Used Nikon buying advice please

d00d

d00d

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David
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Hi ...

I aim to spend something in the region of £500 on a body-only, more, if an interesting lens is included.

Video is not required, but live preview is.

FX format would not come within my budget I'm sure ... plus, I already have a DX 18-55mm and a DX 18-135mm lens.

Any advice on models and where to buy (I live in W. London) ... would be much appreciated.

Thanks.
 
D7000 or D300. Aperture, fixation and Grays are all in London. MPB, FFordes, Wex and Mifsuds all sell used gear :)

EDIT: Also worth checking the classifieds here too
 
I can't advise on where to buy (other than the forums on here, or MPB Photographic who I've had good dealings with), but the D300s would be a fantastic camera for under £500 used. Or I would recommend a D7000, in the slightly smaller body but with a newer sensor to the D300s.

In fact, looking at MPB they have a used D300 in Exc++ condition with a shutter count of 28,857 (pretty good for it's assumed aged) for £329, with battery, charger, neck strap etc.

I'd buy one at that price.
 
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I would go with the D7000 also.

I had the D90 for a few years, and loved it. I was going to upgrade to the D7000 but got a bit lucky and was able to go FX at the time. I'd still not say no to a D7000 as a back up body though.
 
£570 = Nikon D7100 Brand new - simply the best choice. Bought one for the wife 4 weeks ago
 
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Where did you get it for that?? £799 on amazon

ebay I guess eh?

If the D7100 can be got for that there's no considering to be done!
 
Brand new £570 - Panamoz.

** Free 3 Year UK Warranty
** 14 Day Money Back Guarantee
** Price includes VAT
** No hidden or extra charges
 
Thanks for your replies everyone (y)

A new D7100 now sounds very appealing. Never heard of Panamoz ... I see a D7100 on their site this morning for £600

I assume these people are 100% reliable? What did yours come with Pete?

I assume you get everything but a lens ... ie. strap, battery, charger, USB cable, manual, etc?
 
d00d said:
Thanks for your replies everyone (y)

A new D7100 now sounds very appealing. Never heard of Panamoz ... I see a D7100 on their site this morning for £600

I assume these people are 100% reliable? What did yours come with Pete?

I assume you get everything but a lens ... ie. strap, battery, charger, USB cable, manual, etc?
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You can always look at HDeW at £689, if you want to deal with an established UK based business who imports
 
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When I was looking on HDEW earlier they were advertising the D7000 for £415. Good price for a great camera.
 
Mod Edit: Please read the rules with regards to selling on the forums
 
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d00d said:
Thanks for your replies everyone (y)

A new D7100 now sounds very appealing. Never heard of Panamoz ... I see a D7100 on their site this morning for £600

I assume these people are 100% reliable? What did yours come with Pete?

I assume you get everything but a lens ... ie. strap, battery, charger, USB cable, manual, etc?
Click to expand...


I paid for mine via Bank Transfer so total charge was £570 & had zero issues.
I've used them for 4 items & this (like the rest) was painless.

Yes to the above.
 
Thanks for the input.

Hmmm ... not sure what I want now :thinking:

Mod Edit: Content removed

And at the same time I find myself googling the high end pocket cameras as I know I would use one ten times more than any DSLR.

The wife - the one with the money - says don't buy anything S/H.
 
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Well, in their defence (not required really) all of what I have told you is available via a Google search..
 
Diving Pete said:
I paid for mine via Bank Transfer so total charge was £570 & had zero issues.
I've used them for 4 items & this (like the rest) was painless.

Yes to the above.
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What was the packaging like in regards to protection. My XT1 was delivered in an outer box with no bubble wrap etc, could have been damaged with a slight knock. Also, I read on here, (think it was Gary Coyle???) that his D7100 had similiar packaging and was back focusing terribly and had to be returned, may have been knocked in transit.??

