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Upgrading from D3000 to D800


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22 replies to this topic

#1
BonOlgirl

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I want to upgrade from my D3000 to a nice D800 soon. Because my funds are somewhat limited, my question is.....

 

Should I buy a lens or two first (which I can also use with my D3000), then look for a deal on the D800 body later after I save more money?

 

How would you go about it?



#2
Adam

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I want to upgrade from my D3000 to a nice D800 soon. Because my funds are somewhat limited, my question is.....

 

Should I buy a lens or two first (which I can also use with my D3000), then look for a deal on the D800 body later after I save more money?

 

How would you go about it?

What lenses do you currently have?  If you're just using DX lenses, then you might want to hold off with getting the body until you have at least one FX lens.



#3
Kenafein

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You could buy the 50/1.8d and buy the camera when it goes on sale on eBay, but why the D800? It is a great camera, but you shouldn't spend all your money on the body. Lenses and lighting are important. Maybe you would be happy with a 7100 or a 600 and have some money left over for other stuff.

I've seen refurb 800s for 2k and the 50/1.8d goes for 115.

#4
Daniel

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x2 about buying atleast one FX lens first or more. :)



#5
Stas

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Also I want to add that d800 has a dx mode and can work with dx lens. What about me, I think that I would buy the lens and only after that  the body. 



#6
BonOlgirl

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What lenses do you currently have?  If you're just using DX lenses, then you might want to hold off with getting the body until you have at least one FX lens.

 

I have the two DX lenses that came with the D3000 when I bought it, so I don't own any FX lenses yet.


You could buy the 50/1.8d and buy the camera when it goes on sale on eBay, but why the D800? It is a great camera, but you shouldn't spend all your money on the body. Lenses and lighting are important. Maybe you would be happy with a 7100 or a 600 and have some money left over for other stuff.

I've seen refurb 800s for 2k and the 50/1.8d goes for 115.

 

Thanks for this suggestion Kenafein! I will check out the 7100 and the 600 and the refurbs on the 800.



#7
rockjedi

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I've been looking at upgrading for a while now too. The 800 is indeed tempting but unless your willing to spend abut more on glass to make it worth it. I'd buy a slightly cheaper model and invest in some good glass (lenses).
I've been buying glass for the past couple years and now I feel it justified to buy a new body.
But now I'm debating the dirt cheap d600 over 800 as can spend the saved ~£700 on more glass.

#8
BonOlgirl

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I'm gonna check out a few more models before deciding...thanks for all the suggestions!



#9
Adam

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If all you have are DX lenses, the D7100 might also be worth looking at.  It'll already feel like a huge upgrade over the D3000 :)



#10
K-9

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Don't forget to consider the D610 if you want to go full frame.

#11
BonOlgirl

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I really want a camera that recovers quickly on continuous shooting. My D3000 stops to catch up and it gets rather annoying.

 

Another question....I want to get a 50mm fixed lens. Not sure if I should get a 1.4 or 1.8? Is there much of a difference? I know the 1.4 costs twice as much....



#12
Afterimage

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If all you have are DX lenses, the D7100 might also be worth looking at.  It'll already feel like a huge upgrade over the D3000 :)

I agree 100%. I upgraded from the D7000 to the 7100 and was blown away at how good the 7100 is. I wasn't expecting THAT big of a difference but it was. 

 

 

Here's my recommendation for what it's worth: Get the D7100, it's a substantial upgrade from the D3000.

With the $$$ you saved get a good Ultra Wide Angle lens to add in a wider full frame feel when you want it.

You'll still be able to use your existing lenses and the image quality upgrade will keep you very happy for a long time.



#13
BonOlgirl

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I've been looking at upgrading for a while now too. The 800 is indeed tempting but unless your willing to spend abut more on glass to make it worth it. I'd buy a slightly cheaper model and invest in some good glass (lenses).
I've been buying glass for the past couple years and now I feel it justified to buy a new body.
But now I'm debating the dirt cheap d600 over 800 as can spend the saved ~£700 on more glass.

I have been hearing from different sources that investing your money in glass is the best way to go. The more I think about it, the more I lean in that direction.



#14
Afterimage

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I really want a camera that recovers quickly on continuous shooting. My D3000 stops to catch up and it gets rather annoying.

 

Another question....I want to get a 50mm fixed lens. Not sure if I should get a 1.4 or 1.8? Is there much of a difference? I know the 1.4 costs twice as much....

The buffers on the many Nikon bodies is the real Achilles heel. I bought a very fast SD card and when I shot in JPG Fine I can basically hold the button down as long as I'd like. Switching to RAW... yeah, I think the buffer fills up by shot 14.... 9 if I'm doing RAW + JPG.

