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Upgrade from D3200?Considering an upgrade from my D3200 but to what?

Author	Post

Posted by MN: Thu Sep 11th, 2014 08:02

1^st Post

Hello,
I am new to this forum, specifically to try and get some feedback on a particular question. I bought a D3200 a little over a year ago because I was completely frustrated with point-and-shoot cameras. I absolutely LOVE the change I made! So much so, I am considering upgrading the camera.

I have no professional or semi-professional aspirations. My main interests are my fast-moving young children and their fast-moving friends, my friends and family and landscapes. I use a Tamron 18-270mm as my "most of the time" lens, a Nikon 35mm f1.8 prime at times as well as a Sigma 10-20mm wide angle.

I have been considering moving to a D5200 or D5300 or possibly a D7100. Is the moderate investment in a D5200 or D5300 worth it? Is an upgrade to a D7100 with the "more robust" investment worth thinking about?

Here's a little more in case it helps. I never use the guide mode on the D3200. I ony shoot in RAW and use Lightroom for processing. I have had what I percieve to be some minor focusing issues with the D3200 in "busy" shots. For example, on a recent hike on a wooded trail, the camera often wanted to focus on the trees instead of my kids. (Maybe I need to get used to manual focusing but I doubt my wife will ever want to do that).

Thanks for your time and your help!

Posted by jk: Thu Sep 11th, 2014 08:35

2^nd Post

The D5300 is a better version of the D3200/3300 with some more bells and twiddles. The D7100 is currently the best DX format camera and has good build quality but is not pro build quality.
The sensor in these cameras are all DX sized.

I dont think you will notice any image quality differences but the D5300 and more so the D7100 will give you better functionality and ease of use.

If you want a pro build and quality then at present you need to go for a FX (35mm sized which is about 1/3 larger than the DX sized sensor). Nikon have not released a replacement for the D300s which is now getting on for 6 years old. Many of us are waiting for this camera which is by rumour called D400 rather than going for the D7100.

I hope this helps.

____________________
Still learning after all these years!
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Posted by Robert: Thu Sep 11th, 2014 09:08

3^rd Post

Welcome to the forum MN.

I have a D3200 which I use as a knockabout, snapshot camera which I use mainly with an 18-105mm Nikkor lens, my main camera is the D200 which in use, is twice the camera at least, in my opinion.

The necessity to work through menus to alter the settings is the killer for me, that and the single command dial.

The D7200 is a capable body, but I would try to get your hands on a D300S to try for a couple of hours to see the difference in handling that brings. I doubt you would see much if any difference in image quality for family use but the speed of focusing and general handling are in a different league from the D3200. Never used a D7200 so can't comment on that.

I have missed numerous shots of family and pets using the D3200 which I would have caught with my D200.

____________________
Robert.

Posted by MN: Thu Sep 11th, 2014 09:27

4^th Post

Thanks Robert. That was helpful. It looks like there are many similarities between the D7100 and D300s, in particular the 51point AF system. I suspect that may be the difference between the missed shots and the better performance you mentioned.

Thanks again!

Posted by MN: Thu Sep 11th, 2014 10:38

5^th Post

Thanks JK. No need to go pro for now. Thanks for your feedback.

Posted by jk: Thu Sep 11th, 2014 10:42

6^th Post

MN wrote: Thanks JK. No need to go pro for now. Thanks for your feedback.

Welcome to the forum.

There are many of us with different cameras and I have a pretty good range but I have never had a D3xxx, D5xxx, D7xxx only because I tend to prefer the FX cameras but I do have a D300 and it is 7/8 years old and is excellent.
D300 doesnt have the video option or the two card slots of the D300S.

____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none

Posted by Robert: Thu Sep 11th, 2014 12:25

7^th Post

JK has just discretely pointed out to me the Nikon D7200 isn't available yet!

I of course mean the D7100! Sorry for any confusion, That's probably why I never used one... I haven't used a D7000 or the D7100 either, just to clarify...

It was so much easier when there was just the F3 and one or two others, like the FA, FM and FE. Less room for confusion.

Back to the manuscript, only another 47 pages to format. ;-)

____________________
Robert.

Posted by amazing50: Thu Sep 11th, 2014 14:09

8^th Post

MN you posted "I have no professional or semi-professional aspirations. My main interests are my fast-moving young children and their fast-moving friends, my friends and family and landscapes. I use a Tamron 18-270mm as my "most of the time" lens, a Nikon 35mm f1.8 prime at times as well as a Sigma 10-20mm wide angle."

