Beginner A little help for a first timer :)

JessicaMay

JessicaMay

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Jessica
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Hi everyone.
Im a complete novice when it comes to cameras and photography, but I've been thinking for a while now, I'd like a decent quality camera, to take nice pictures, document memories, and start learning about photography as it's always something I've been interested in ( as a hobby).

After doing some research I've come across what seems to be 2 fairly good cameras, that are easy to use for beginners, but still take good quality pics.

These are
Nikon D3300 with 18-55 VR II lens
And Nikon D5200 with 18-55 VR lens.

There is a price difference of around £65 (D5200 being pricier) and so I'd like to ask everyone's opinion on which camera out of those two would be best for me to go for. Any pros and cons? (In simple language lol, I've not got a clue what some of the reviews talk about!) and are they good first cameras?

Thanks very much.
 
Go to a camera shop and handle both of these camera- I personally Shoot with Sony so I cannot give advice on any other brands-
the ones you mention are good for entry level photographers the D5200 being a more modern addition to the range above the D3300 and therefore: more expensive


You need to know if they suit you - so go try them both is my advice - welcome to the forum

Les ;)
 
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There is a good summary here:-

http://www.imaging-resource.com/cameras/nikon/d5200/vs/nikon/d3300/

In practice I doubt if anyone could be sure of telling the results apart. Both cameras are excellent performers.
Since you are new to this then you will encounter the same problem with these cameras (and many, many others). The instruction manual will overwhelm you so cast around for a simplifier and ask all you like on here.
 
Thank you both.
I guess that's good advice Les and something I didn't even think about! Thank you!

That's great arclight, just had a read through, I haven't seen that one before. So it seems like their mostly quite similar with the D5200 being slightly more tech-y and advanced. I'm after super simple (I was looking at point and shoot compacts first, but I'd really rather have something that takes great pictures, but that I can also learn on which is why I started looking at these) so I will probably lean towards the D3300 then.

I didn't even realise I needed a lens at first:confused: so I need all the help I can get probably lol. You will probably see many questions from me!

From what I was reading though, it seems like there is a "intelligent mode" which controls the settings for me, is that right? As I will need something like that to begin with!
 
Hi Jessica and welcome to TP

As above being a Canon user I can not comment on the merits of Nikon but one thing caught my eye and I may be misreading it but it looks like the lower spec body is being sold with the more recent lens a mk II ?

I agree with the suggestion of going to a shop, if you have an independent near you I would hope you may also get good advice I.e. not just a box shifter but staff who are themselves active photographers?

Whatever you choose there will be a learning curve and using a dSLR will both challenge and delight you as you get to grips with what each aspect of exposure control does (shutter speed, aperture, ISO settings). Talking of exposure, there is a book often recommended for novices and it is called "Understanding Exposure" but I cannot recall who the author is.

Lastly, having good quality kit and a camera with control above the 'auto' setting is but one step.........the camera only takes the picture but the quality of the picture is achieved by you the photographer.

Welcome to what is or can be a lifetimes journey, enjoy the trip :)

Oh, on the surmise based on Nikon user feedback that the 18-55mm lens is a good one please resist and ignore "advice" from the shop etc to add further lens now. Why? well you are at the baby steps stage this first lens will be your companion on the start of the journey.....when you have grasped the basics and gained some experience of it and its limitations then please think about what another lens is needed for and to achieve that the 18-55 does not.
 
Hey there are loads of vids on YouTube about these 2 cameras, also I think currys/pic world sell both so you could go and have a look and see which one you prefer,!I've just upgrade my old Nikon D60 (old Version of the 3300) to the Nikon D7200 and couldn't be happier with the camera, this model is more advance than the other 2 though I think you would be happy with either camera also there is the 5300 just to through another one in to the mix lol
 
Box Brownie said:
Hi Jessica and welcome to TP


Whatever you choose there will be a learning curve and using a dSLR will both challenge and delight you as you get to grips with what each aspect of exposure control does (shutter speed, aperture, ISO settings). Talking of exposure, there is a book often recommended for novices and it is called "Understanding Exposure" but I cannot recall who the author is.
Click to expand...

I believe this is the book that Box Brownie was talking about.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understandi...-Photographs/dp/0817439390/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
 
Excellent thanks box brownie (and huffy for the link) will definitely check that book out!!

