I am thinking about getting back to doing some recreational digital photography. I desperately want to get rid of my iPhone snd go back to a simple flip phone.

I’ve seen a few deals on as a in for some refurbished Nikon D3200’s and I have sone old Nikon glass which I can use.

Not worried about being state of the art but just want to get away from the phone.

Comments welcomed

What are you looking to do with it? Do you want just all auto settings or something else?

I want a DSLR to be able to change quickly aperture and ISO. I would mostly shoot in aperture priority mode but use full auto for some situations.

It looks like the D3200 doesn't have quick access to adjust ISO and aperture. If your shooting in full auto that doesn't matter but if you shot in a mode where you want to be able to adjust those and ISO you will want dedicated buttons to do so.

I have had a Nikon D5100 for about 12 years I have used less and less as smart phones got better cameras over time. My big hang up was having the right lens and switching between them and carrying the thing around on trips hiking in National Parks or exploring museum ships. I had bought it at Costco as a package with a 18-55mm and a 55-200mmm lens. I came to not want to carry it around in the camera bag all the time and mess with getting it out or have to decide which lens to have on and invariably have the wrong one in the car.

Before a recent trip I bought a used Tamron 16-300mm lens for it and it was a game changer. I found myself carrying the camera everywhere because I always had the right lens, and actually more options than both previous lenses. I'm no photography expert or even hobbyist, so maybe each of the two Nikon lenses would have been better in their own roles than the Tamron, but the D5100 takes far superior pictures than my Samsung cell phone, which itself is usually "good enough."

I didn't want to plunk down the cash needed for an actual Nikon 16-300mm range lens, but I was really glad I made that Tamron lens purchase before the trip.

I wouldn’t put money into anything other than mirrorless at this point.

If you have old gear that works, it is a good place to start but buying a camera that was introduced over 12 years ago is just tossing money in my mind.

Of course, everything does come down to budget and even an older DSLR with a half decent lens will do many things even the best cellphone can’t.

Nikon D7200. Best aps-c they made.

Enjoy the low cost dslr now. If you truly enjoy, then go mirrorless

If you're serious about it and you're not invested in lenses already, mirrorless is the way to go.

For myself, though, I'll never go mirrorless. I have a bunch of Nikkor glass I couldn't possibly afford to replace. On top of that, I used to make my living with a 35mm camera. I've been using SLRs since the 1970s and I simply do not want to use a dedicated camera that lacks a moving mirror.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
I am thinking about getting back to doing some recreational digital photography. I desperately want to get rid of my iPhone snd go back to a simple flip phone.

I got rid of my smartphone four years ago and it is a relief not having one. I had a Canon SLR camera and lenses, but gave the setup to my son who is more interested in photography than me at this point in my life. But I did buy a Panasonic Lumix camera, small enough to carry around, and nice enough to take good quality photos. But then I'm not one of those who pulls out a camera/smartphone ten times a day to take a photo.

I switched to mirrorless several years back after using Nikon DSLRs (D1 through D3 series) and both Nikon and Canon SLRs during my photojournalist days. Initially I was using FujiFilm, but switched to Sony as I wanted full-frame sensors. Depending on how much you want to spend, if you go mirrorless, invest in your lenses. The cheaper kit lenses really fall apart image-wise. Since I still do a fair amount of work on the side, I have a total of three lenses - Sigma Art 24-70/2.8, Sony 70-200/2.8 and the Sony 200-600 for most of the field sports. The 24-70 lives on the camera as it’s a great all around lens.

Sigma and Tamron make some really nice lenses if you don’t want to spend a ton, but both Nikon and Canon limit their lens mount on their mirrorless bodies. My Sony a7iii bodies are now several generations behind their current offerings, but still do just fine. Some good used gear can be had through KEH, MPB and Robert’s Camera in Indianapolis.

That being said, I also use a Sony a6600 APS-C for travel with a Sony 24-105/4 and that has produced great images for a small, compact rig.