I'm thinking of buying a D7100 just for birding at home, and keep the Fuji for a walkabout camera. I had a D7000 before swapping to Fuji earlier in the year, any idea how the D7100 compares to D7000?
 
One thing to remember which others seem to have forgotten, that is the shutter count. A camera "might" look fantastic on the outside, but if the guts have had extensive use how much longer will it last. So Always do a shutter count check as well
 
Yes Bazza. I wonder what owners might honestly describe as "little used"? My 6 year old D40 has a shutter count of around 3,500, I understand it has a shutter life of around 50,000. If I bought a used D7000, I hope to find one with 10K or less on the clock. Somebody was advertising a used D90 at a good price, I enquired about actuations and he replied he didn't know, wanted to buy me a coffee in the West End, said it's OK for me to bring my laptop to check the count and bring the cash too. I didn't bother, thought he was being too pushy, and thought it unlikely he didn't know the count.
 
d00d said:
Yes Bazza. I wonder what owners might honestly describe as "little used"? My 6 year old D40 has a shutter count of around 3,500, I understand it has a shutter life of around 50,000. If I bought a used D7000, I hope to find one with 10K or less on the clock. Somebody was advertising a used D90 at a good price, I enquired about actuations and he replied he didn't know, wanted to buy me a coffee in the West End, said it's OK for me to bring my laptop to check the count and bring the cash too. I didn't bother, thought he was being too pushy, and thought it unlikely he didn't know the count.
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Talking of used D7000 there is one in classifieds now with a low count (just over 1,000) and fully boxed etc ... (not my ad btw) ...
 
Thanks Paul but I think you'll find it's sold!
 
mossienet said:
Just read this myself.

http://www.nphotomag.com/2013/02/21/nikon-d7100-vs-d7000-13-things-you-need-to-know/
Click to expand...


Thanks Stephen ... snapsort is a site I find good for comparisons

and now I see this ... most interesting ... http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon-D5300-vs-Nikon-D7100

The D5300 much cheaper, smaller (I don't do ostentatious), much lighter and has a flip-out screen ... very discrete for street photography.

Hmmmm ...

EDIT ... didn't see your latest post there Stephen.
 
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PaulButler said:
Sorry about the bum steer earlier ...
UK based company that imports grey items, have a good rep.
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grey? does that mean their "3 Year Warranty" is worthless? [I googled the grey market and ... the goods are legal but no warranty].

... a good rep? ... as in reputation?
 
mossienet said:
Just read this myself.

http://www.nphotomag.com/2013/02/21/nikon-d7100-vs-d7000-13-things-you-need-to-know/
Click to expand...

i own a D7000 and tbh out of the 13 items i would consider the following differentiators as useful improvements

1) two axis-virtual horizon
2) weather sealing

When you shoot IR or want to measure special WB scene then Spot white balance otherwise i don't see the point of this.

the others are useless gimmicks if you shoot RAW which you would
a) 7 in-camera special effects
b) In-camera HDR mode
c) Expeed 3 processor (the article seems to refer to NR and HDR thus I assume the raw processor is unchanged and this is a revision on the JPEG conversion)

the following I don't see any point in having improvements:
Better LCD display - why? I don't photo proof on my camera LCD, i use it to check histogram and see if the shot was in focus or general composition. I have been doing this fine since D40/D60 lame LCD screens...so...point is?
Better movies - erm, I shoot pictures not movies.
51 Autofocus points - 39 is more than I can handle...another 12 just seem excessive on a DX body. on FX yes makes sense.

other gimmicks like wifi and ergonomics are really trying too hard to find any differentiators.

24mpix also means a large RAW file which needs a lot more computing power...so new pc???

in short disagrees with the conclusion of the article...

of course if you shoot in JPEG and shoots movies all the time and also happen to convert the body to ALL SPECTRUM then hell yeah!
 
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I have also purchased from HDEW without any problems, grey imports? yes but with camera insurance added to your household policy anyway, no sweat.
 