No independent shops near me that I know of, have a currys round the corner so may pop in later for a look around!

Camcap I've already looked at the d5300 but unfortunately my budget can't quite stretch that far. It's already pretty stretched with these two Lol! As I was researching and finding new cameras I found myself going, oh maybe I can stretch to an extra £50... It's worth it... And somehow I've gone from wanting a simple basic point and shoot max £150 to a dSLR at around £350!! Not sure how that happened lol.
 
JessicaMay said:
Excellent thanks box brownie (and huffy for the link) will definitely check that book out!!

No independent shops near me that I know of, have a currys round the corner so may pop in later for a look around!

Camcap I've already looked at the d5300 but unfortunately my budget can't quite stretch that far. It's already pretty stretched with these two Lol! As I was researching and finding new cameras I found myself going, oh maybe I can stretch to an extra £50... It's worth it... And somehow I've gone from wanting a simple basic point and shoot max £150 to a dSLR at around £350!! Not sure how that happened lol.
Click to expand...

Your welcome and your latter part (bold and underlining) sounds like what you may see reference to every so often, GAS Gear Acquisition Syndrome. I did say it was journey.... and to only buy more kit when there is a real gap in what you can achieve with the then current kit ;)
 
Thanks again. Yes definitely don't want to run before I can walk!
Although I can see myself investing a loooot of money in this lol!
 
Hi and welcome,

Yes there will be lots of advice particularly from pushy salespeople in Currys.

Use the store to handle the camera, but avoid the need to buy any extras they suggest otherwise your £50 leeway will be gone just like that. Choose the one you like best....(yes they have put the VRII more advanced lens on one of your choices, but at this stage there will not be a lot of difference from your point of view).

Just a thought though....how capable is your computer? You will, in future, need to consider storage capacity and later on software for processing any effects you might want to add, although the Nikon NX-D software comes included with most Nikon cameras so that will do you for now.

And ask lots and lots of questions, here and elsewhere, consider joining a local camera club (most restart in August/September after a summer break), and more than anything else, have fun taking the pictures you want to take.
 
Thanks Shreds :)
Yes I will pop in and have a play around but I can source it cheaper online, and as I've already blown my budget out the water I will be strongly avoiding the urge to buy the extras!!
I have a four year old MacBook Pro, it needs a good clean out, but in sure it would handle whatever I need to put on it.
I accidentally downloaded all the images from our external hard drive once... 14,000+ photos :eek: it struggled a bit with that lol.
 
Just one of the many vids
View: http://youtu.be/LQlbH57Ebj0


I know what you mean about keep pushing your budget up lol that's how I ended up with the D7200, currys do a 6 month interest free thing I think might help get you the 5300 or even 5500, I'll stop now before you end up with a D4s lol
 
Just watched it, was a great help thank you.
Noooooo stop it!!! No more to look at, I can't spend any more lol. Maybe once I've got to grips with using one and taking pics etc, I'll see what Santa brings me haha
 
JessicaMay said:
Thank you both.
I guess that's good advice Les and something I didn't even think about! Thank you!

That's great arclight, just had a read through, I haven't seen that one before. So it seems like their mostly quite similar with the D5200 being slightly more tech-y and advanced. I'm after super simple (I was looking at point and shoot compacts first, but I'd really rather have something that takes great pictures, but that I can also learn on which is why I started looking at these) so I will probably lean towards the D3300 then.

I didn't even realise I needed a lens at first:confused: so I need all the help I can get probably lol. You will probably see many questions from me!

From what I was reading though, it seems like there is a "intelligent mode" which controls the settings for me, is that right? As I will need something like that to begin with!
Click to expand...

Just so you know - there's no such thing as a camera that 'takes great pictures' in fact for most people when they pick up a 'proper camera' for the first time they're disappointed because a point and shoot would have given better results.
 
Hi Phil

I realise it's the photographer that creates a great picture not the camera, my wording wasn't quite right I guess.
All I meant was I am looking for a camera that has the ability to produce great quality pictures.

The only pictures I have now are taken on my phone. In good light outside, I can take an okay picture. But obviously I will never get a picture that's great from a phone camera. So I want a camera that I could potentially et great pics on, meaning I need one that is considered good when it comes to image quality :)
 
I've also arranged to go to a friends house for the afternoon, who has multiple professional cameras (although isn't a professional photographer) to get some help figuring it out :)
 
JessicaMay said:
I've also arranged to go to a friends house for the afternoon, who has multiple professional cameras (although isn't a professional photographer) to get some help figuring it out :)
Click to expand...
Hopefully your friend will be able to show you the way round a camera so you can choose what's important for you.
 