 

As for the f/1.8 vs 1.4... I have the 50mm f1/8D. It's a great lens. Cheap and very sharp. f/1.4 is 66% brighter with a shallower DoF which kinda makes me want to upgrade myself to the f/1.4 lens but I've put it off because the f/1.8 works just fine for what I need. IF I was doing it over again though... I'd grab the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 in a heartbeat.


I have been hearing from different sources that investing your money in glass is the best way to go. The more I think about it, the more I lean in that direction.

YEP! Bodies will come and go in a few years. Good glass lasts a lifetime!



#15
K-9

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50mm f1.8 G is a great lens. I personally don't see a must have need for the f1.4, simply because I rarely shoot with anything larger than f2, so f1.8 is fine. I don't like the depth of field in shots taken at f1.4.

#16
Daniel

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I think this is a good link to reveiw lenses? And how it performs on each Nikon except I am not sure if they finished testing the D800E model yet? I hope it helps.   Lenses Database - DXOMARK



#17
onewiththecamera

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You said that continuous frame rate is one of the big reasons you want to move beyond th D3000. The D800 only shoots 4 fps so is almost as slow as your D3000. The D800 is not built for fast continuous shooting at all. It is intended as a portrait and landscape type camera where you often don't shoot in continuous mode. You would be better off with either a D5300, D7100, or D610.

 

Yes the D800 can do a DX lens, but it severily hampers the image you get. Basically you are shooting only a portion of the image sensor and the camera "turns off" the rest of the sensor. The feature is really meant only for limited use.

 

Is there another reason you feel you want/need to move up to an FX body? There are few really legitimate reasons to move to FX bodies (holding up tomato shield now). The most important thing for your image quality is lenses by far. The D3000 body does have some definite limitations, and not just the frames per second. But most of them can be solved by going to the D5300 or the D7100. You will save a whole ton of money in the process too.

 

So what I would recommend is going with either the D5300 or the D7100. Then the first lens to get is the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens. I reviewed that lens on onewiththecamera.com blog post. It is a stunning lens and is only $500 US. I was shocked at how awesome it is. I recommend that everyone on a budget have that lens in the bag. I recommend it before the 50mm f/1.8 even. Then the next lens you would want to look at is the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. That lens will run you a bit more. It is around $1,500 US. You get another tack sharp lens with a fast continuous aperture again for a fairly reasonable price. I am currently shooting a D5100 and love it. I shot some football with the 28-75mm f/2.8 lens when I rented it and was reviewing it. I don't recommend that lens for football, but for basketball it would be great. Keep in mind I was at the sidelines when I was shooting too. For sports from the stands you definitely will want the 70-200mm.

 

As far as 50mm f/1.8 or 50mm f/1.4 lenses, save the money if you decide to get a 50 and do the f/1.8 lens. Your depth of field is so shallow already at f/1.8 that many people get a lot of junk pictures from depth of field being too shallow and not having the focus spot on. I did a photo using my old D80 where I was like just under 2 feet away from my daughter. I got the focus point on her nose and her eyes were already out of focus. You have less than 2 inches of DoF when that close.

 

The other thing you will get with either the D5100 and up or the D7000 and up is stunning high ISO. This will revolutionize your ability to shoot lower light. I shoot my D5100 all the way to ISO 6400 with comfort. I have a photo recently that I got an honors rating at our camera club that was shot at ISO 5000 (one of the football shots with the 28-75mm Tamron lens).

 

Bottom line is if you get a D5300 body only ($800), the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 ($500), and the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 ($1,500) you will have the full set for $2,800. So for the same price as the D800 you can have a stunning new body with high ISO and two awesome FX lenses. You get 5 frames per second. You also get a camera shooting 24 megapixels and does not have the optical low pass filter so the images are even sharper.



#18
BonOlgirl

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I think this is a good link to reveiw lenses? And how it performs on each Nikon except I am not sure if they finished testing the D800E model yet? I hope it helps.   Lenses Database - DXOMARK

Thanks for this link Daniel...spending some time there...



#19
iNYONi

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I really want a camera that recovers quickly on continuous shooting. My D3000 stops to catch up and it gets rather annoying.

 

Another question....I want to get a 50mm fixed lens. Not sure if I should get a 1.4 or 1.8? Is there much of a difference? I know the 1.4 costs twice as much....

I have a d7100 and the 50mm 1.8. The cover image on my profile page was taken using both, if you wanted to see what type of picture it produces. I would say that stepping up from my old 3100 to the 7100 has been fantastic. The 50mm 1.8 is been a great lens and is very fast at AF. The quality of picture is outstanding. If it was me I would get the 7100 and spen the extra cash on good lenses, I'm sure the money you save on going for the 7100 instaed of the FX body will get you some lovely lenses.



#20
Soda Farl

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Glass before body always.

 

I have a D800 and before that a D700 but didnlt switch to full frame until I had enough glass to cover the ranges I wanted and I donlt regret that for one minute. Having a full fram camera and a 50mm would be no good at all for me but then again everyone is different.