[dewy]

Hi guys, I'm back! I was one of the very earliest regular posters on this forum but as with life things changed and I had to step away from pursuing the hobby of photography. Now I'm a little older and can chase big boy hobbies such as cars, motorbikes and other things that you can risk your life in I'd love to get myself a good camera again. As you can see from my very old signature I had a DSLR in the past. I now have a Sony DSC-TX10, 2 x GoPro HD Hero 2's and a GoPro HD Hero 1 in the swag. I've been drooling over a D7000 of late and have two cheap kit nikon lenses on my desk.

I guess I'm asking everyone now what is the cheaper way to go about getting back on board. Should I be grabbing myself a brand new D7000 from the local brick and mortar (any suggestions on cheapest places to look?), or look at a older D90 or a new D7000 from eBay?

Suggestions would be greatly appreciate, I have been swayed the way of nikon by a friend who because of the compatibility with much older film lenses opening up a lot of cheap (old/manual) lenses to play with etc.

[NT73]

I suppose it's all down to what you wish to pay. Bear in mind the camera will last far longer than a car or motorbike (or wife if she doesn't have enough shoes).

I have the 350D rebel still, and other than wanting, but maybe not needing lenses I see no reason to change.
Pavel thinks the sun shines from the 800D Nikon, but he is loaded

[Toad]

Hey D. Long long time - no see. Glad to see you back.

You can't go wrong with a D7000 in my opinion. It's the finest non-full-frame Nikon offering at the moment.

[Pavel]

Thanks NT - my wife may dispute that I am loaded ("Pavel thinks the sun shines from the 800D Nikon, but he is loaded") or at least would demand to know what I am loaded with.

Nikon certainly has exciting cameras and more exciting stuff is in the pipeline for this year. But like everything, a lot depends on what you shoot. Lenses matter a great deal. Nikon has some important holes in their lineup (most notably a decent answer to Canon's 100-400) and as much as I love Nikon, if I would not be married to Nikon by virtue of having invested in their lenses, I would consider Canon seriously. You can read more about holes in Nikon line-up on Thom Hogon's blog. As the cameras gain in better sensors and resolution, lens quality becomes more important, because what is the point of having a great camera if the lenses can not make full use of it? I am not saying that Nikon lenses are inferior to Canon, not at all. It is just some lenses available in Canon line are not available from Nikon. Most are moderately priced telephotos. The cameras leapfrog each other, but lenses are much more a long-term purchase, at least for me. I would give a serious look to what you shoot and what lenses you need for that before I would settle on a camera brand.

The next issue is Nikon or Canon full frame versus APSC or Olympus/Panasonic micro4/3. Recent full frames are a huge cut above compared to slightly older APS-C cameras and at least Nikon is planning aggressively lower prices for the models in the pipeline for this year (I am talking D600). I think that it will use the same chip as the superb D800. There will also be a new APS-C top ranging D400 based on excellent Sony made and Nikon modified chip. D7000 is certainly a worthy successor to excellent D90, but the D400 is expected to have the same excellent controls found on D300, a camera I loved except for the aging sensor. Finally, the mirrorless cameras are making huge strides. However only micro 4/3 has a reasonably complete set of lenses (some long primes are missing and long macro is announced for 2012 but not yet on sale). Both cameras and lenses are much smaller and lighter and generally less expensive than the APS-C or full frame based DSLRs. The electronic viewfinders are pretty decent now and a reasonable alternative to optical one. (Of course full frame DSLRs have better optical viewfinder than the electronic one on micro 4/3 cameras, but it no longer is a deal breaker). If size and weight is very important to you and you do not need low light sensitivity or high dynamic range and if you are willing to use primes to get shallow DOF, micro 4/3 could be an answer.

So, you do have many options.
1) I would not discount Canon - the only other brand that has a very comprehensive list of good lenses.
2) I would not discount Olympus OMD E5 micro 4/3. It has very good reviews and the reviews are very good. Panasonic is getting to have an answer soon.
3) If you go with Nikon NOW, for me it would be between Nikon D3200 with its newest, highest resolution APS-C sensor in Nikon line and D7000 which has a very good sensor and and decent manual controls (but not as complete as on D300). I assume that D800 is out of your price range. Used D90 or D300 may be a good deal if you are on tight budget.
4) If you can wait a few months I would definitely wait to see what D400 and D600 will be like in terms of price/performance. There is a real advantage to a full frame and D600 is expected to be a real bargain compared to what FX cameras used to cost. D400 is expected to be a replacement for D300, (which was a wonderful camera) but with much improved sensor and faster processor

I hope that this rambling is of some use to you. A lot depends on what you photograph, how important photography is to you, how much you expect to grow etc. To match you against a camera, I would need to know a lot more about you.

[matthew]

Welcome back!