Some advice I always give get a short list of cameras to try if this is your first then try a couple of makes Nikon Canon and Sony. See how they feel are all the buttons in the right place for you, do you like the menu system. Most of all don't settle for I will get used to it. Good luck
 
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Is this the type of memory card I need?

Thanks Wave. I've done a bit of research online, and comparable Canon cameras are coming up way above my budget. So I need to limit the choice to ones I can afford really.
I've been to currys, they had a Nikon d3300 but not a d5300.
Had a good play around with it, and I was very pleased with the weight of it, how it felt, the buttons, etc. so I think ill likely go for that one. The guy in the shop said there wasn't a great deal of difference between the two models (except the 5300 had a bigger screen, buttons slightly different) so I think I'll go for the d3300. I did pick up a Sony one that was around my price range (although I can't remember which one now! My head is swimming with all the new info!), but I preferred the look and feel of the Nikon, plus the guy said that the Nikons performance was slightly better. although I spotted a Canon EOS 70D and liked it a LOT! But about £400 over budget lol.
So..... I think I've made my decision! Nikon D3300!
 
JessicaMay said:
Is this the type of memory card I need?

Thanks Wave. I've done a bit of research online, and comparable Canon cameras are coming up way above my budget. So I need to limit the choice to ones I can afford really.
I've been to currys, they had a Nikon d3300 but not a d5300.
Had a good play around with it, and I was very pleased with the weight of it, how it felt, the buttons, etc. so I think ill likely go for that one. The guy in the shop said there wasn't a great deal of difference between the two models (except the 5300 had a bigger screen, buttons slightly different) so I think I'll go for the d3300. I did pick up a Sony one that was around my price range (although I can't remember which one now! My head is swimming with all the new info!), but I preferred the look and feel of the Nikon, plus the guy said that the Nikons performance was slightly better. although I spotted a Canon EOS 70D and liked it a LOT! But about £400 over budget lol.
So..... I think I've made my decision! Nikon D3300!
Click to expand...

Yep, SD cards come in a variety of capacities but a Sandisc Extreme Pro is a good 'un.

Again, match the cost to your budget, but beware not to buy from ebay or other potentially dodgy sources, as there are a lot of forgeries of cards out there and they may not perform or have the capacity they claim.
 
Get your head round p s a m and understand what they all do, learn about exposure and practice, you'll soon get the hang of it and above all- enjoy
 
JessicaMay said:
, plus the guy said that the Nikons performance was slightly better. !
Click to expand...


just so you know the guy was talking out his arse - the nikon/canon thing is as old as the hills and neither one is 'better' both have strengths and weaknesses for a pro, but for a beginner ether will be fine (as will a sony, a pentax, and or various other makes, xxx is better roughly translates as 'we have a surfeit of these in the stock room'

that said there's nothing wrong with the 3300. - what lens are you going to get with it ?
 
JessicaMay said:
Thank you petert I have no idea what p s a m is lol
Click to expand...

program , aperture priority, shutter priority, and manual (different modes for controlling the camera)

Program - the camera picks the exposure it thinks you need but you can alter either value (this isnt the same thing as full auto (usually shown as a green square where the camera does its own thing with no input from you)

Aperture priority - you select what aperture you want, the camera matches it with the appropriate shutter speed (based on the meter reading )

shutter priority- you pick the shutter speed , the camera matches it with the appropriate aperture

Manual - you set both shutter and aperture, the camera usually shows you how close to the 'right' (or what it think is right) exposure you are with a scale at the bottom of the view finder

an extensive quantity of cobblers is talked about which of these is best - some people (many of whom generally spend a lot of their time stroking their beards) will tell you that you aren't a proper photographer if you don't use M - these people are morons though and i take little notice of them.
 
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Hi big soft moose.

He didn't mean Nikons are better than Canon - just that out of the two id picked up (the only canon there in my price range - the EOS 1200) the 3300 was slightly better performance wise than the canon, and after looking on line, comparison reviews between the two seems to say the same thing.

