back to DSLR but what?

M

mak1

Messages
239
Name
Mike
Edit My Images
Yes
After a few years break from having a DSLR i'm now considering taking the plunge again.

My history is Canon 10d - loved it and had to sell it and my kit due to redundancy

Nikon D200 - sold after having next to no time due to work / family commitments so it wasn't being used

Both brought second hand.

The only equipment I have is the Nikon 50mm f1.8D lens which I kept hold of as I loved it and for the price I would get it hardly seemed worth selling it.

However I have no particular draw towards Nikon or Canon and will probably go second hand again.

So I guess my question is what would people recommend as the best value all round DSLR for someone that doesn't have a particular subject they are drawn to? I've considered everything from a second hand D90 for ~£200 to get me started again to a new D750 at ~£1500! I'm just going round and round in circles looking at things! Sensible head would probably be D90 or D300s and then see where it takes me but I don't usually do sensible!
 
I've owned a D40, D70, D90, D700 and currently a D800. Also had a couple of Canon DSLRs along the way.

Bang for buck, I reckon you should aim for a D700. Probably get a decent one for under £600 these days - and it's full frame and still a cracking camera. Your 50mm will be fine with it to start with and since you have considered spending £1500 on a D750 you will still have £900 spare - that would easily sort you out with a used 24-70, best all rounder lens out there, in my opinion.
 
If your not attached to any particular brand you could try and decide which particular lenses you want to use ,and then work backwards to find a particular camera body. E.g. You might like the new nikon 1.8g primes. Or you might want to use the highly regarded canon 2.8 zooms etc
 
IMO the best bang or buck if looking at new cameras is the D750. Canon have fallen quite a way behind in terms of sensor performance, even their new 5DS only has the same dynamic range as compact cameras such as the RX100, and less DR than the m4/3 system. Some say Canon have better lenses, but this is subjective. That's not to say they're bad cameras because they are not, they are great. It's just a bug bear of mine that they continue to bring out cameras with sub par performance.

If I was buying new it would be between the D750 and D810. Second hand I would still consider these but I'd also consider the D610 and D700. I'd also consider a used 5DIII if you can find one at a good price.
 
Last edited:
I've read a lot on here and other sites, keep seeing the older second hand FF stuff for sale but once you get over £600 (which most decent condition ones are) then they don't seem to make much economic sense when you consider a grey D750 can be had for little more than £1k with 3 year warranty....

Won't be rushing into anything but i think I've decided paying anymore than £350-£400 for a second hand camera is daft so that means D300s or go new
 
snerkler said:
Some say Canon have better lenses, but this is subjective.
Click to expand...
Shhh! Don't tell those guys who measure sharpness, distortion, AF speed, chromatic aberration, and stuff like that, and who construct MTF charts. They'd be gutted to know they're wasting their time because it's subjective.
 
What kind of photography do you think you will be doing? Or rather, is there anything you know you won't be doing?
 
Last edited:
StewartR said:
Shhh! Don't tell those guys who measure sharpness, distortion, AF speed, chromatic aberration, and stuff like that, and who construct MTF charts. They'd be gutted to know they're wasting their time because it's subjective.
Click to expand...
Well that tells you a lot, but not everything. Whilst we all look at how sharp a lens is, and how much CA there is etc etc this still doesn't tell us how they render, what the bokeh will look like, how much 'pop' there is etc etc. I will never buy a lens purely on test scores and always want to see a good variation of sample images first. For example, the Nikon 58mm has areas where it doesn't score as well as the price would suggest, yet the final results are stunning.
 
frod said:
What kind of photography do you think you will be doing? Or rather, is there anything you know you won't be doing?
Click to expand...

Previously I tended to gravitate towards landscapes, architecture and close up things (although never did get a macro lens). I'd also like to give street a try but never plucked up the courage before!

To be honest I don't have one area I could pick out as being a particular interest (which is probably a bad thing) so whatever I get will ideally be a good all-rounder
 
mak1 said:
Previously I tended to gravitate towards landscapes, architecture and close up things (although never did get a macro lens). I'd also like to give street a try but never plucked up the courage before!

To be honest I don't have one area I could pick out as being a particular interest (which is probably a bad thing) so whatever I get will ideally be a good all-rounder
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with not having a specific subject. I certainly don't and enjoy doing all sorts. For landscapes it's a good idea to get a camera with good dynamic range, and it also helps if you have good recovery in processing too. Sorry to keep harping on about it, but the D750 is a great all-rounder (arguably the best). It helps that it's lighter than most FF DSLR's too. DR and PP recovery is so good that I've stopped bracketing images in landscapes now (barring some extreme situations)
 
mak1 said:
Previously I tended to gravitate towards landscapes, architecture and close up things (although never did get a macro lens). I'd also like to give street a try but never plucked up the courage before!

To be honest I don't have one area I could pick out as being a particular interest (which is probably a bad thing) so whatever I get will ideally be a good all-rounder
Click to expand...

For those subjects you might also consider MILC, nothing there is the preserve of bulky DSLRs.
 
frod said:
For those subjects you might also consider MILC, nothing there is the preserve of bulky DSLRs.
Click to expand...

Not for me frod, although I don't have large hands I prefer the "bulk" (as you put it!) of a DSLR as it provides better ergonomics. If I want a smaller camera to carry about I have that in a Fuji X10
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top