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Upgrades


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3 replies to this topic

#1
Sqwuidy

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Hello there!

I go by sqwuidy and I’ve been in photography on and off for the last three years. And I am really wanting to go from a beginner into an enthusiast. I currently have a D5200 and some cheap prime lenses (50mm & 85mm) that I use for any shots. I’ve been told that for upgrades it’d be best to upgrade lenses first and then then the camera body, but I just wanted to hear what Nikon users suggest.

Currently I am looking at:

Sigma 24-105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art Lens for Nikon F As the lens that I would hopefully upgrade to because it would allow me to do most things with a single lens. Most of shots are local festivals, poorly shot portraits, scenery, and then random shots for fun.

I was looking at upgrading to a D750 because that would be right about the same budget as the brand new lens. I know it’s a huge jump in quality from the d5200. And it would probably take me some more time to learn it.

But just curious as to which upgrade would be most beneficial if I want to get more serious about photography.

#2
krag96

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That depends on a lot of things, one thing is, are you a tech type, or a buttons and dials type?  Nobody makes a perfect camera, you'll always find you need or want certain features that the one you have, doesn't have! I started with a D5500 and absolutely hate the thing!..mostly. It takes great photos, clear, sharp, great color saturation, but I'm not a tech geek.  I hate going to a menu and selecting things.  I like to do the menu once, just to set things up and any changes I want on an external button or dial, or combination of the two.  I will say, it's light, compact, and with the 18-55mm kit lens can be shoved into a jacket pocket and go most anywhere with little trouble.  I outfitted it with a wrist strap, keep it on Auto, and just go with it if I don't plan on shooting something with my big boys.  Did I make a mistake in buying a D5500?  Yeah, but it does have a nitch as long as it's here and functional. 

 

My ''up-grade'' was a D700.  A total opposite from a D5500 type and I like it so much I bought another.  Once set up I found very little I had to go to the menu for, but still need to go there once in a while if I want to make certain changes or lock the mirror up for cleaning.  I have two D700's because I don't want to be without one on hand, they're old school Nikon build quality, and will take a beating and keep on going, for that some call it and it's big brother, the D3 series, ''beasts''.  Some call the D700, the ''Legend'' because it's images closely match the quality of film.  The D700 has some limitations, it's only a 12 MP camera, and it's useful ISO range is limited, making newer Nikons a better choice for low light shooting.   Still, for 90% of what I shoot, I shoot with a D700, I like the old school Nikon build quality that we probably won't ever see again.   

 

2020 I think it was, I bought a D750 for it's much improved dynamic range for shooting low light street scenes.  It's no replacement for he D700, it lacks quite a few exterior commands, it's more like a full frame D7000 series camera.  I may yet replace my D750 with a D800E or a D810. 

 

Here's a guide; from the D3000/D5000 series you have two branch's in crop frame.  The D7000 series and the D300/D500 series.  The D7000 series will still have the ''Scenes and Effects'' options like the D3000/D5000 series knob and lack a good many of the manual buttons and dials of the D300/D500 series.  Any D7000, D300/D500 series cameras will take advantage of the AF ''D'' series lenses which the D3000/D5000 bodies won't AF with.  There are advantages to using a crop frame body.

 

If you want a Full Frame DSLR, the ones that work like a D7000 series crop frame camera are the D600 series, and the D750/D780.  For full button and dial external commands the D700, any of the D800 series cameras, or if you really want to go retro, the Df.  It's all a give and take thing.  The D3-D4-D5-D6 series are all big photo journalist, pro sports/action shooters cameras and carry a hefty price tag. 

 

Of course there's the Nikon Z mirrorless cameras also...if you choose to go that route.



#3
Ron

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At this point in time, and assuming I had a similar kit to yours, I would eschew any thought of buying another F mount Nikon camera. I believe, with the advent of mirrorless, that's it's a dead end. That's not to say that your current camera and lenses will suddenly stop working, but over time, I think you would find that there are fewer and fewer upgrade options that don't involve jumping to mirrorless. So, in my opinion, it would be prudent to do it now before you spend a lot more money on your current system. And, of course, with Nikon's FTZ adapter you can use most F mount lenses on Z (mirrorless) mount Nikon cameras.

 

--Ron



#4
Merco_61

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You can look into getting a Z5 and the 24-200 as a kit. If you get an FTZ II at the same time, you can still use your AF-S F-mount lenses. This would mean that you have started building a Z-mount kit without investing more in the F-mount. The 24-200 is optically better than the AF-S 24-120 and about equal to the Sigma 24-105.


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