There is. Kit I was looking at, it's the 3300 with an 18 - 55 VR II lens :)
 
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JessicaMay said:
Hi big soft moose.

He didn't mean Nikons are better than Canon - just that out of the two id picked up (the only canon there in my price range - the EOS 1200) the 3300 was slightly better performance wise than the canon, and after looking on line, comparison reviews between the two seems to say the same thing.
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Hes still talking out of his arse - better performance depends on what you want to do with it plus for a beginner it will be a long while before the technical limitations of either camera are the limiting factor in the quality of the shots you are getting.
 
I'll take your word for it. I guess he was pushing for the more expensive camera anyway lol.
 
JessicaMay said:
There is. Kit I was looking at, it's the 3300 with an 18 - 55 VR II lens :)
Click to expand...

you mentioned you were going to currys to look at them - are you buying this there ?

I just mention this because currys are £348 for a D3300 (laughably claiming that this is a £41 discount) , Jessops are £319 for the same kit , Hdew (grey import but a good rep) are £275
 
Oh no, won't be buying at currys, that was the plan at first, but earlier today I found HDEW I've done a lot of research into them this afternoon and emailed them asking them to explain a few things, so have decided to go with them :)
 
Just so you know Jessica you won't be entitled to the cash back offer from Nikon if you buy from HDREW and won't have the UK warranty (I am in no way saying don't buy from them and they give there own warranty) and by all the reviews I looked at seem a great company to deal with, just giving you the heads up, I was going to buy from them but I had a voucher for currys and also got a free battery grip lol
 
camcap said:
Just so you know Jessica you won't be entitled to the cash back offer from Nikon if you buy from HDREW and won't have the UK warranty (I am in no way saying don't buy from them and they give there own warranty) and by all the reviews I looked at seem a great company to deal with, just giving you the heads up, I was going to buy from them but I had a voucher for currys and also got a free battery grip lol
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Hdew are the only grey importer i'll recomend - there are cheaper deals around, but its a sliding scale against reliability of service and the chance of things going wrong.
 
This is the email they sent me... They seem to be saying I'll be covered by Nikon for the first year?

I also figured I wouldn't get the cash back, but it still works out cheaper from HDEW.



We import our stock from outside the UK, which is the term used 'Grey Import'. All of the products we sell are UK specification i.e. correct manual, plug, camera languages etc. We do not class our stock as a 'Grey Import' as it comes with a warranty valid in the UK and is sold to UK specification.

The camera body comes with a three year warranty, which covers you for mechanical faults, breakdown, parts and labour and this will be repaired in the UK through a Nikon Repair agent. The first year of the warranty is a Nikon International warranty and the next two years will be with us as your retailer. The lenses come with a one year manufactures warranty which covers you for the same faults.

The stock is brand new and unused. The camera box is opened on arrival to us, to ensure the correct UK charger and manual is included. However, the items are unused.

Our stock does not come with a Yellow Nikon warranty card as we do import the stock and the cards are country specific. For the warranty if the product developed a fault you would simply contact us, and if it's not an issue we can help with in the office we give you all the contact and delivery information for the Nikon approved repair centre we use. For this, all you need is the invoice from us, which acts as your UK proof of purchase, and a cover letter explaining the problem. You will also have an A6 card in the box detailing 3rd-party guarantor details, who would come in to effect if we were to go out of business.
 
big soft moose said:
Hdew are the only grey importer i'll recomend - there are cheaper deals around, but its a sliding scale against reliability of service and the chance of things going wrong.
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Couldn't agree with you more mate as I said I would of brought my d7200 off them but I had a free voucher which brought the price down to pretty much the same and it also meant I could send of for my free battery grip
 
tbh i wouldnt worry about it - I've had 7 DSLRs now and I've never needed the warranty (which is just as well as i bought 3 of them second hand), and hdew are reputable as grey dealers go so they will help you if anything did go wrong
 
Eeeeeek. Ordered it just now. Very very excited!!
You'll probably see A LOT from me asking a million and one different questions lol.

I go on holiday middle of august, so I'm hoping to have learned just enough to take some nice pics of our holiday.

I have a Great Dane who is very used to posing for me to take pics on my phone - and is also very photogenic - (I'm a bit snap happy and have 3,800 on my phone - not all of Delilah!) so I'll be practicing every day or near enough :)
 
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