I guess I'm asking everyone now what is the cheaper way to go about getting back on board. Should I be grabbing myself a brand new D7000 from the local brick and mortar (any suggestions on cheapest places to look?), or look at a older D90 or a new D7000 from eBay?

If you're looking for a cost-effective Nikon, then the D7000 is it. There are cheaper, some of which may take as-good photos, but they're not as good cameras. The D7000 is at the happy point where it's old enough that its price has dropped to a reasonable level without it being so old that it's in immediate danger of being superseded. While I'm not convinced that a digital camera will last longer than a motorcycle or car, unless it's leased, it will give solid service for years.

As for where to buy one, I'm always a fan of local camera stores. Failing that, a reputable dealer on-line would be my second choice. I've never bought a new camera from eBay, and probably wouldn't unless there are no other choices, but having no experience I suppose I can't really counsel against it.

[dewy]

Thanks for the replies guys. While I had my heart set on the D7000 it was a few weeks away from purchase and I'm still not convinced I want a $2k camera body.

An Aussie retailer of parallel imports (aussie abn and gst registered) had the D5100 body only available for $470 yesterday so I jumped on the band wagon. Having used a friends I was comfortable with it, I know it doesn't have many of the top shelf features of the D7000 but a lot of them (39pt auto focus) I likely won't get much value out of as I'm attempting more manual (old non electronic) stuff. If I love the camera I won't be as sad about moving onto a more serious full-frame and leaving behind a $2k body like I would be with the D7000.

Pavel - thanks a lot for the input. The 4/3 cameras' are quite cool and having used a friends NEX E5N (sony) I was kind of turned off of them due to lack of manual (physical) controls, like it had a fair bit in the menus none of the small cameras appear to have the room on them for real buttons. Canon I was a little turned off by having used them in the past the Nikons interface was always just easier for me to pick up and use, and the longer back catalog of lenses

Basically what I really want to shoot is probably something I'd need a top of the line body for or something like a RED, that is very long exposure photos at night etc. I have the little point and shoot TX10, the iPhone 4S and 3 GoPro's for day time photos the DSLR was more for some serious low light photography and just some manual controls to mess around with, do doubt this will be used during the day, but night time is what I desire most.

Something I took tonight in my first mess around -

DSC_0170 by ac.stewart, on Flickr

[NT73]

A quality shot. Something I haven't yet achieved.

[shuttertalk]

Hey dewy, good to see you again! Good to see you've been keeping well and keeping the photography going.

I think the D5100 should serve you well - the only thing it can't do is use lenses without an AF motor built in (most primes) but most of the recent zooms should be ok.

[dewy]

So an update, the D5100 over the last few months has been coupled with a SB800 Speedlight, a 50mm f/1.8 a 200m, f/3.5 along with the more boring 18-55 and 18-70mm's and 55-300mm. However throughout all this time I found the main reason I purchased the camera was because I was annoyed I could not take a nice photo with the DSC TX-10 I had kicking around and knew that a DSLR offered the low light performance I desired. However I didn't do a lot of home work and while I often carry a satchel/messenger bag I disliked carrying around the bulky D5100.

So recently came the mass clear out leaving me with just a 50mm prime and a 18-55mm and a desire to sell what I have left.

I purchased a fujifilm X10 from a friend after having enjoyed the quality shots it takes to try and downsize from the DSLR but I have realised the fact it doesn't fit in my camera I don't use it as much so the very short lived time with the X10 has seen it pasted up into eBay and I now impatiently await a new Canon S100.

Just a few more random shots from the X10

Untitled by ac.stewart, on Flickr

Untitled by ac.stewart, on Flickr


And now the D5100

Untitled by ac.stewart, on Flickr

Untitled by ac.stewart, on Flickr

Melbourne by ac.stewart, on Flickr

[shuttertalk]

Hey Dewy, thanks for the update! And Hi from a fellow X10 owner/user. I too like the size and convenience of the X10 and it produces pretty nice image quality.

The only thing is that I find I'm not using the OVF as much as I thought it would, mainly because it's so unpredictable in terms of framing.

But very nice images - thanks for posting!

[dewy]

I did like the X10, the OVF was more for show as it just doesn't provide enough information to be useful, the X100's View Finder was a lot nicer. However I'm looking forward to the S100 for a smaller device. I know I'll be loosing the faster apertures on the high zoom however I wasn't much a "zoomer" anyway.

I'll be sure to post some shots from the S100 when it arives and I plan to get a little more involved in the forum again.

[adam]

I did like the X10, the OVF was more for show as it just doesn't provide enough information to be useful, the X100's View Finder was a lot nicer. However I'm looking forward to the S100 for a smaller device. I know I'll be loosing the faster apertures on the high zoom however I wasn't much a "zoomer" anyway.

I'll be sure to post some shots from the S100 when it arives and I plan to get a little more involved in the forum again.

S100 is a fantastic camera! Out of all the cameras I brought on my trip, the S100 took the most shots!