I am a Canon shooter, but am interested in picking up an inexpensive Nikon DSLR to learn on. This will be for myself and also my 8 yr old daughter. I shoot with a 5Dmkii and have given my daughter my old 20D. This is more a more hobbyist approach and potentially expanding my horizons and learning more about the other side as well.
I am looking for any recommendations on bodies and if able would you know a way to know what they generally go for used?
Some that have crossed my mind were;
D40
D70
D3000
D3100
D100
D200
I think a good starting point might be a D90. They go for about $500-600 used (I'm not too familiar), but you will get 2 control wheels. The D90 can autofocus older AF-D lenses too.
The consumer grade cameras (D3000 series, D5000 series, D40, D60) are all great, but there will be minimal control inputs. If you don't mind that, then they are decent.
The D5100 has been going for very cheap lately after the release of the D3200, and it has a very, very good sensor, and a tilt lcd.
If your budget is around 500-600 for a body, the D90 and the D5100 would be the cameras I'd look the hardest at. If lower, I'm not sure. It really depends on if you prioritize controls (D100, D200), or a more updated sensor (D3000, D3100, D5000). Incidentally, I think a D3100 is a big jump up from the D3000.
Also, some Nikons have a native ISO200 (D90, D5000), so be wary of that.
After you get a body, the $200 35mm 1.8 is a great starter lens.
I guess the simple thing is that I am not too familiar with Nikon equipment. I am looking for a decent but not great body, as I will invest in decent lenses.
I have toyed with the notion of a D200 or a D40 for awhile. I do not know if it is for more budget concerns or not though. Looking more something that can handle similarly to the 20D i think.
D200 will allow you to explore most of the featureset of Nikon. Including onboard CLS flash master control and metering with AI/AIS lenses(manual focus ) - there's a nice thread about such lenses here...
Also has some degree of weathersealing.
If your daughter will be the primary user, and she is a beginner, why not get the Nikon 3200? It is a beginner's dSLR but has a better sensor than all the bodies you mentioned. As she becomes a better user, then you two can decide whether you all can become a Nikon family, a Canon family or remain a dual system user family
I am thinking against the 3200 as it is around 700 with a kit lens. i mentioned the others because I have seen them for under 400 used and this allows some wiggle room for a lens or multiple lenses. Most of my "allotted" personal finances are set aside for canon lenses , but I am willing to branch out a bit. Just looking for a competent used Nikon that we both can learn on..
Most people will tend to overspend when dealing with someone elses money.
I'd go super cheap if you are just exploring. The D50 has a top LCD, will autofocus older lenses that lack buil in auto-focus (all AF-D lenses) and I didn't mind ISO 1600 out of it at all, I'd even shoot it at 3200 by underexposing a stop and pushing in Lightroom. The 6mp files are a breeze to deal with.
I gave mine to a good friend. Was sad to see it go, but I knew it was going to a good home.
BJ_Wohlgemuth wrote:
Those that commented, thank you for your input. I will now try and do some research into the bodies and some lenses also. Thank you.
What ever you get make sure it's not the D3000. By far Nikon's worse camera.
The D40 was one of my favorites of the smaller bodies. Sometimes adorama.com gets refab's at a nice price.
Once again thank you. I was looking at 3 mainly; D40, D70 or D200. As I know I can pick up the bodies around me for sub 300. This allows more flexibility in selecting lenses.
sorry just re-read and saw it was not within budget sorry
I had a d70 and while it created awesome files, I always felt hampered by the minimal screen size. I have not tried neither the d40 nor the d200 so can't say.
