k shots on the shutter and a nikon 17-55 2.8 for £180 and £360 respectively. Slightly odd pairing but thats a top lens for nikon crop and would last many years if you decided to upgrade for a specific reason in the future.

I gave same advise to a friend starting out about 6 weeks ago and helped her pick up a d3100 as a starter with kit lens, all in mint condition from gumtree for £90- she’s looking at a macro lens with the savings. At this level, these are the cameras that are bought and often not used much so real bargain opportunities out there but the cameras are good.
 
Many thanks Jim_Tod. I must admit I have shinyitus and generally buy better than I really need.
 
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