You already have a good kit for the type of pix you are taking and 24meg pixils. I also use the Tamron 18-270 but on a D5100. No complaints except no GPS, but it's not worth the expense to move up to a D5300.

You might consider spending on accesories like a good tripod, and wate a while, as there is a lot brewing with new models and mirrorless in the near future.

____________________
There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept ;~) Mike Grace

Posted by jk: Thu Sep 11th, 2014 15:09

9^th Post

amazing50 wrote:

You already have a good kit for the type of pix you are taking and 24meg pixils. I also use the Tamron 18-270 but on a D5100. No complaints except no GPS, but it's not worth the expense to move up to a D5300.
Try this add-on if you need GPS on a D5200. I have one for my D600 and D800.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Micnova-GPS-N-GPS-Receiver-for-Nikon-D3200-D5100-D5200-D7000-D7100-D90-D3x-LF483-/390903160976?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item5b03a4e090

Similar available from China, Canada, USA, etc...

____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none

Posted by Robert: Thu Sep 11th, 2014 15:45

10^th Post

My answer to that one is to take a photo with the iPhone and mix it with the other images from the same session. Works well in Lightroom, for me anyway.

____________________
Robert.

Posted by amazing50: Fri Sep 12th, 2014 08:15

11^th Post

jk the GPS link doesn't ship to Canada but I found one that does and ordered one that comes with both cords for $53 CDN. Thanks

____________________
There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept ;~) Mike Grace

Posted by jk: Fri Sep 12th, 2014 10:37

12^th Post

Good news. I find it so useful having GPS data in the EXIF.

Have you had first snow yet?
I noticed news reports of snow storms in Calgary.
And here we are in Spain on 38C and no sign of rain since last year. 85mm rain since August 2013, we should have had more than 450mm!

____________________
Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none

Posted by amazing50: Fri Sep 12th, 2014 12:12

13^th Post

jk Calgary is 3000 KM west, we are in a different weather system most of the time influenced by the Great Lakes, think Mediterraniam Sea for size. In the last 2 weeks there has been heavy rainfall, about 100mm. Thankfully it wasn't snow as that much would give us almost a meter of snow. Seems there is no rain in Spain to fall on the plain.

____________________
There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept ;~) Mike Grace

Posted by richw: Fri Sep 12th, 2014 18:17

14^th Post

Robert wrote:
My answer to that one is to take a photo with the iPhone and mix it with the other images from the same session. Works well in Lightroom, for me anyway.
I have an App on my iPhone that produces a log file. I load this into Lightroom and as long as the clocks are in synch between phone and camera voila! You can also adjust the clock synching in Lightroom if they are out.

Sounds complicated but actually really easy. Lightroom will populate the exif data for you. Only issue is remembering to switch the app on.

Posted by Robert: Fri Sep 12th, 2014 18:46

15^th Post

Thanks for that Rich, I will try and find the app.

I have a Garmin 60CXS which produces log files but it only has a PC interface... o.O

I discovered both my D3200 and the D200 clocks were set to GMT (winter time) rather than BST (summer time) so the iPhone clock was 1 Hr wrong, or right?

I adjusted all the Nikon images +1Hr and something went silly, the times were right but they sorted backwards!!!. I had to delete the images from Lightroom and re-import them, it worked OK second time around.

____________________
Robert.

Posted by richw: Sun Sep 14th, 2014 04:18

16^th Post

This is the one I have:

http://www.geotagphotos.net

Posted by Robert: Sun Sep 14th, 2014 17:49

17^th Post

Thanks Rich, website looks good, will probably D/L it tomorrow. :thumbsup:

____________________
Robert.

Posted by Graham Whistler: Thu Sep 18th, 2014 03:17

18^th Post

Hi MN Welcome to our friendly and I hope helpful group!

I had a D300 for several years as a 2nd body and the quality of images from it even against todays DSLR is very good.(I made a 4 foot wide pin sharp print from a D300 image, see pix below.) I regret trading it in 2 years ago. My daughter is a highly skilled photographer also with a young family and loves her D300. They still hold good 2nd hand values that must mean something, a good 2nd hand body ranges £350-£400 in UK.I would go for one rather than one of the present DX bodies.

If Nikon came out with a D400 I would be very keen to get one as a user of the D810 FX camera I do at times find a bag full of large FX lenses is very heavy for travel photography.

Attachment: Srour4427.jpg (Downloaded 14 times)

____________________
Graham Whistler

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