new kit

[parko]

Thinking of upgrading from my nikon d5000 but wish to keep my kit lens and 200 mm zoom both vibration reduction, not particularly bothered if new kit as WiFi just want better ISO and more megapixels.

Any wise old sages out there help make my mind up, and PS how reliable is the refurbished models market in particular those advertised on Nikon's own site.

Thanks

 

[gad-westy]

Welcome aboard.

Quite a number of options that will offer you better noise performance. A D5100 or D7000 with 16mp sensor offer a big improvement at high iso and both offer good value secondhand.

The newest 24mp cameras will also tick your boxes though I'm not sure how big a jump up in noise handling they're from the 16mp sensor.

Tread carefully with regard to 'more megapixels'. It can be a little misleading because there aren't actually many lenses that can resolve that much detail so you won't necessarily notice a huge leap in 'effective' resolution if that makes sense. Just mentioning it so you aren't disappointed if your image quality doesn't take a huge step forward.

In terms of buying used, I've had very good experience. Cameras are pretty reliable. Rubbers can look worn after heavy use and keep an eye on the shutter counts to be on the safe side. I didn't know Nikon offered refurbed models but personally I'd just look at some of the more reputable used dealers. MPB and Ffordes amongst others usually get my business.

 

[parko]

Thanks for the help and advice i will take a look at those sites. i noticed the refurbished site run by Nikon earlier although its based in america.

Thanks again

 

[seriousrikk]

You won't gain much from more megapixels I'm afraid. 16 to 24 is not a huge jump.

With regard to ISO - what are you hoping will improve? Do you go up the ISO range a lot and also print large enough to notice the noise?

Not trying to put you off an upgrade - but they are often seen as a magic bullet in photographer and in reality they are not.

 

[parko]

Thanks for the prompt reply. my camera has only 12 megapixels and i have a preference for low light photography, night shots of the city etc.

i assumed a better ISO range and more pixel power would help improve my shots albeit only at amateur level.

Thanks again

 

[Alastair]

Thanks for the prompt reply. my camera has only 12 megapixels and i have a preference for low light photography, night shots of the city etc.

i assumed a better ISO range and more pixel power would help improve my shots albeit only at amateur level.

Thanks again

All other things being equal, more megapickles will only tend to make technique errors more obvious. Practice is what improves results - but it always seems easier to buy an improvement. 6MP is enough for most people's purposes (Facebook, web, Flickr, prints for gran), 10MP is fine for printing quite large for the wall, 16MP is more than enough, much more than that and you'll only notice the difference when you really zoom in on the screen.

Greatly improved ISO performance can be worth a camera upgrade, but pixel count isn't. Upgrading lenses will almost always make a bigger difference.

Nothing wrong with a D5000, unless you're just bored - and most upgrades are driven by boredom rather than anything else.