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PaulButler said:
I've never had to claim, but those I know that have did not have any probs. And yes, a good reputation :) Here is a long thread with plenty of discussion http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/hdew-cameras-anyone-used-them.215462/
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Thanks Paul for the link ... read most of it, and sent a rather abrupt message to Nikon > https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/ask/locale/en_GB

As a long-term Nikon enthusiast, I am thinking of buying a midrange dSLR from www.hdewcameras.co.uk

Firstly, I'd like to know if you regard this as a trusted supplier of your products; and secondly, if their advertised "FREE 3 YEAR WARRANTY INCLUDED" holds any worth.

+ a few formal niceties.

will let you know what they say.
 
d00d said:
Thanks Paul for the link ... read most of it, and sent a rather abrupt message to Nikon > https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/ask/locale/en_GB

As a long-term Nikon enthusiast, I am thinking of buying a midrange dSLR from www.hdewcameras.co.uk

Firstly, I'd like to know if you regard this as a trusted supplier of your products; and secondly, if their advertised "FREE 3 YEAR WARRANTY INCLUDED" holds any worth.

+ a few formal niceties.

will let you know what they say.
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Don't know what your trying to achieve with your email or expected reply to Nikon..............It's unfortunate that we pay so much tax in this country.

As said in this thread, HDEW are importing grey cameras from abroad, USA, as in my case. If you want to save a few quid buy from HDEW or similiar companies, if you want to spend a couple of hundred quid more buy from Currys etc. The choice is yours, you will have a VAT reciept from HDEW if requested. Simples really.

HDEW warranty is with a third party, Extend is the insurer if memory serves me right. They then use Lehmans, Johnsons or Fixation (spl) for repair, these are authorised repair companies I believe for Nikon and Canon, somebody will confirm later.
 
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I would go d7000. I would also look at them with there kit lens as well as body only. I understand you already have lenses but sometimes there is very little in price between the 2 and you can then sell on your lenses for something else.
 
Hi, thanks so much everyone. I know I said I was thinking about "used" but, last Friday for better or for worse I invested in a new D5300 from Jessops.

Played around with it and was pleased, till today I bought a 35mm f1.8 prime and I'm now over the moon.

Perhaps I didn't really need to update my old D40, perhaps all I needed was the simplest of lenses.

I will never know, but I've now got a cool kit.
 
d00d said:
Hi, thanks so much everyone. I know I said I was thinking about "used" but, last Friday for better or for worse I invested in a new D5300 from Jessops.

Played around with it and was pleased, till today I bought a 35mm f1.8 prime and I'm now over the moon.

Perhaps I didn't really need to update my old D40, perhaps all I needed was the simplest of lenses.

I will never know, but I've now got a cool kit.
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The newer tech in the D5300 will help massively with better IQ, but the 35mm is the best bang for buck lens out there imo. Enjoy your new gear :)
 
Thanks Paul. (y)

Just one further question - I know this is not the proper place to ask - the Jessops salesman tried to sell me a filter for about £30, said it doesn't block out light just protects the lens. Told him I've already got one. I've got a 52mm Konon (yes Konon) Skylight 1A that I used to wear on my kit lens but read somewhere that it blocks out light and filters are best not used till needed. Anyone got any advice on this?
 
d00d said:
Thanks Paul. (y)

Just one further question - I know this is not the proper place to ask - the Jessops salesman tried to sell me a filter for about £30, said it doesn't block out light just protects the lens. Told him I've already got one. I've got a 52mm Konon (yes Konon) Skylight 1A that I used to wear on my kit lens but read somewhere that it blocks out light and filters are best not used till needed. Anyone got any advice on this?
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Yes. Don't use filters on digital to protect the lens. There is no image quality requirement to use such a filter* and ime they degrade image quality. Use the lens hood and it will provide physical protect to the lens and also improve contrast (mainly at wider apertures) and therefore image quality in use - win/win.

* - The use of some filters can be needed for image quality reasons such as polarisers and ND and ND grads
 
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