What to buy?

myrman

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I fancy getting myself an SLR next year if only to get me out and about more as I hate to think how many hours I have spent staring at a bloody screen of one sort or another over the last 12 months, anyway I quite fancy a Nikon D3200. I'm going mainly off reviews that I have read and it currently has a £30 cashback offer so comes in a touch over £300. I want something simple but will give me good quality results and the chance to get more technical as my knowledge improves. I quite like the idea of the 'Guide mode' to help me along the way as most of what I ever knew about photography has long gone. I have a lot to re-learn. So any thoughts regarding the Nikon or alternatives around the £300 price point?

 

myrman

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We just bought the D3100 from Jessops, Nick. Good luck in your choice!
Thats interesting, looks like a good cheaper alternative Mark although I'm happy paying slightly more for the D3200. Have you had a chance to use it yet?

 

rockmeister

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Good choice Nick...it is a very good image maker and if you buy good lenses, you're into the Nikon system if you ever want to upgrade. :^

 

browellm

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It's Ella's Xmas present, so no. See my thread on DSLR, you might get a few pointers from that.

 

rockmeister

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It takes a few days to tweak the camera to take good pictures, but when you get it, post some pics and'or ask here and I'm sure people will help you with the menus and set up. Then you're away! :^

 

Bazzer

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I had a Nikon d3100, its got to be the best entry level SLR the d3200 is more pixels £300 no brainer :^

 

mikehit

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Any camera made in the last 3 years.

Honestly - the progress has been in functionality, there has not been a massive leap forward in ISO capability and for most people's use (onscreen viewing and printing to A3) I doubt anyone could tell the difference. I'm a Canon man (DSLR wise) but I would still say Nikon is about one stop better than Canon for the noise, but it is marginal.

Bes tip you will have: go cheap on the body and go expensive on the glass... then you will be able to tell the difference.

 

Papa Lazarou

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Absolutely, lenses are key. All modern DSLR bodies will be decent in terms of performance. I would budget a future upgrade to something like the 17-50 Tamron or Sigma. Then you'll notice an increase in image quality.

 

68rednose

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I fancy getting myself an SLR next year
A bit off topic, but after reading that, I felt happy for you because I thought you're going to buy a new car :?

Like this one:

280px-Mercedes-Benz_SLR_McLaren_2_cropped.jpg


 

myrman

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From when I first posted this thread the price of the D3200 seems to have been moving upwards to around £350+ with the lens so I decided to keep the costs down and have just bought what looks to be a well looked after D3100 off eBay for £200. I figure if I get on with it I can always move up to the D3200 should I feel a need.

 

Iolare

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The only advantage I can see with the 3200 is the auto mode which is marginally better. The 3200 does have a better resolution but assuming you're not planning to print off huge banners with your photos on them or put your work under a microscope I doubt you'll notice it. The kit 18-55 with the 3100 is a very good lens, there's no real need to replace it unless you need a telephoto or better low light performance.

 

mikehit

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Good news! Enjoy it.

Unless you very specifically need the additional functions of the 3200 (whatever they are - and for me IQ comes a fair way down the list with the quality that even entry level DSLRs have been producing in the last 6 years) then your first call for improvement should be the lenses. I had a Canon 30D +70-300 consumer lens. The combination of 30D+100-400L was easily equivalent to the 7D+ the old 70-300 in both image quality and AF speed,even though the 30D is 8MP and the 7D is 18MP.

The reason I bought the 7D was well was a vastly superior AF system and I could crop more heavily (but not as much as you would think!).

 

tkimages

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Good news! Enjoy it.Unless you very specifically need the additional functions of the 3200 (whatever they are - and for me IQ comes a fair way down the list with the quality that even entry level DSLRs have been producing in the last 6 years) then your first call for improvement should be the lenses. I had a Canon 30D +70-300 consumer lens. The combination of 30D+100-400L was easily equivalent to the 7D+ the old 70-300 in both image quality and AF speed,even though the 30D is 8MP and the 7D is 18MP.

The reason I bought the 7D was well was a vastly superior AF system and I could crop more heavily (but not as much as you would think!).
Is that because it's an APS-C sensor or noisy files or both?

 

rockmeister

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The 3100 is a great cam. My old one had a tendency to over expose in most situations...if you find that your shots are a tad pale, with blown highlights (i.e. the brightest parts of the pic have no detail at all) then you can set the exposure compensation to adjust for this and leave it like that. Mine was set at -2/3rds of a stop permanently, after which it took some great shots. The 'other half' of the kit lens pair, the 55-200 is one of the great lens bargains of this decade. I have no idea what Nikon did there, but IQ per pound on this lens is amazing. If you find you need a telephoto, try and find a used one. They go for about £150 used.

 

mikehit

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Is that because it's an APS-C sensor or noisy files or both?
Both are APS-C. Doubling the pixel count only increases the pixels by about 50% in each linear direction so in theory if I was comfortable cropping the image of the 30D by 60% I would be happy cropping the 7D by 50% and I can do that (maybe a bit more), but I would say that is only because the noise performance on the 7D is also about 1 stop better. Although this extra cropping of the 7D is useful, my main use for it is wildlife and 60% crop vs 50% crop is neither here nor there when you have a picture of a bird. So overall I would not have updgraded to the 7D for its IQ alone

I suspect the differences between 3100 and 3200 are even less than 30D vs 7D so unless the 3200 offers some radical functionality, stay with the lenses or take a quantum leap in camera. My usualadvice is lenses first and those lenses can always be put on a newer, better body. Put your original lens on a better body and you may well end up thinking 'why did I bother spending the money'

 

myrman

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The good news : the Nikon has arrived :eek:j: The bad news: I forgot to buy a memory card :doh: Oh well hoping to be posting in the random image thread soon :) Once I have read this book that came with it. :geek:

 

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