I currently have a Nikon D70 with a 55-200, a Quantaray 500mm Cat, a Nikon 18-70, Nikon 28mm and a Nikon 50mm and a Tamron 80-210. Also have a few filters.

This camera hasn’t even been turned on in perhaps 20 years or more.

I quit using this gear when I got an iPhone 5.

I think I bought the D70 when it first came out and it replaced a Sony that write to a small cd rom.

It may be obsolete technology at this point but is at least 2 generations better than what I have now, uses the glass I already have.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
If you're serious about it and you're not invested in lenses already, mirrorless is the way to go.

For myself, though, I'll never go mirrorless. I have a bunch of Nikkor glass I couldn't possibly afford to replace. On top of that, I used to make my living with a 35mm camera. I've been using SLRs since the 1970s and I simply do not want to use a dedicated camera that lacks a moving mirror.

I used to feel the same way but Heart Disease and issues with AFIB has pretty much eliminated any chance of regular exercise. I really do miss the days of going out for a 3 or 4 mile walk just to get out and get some sort of fresh air.

Anyhow My D750 bag is getting to be a bit of a burden and I've been considering the Z7 II with the 24-120 and the FTZ II lens mount adapter. BTW this adapter will allow the use of any AI or AI converted Nikkor so my 1965 era 50mm F2 Nikkor H can be used on the Z7 II by utilizing full manual controls. Note back in the day that 50mm Nikkor was regarded as a true equal of the famous Leitz 50mm f2 Summicron. I've used it on my D750 and the quality puts a modern 50mm f1.4 Nikkor to shame. I also have a 45mm GN Nikkor that I used to keep on my Nikkormat FS as a pocket/knockabout camera. That is an amazing little lens and I ordered it from a local shop in Columbus in 1974 and when it came in the salesmans comment was "I didn't know Nikon made teleconverters". Yeah it is that small and also serves well as an enlarging lens.

The point of all this is that you CAN still use most of your old Nikkors in the new Z series cameras and they do provide for a lighter carry. The only exception is the old Nikkors with the Hog Nose aperture ring without the AI cut. With those lenses they will contact the aperture pickup and break it if you insist on mounting it in spite of the interference. I'm sure that you remember that the F3 had that flip up tab on the aperture pickup to allow the older lenses to be mounted. Those who forgot to flip that tab up learned a costly lesson.

PS; my primary on my D750 is the 24-120 Nikkor and it's a very fine lens. However reports on the new mirrorless 24-120 indicates that it's even sharper than my older AF Nikkor. So if I do decide to go to the Z7 II it will be the package with the 24-120.

Off topic, sorry, but if a camera has a built in light meter, doesn't a telephoto lens change what it indicates? Is there a maner to compensate if true?

quote:

Originally posted by TRIO:
Off topic, sorry, but if a camera has a built in light meter, doesn't a telephoto lens change what it indicates? Is there a maner to compensate if true?

Modern cameras use a light meter that uses the light coming thru the lens, with mirrorless cameras the image sensor is now the light meter. So no compensation of any sort is needed.

Old school Nikon D700 for me thanks, and a healthy supply of glass. Of course it's aged now, and the newer cameras put up some awesome stats, but I love my old sturdy, albeit it, heavy, old gal. Heavy to hump around all day with the additional battery pack and big lens, but I love it! The stupid money is in the glass, always has been.

Hopefully this isn’t too far of a thread drift (If so, please delete) but since it appears we have some serious expertise here (like many other topics!) allow me to ask.

I have a D500 with several lenses that I aquired for some potentially high speed action. I’m looking for recommendation on which Nikon camera body to get that would be more depth of field focused instead of shutter speed. Thanks for any input…

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
Hopefully this isn’t too far of a thread drift (If so, please delete) but since it appears we have some serious expertise here (like many other topics!) allow me to ask.

I have a D500 with several lenses that I aquired for some potentially high speed action. I’m looking for recommendation on which Nikon camera body to get that would be more depth of field focused instead of shutter speed. Thanks for any input…

Not quite sure I understand what you are asking. “Depth of field” is a function of lens aperture and body has no impact on it for the most part.

If you are looking for shallow DOF, (blurred out of focus backgrounds) what you want is “Fast” lenses. Those are lenses with a large aperture (small “f” number) f/1.2, f/1.4, f/1.8 and the like.

Large DOF (everything in focus, subject, foreground and background) is large”f” number/small aperture - f/8, f/11, f/16.


Any lens will be able to be “stopped down” to a small aperture, but only the higher end lenses will open up to a wide aperture. While the lower and mid range lenses will max out around f/3.5 to f/4 or so.


Shutter speed and light sensitivity (ISO), are body functions and come into play to get the exposure correct for the chosen aperture. Small aperture, higher ISO/longer shutter - large aperture, lower ISO/short shutter. The D500 as well as pretty much any digital camera is going to have sufficient shutter and ISO specs for whatever DOF you are looking for.


A big exception- if you are looking for EXTEME depth of field in specialized shots such as macro shots of insects and you want everything sharp and in focus across the frame, you will need to do ”focus stacking” which is combining a series of shots with different focus points so the entire frame is in focus. It can be done manually with software, but some newer/higher end camera bodies are able to automate the process in camera.

My brother just told me a month ago that he finally wore out his D3200.

He's shot at least a few hundred thousand pics with it, I don't know how many, but he is a heavy user.

He laments it because it had a pretty red body, not the traditional black body, and it took very good photos.

I have a D3100 and it's been good too, but the D3200 is a better machine.
.

the one I'm looking at is a red body as well

Bought the red body with two lenses and should have it Friday.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
Hopefully this isn’t too far of a thread drift (If so, please delete) but since it appears we have some serious expertise here (like many other topics!) allow me to ask.

I have a D500 with several lenses that I aquired for some potentially high speed action. I’m looking for recommendation on which Nikon camera body to get that would be more depth of field focused instead of shutter speed. Thanks for any input…

What you are looking for is a Digital camera that offers what is called "Focus Stacking". What this does is when you snap the shutter the camera will take multiple pictures while sweeping the focus from near to far. Take that series of image files and load it into a 3rd party software package and the software can convert that series of image files into one image that has sharp focusing throughout the entire image.

Downside for this is you will want to have a pretty high powered computer with probably something on the order of 128 GB of Ram in addition to the software.

Nikon offers this feature on the D850, the Z6 II, Z7 II, the Z8 and the Z9. So the camera to do this is a bit on the pricey side.

Note Nikon also offers the Z6 III which is their high speed dedicated version of the Z6. If you want a 120 fps frame rate the Z6 is your answer but memory limitations does reduce the resolution at this speed to 11 GB. Slow down to 60 fps and you get the full 24.7 GB in every image. I will also note thre is no mention of "Focus Shifting" in the Description Page for the Z6 III.

As for closing the aperture down to increase the Depth of Focus, that does work but it comes with some limitations. First is that it reduces the resolution produced by the lens and because it's due to Physics (small aperture diffraction and interference patterns) the size of the image sensor becomes rather critical. Basically you'll get a sharper image from a 4x5 or 8x10 inch negative than you will a 35mm negative because you don't have to use as much magnification to make the final print. The other is that it only extends the depth of focus so there will be some areas that are blurred in the final image. With Focus Stacking you get an AI created image with everything in the image in sharp focus. Use a lens like a Micro Nikkor and everything from 1 inch to infinity will be in sharp focus. Below is a link to Nikon's process for Focus Stacking. Unfortunately it doesn't name the actual software you can use, it only states that it's available.

https://www.nikonusa.com/learn...asics-stacking-focus

Im selling my MIMTY Nikon D700 with less than 50K clicks, its spotless.
Selling cos I have gone back to my other trusty Minty Nikon F4.
Film rules.