I need to upgrade and would appreciate your recommendations

MarkydeSad

MarkydeSad

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I'm particularly looking for excellent ISO performance and superb IQ

Video and live view don't really interest me

I'm prepared to spend £1000 on the body - £1500 at a push

I'll buy lenses as funds become available ;)

Any suggestions?
 
If high ISO and IQ are your priorities I think you'd be hard pushed to beat the Nikon D300.

If you can stretch your budget then I'd recommend the D700 (I sold my D300 to get this and haven't looked back) which you might pick up used for around £1500 (if you're lucky). I find both cameras unrivaled for high ISO performance in their price range

I'd recommend Nikon ahead of Sony if only because of the huge number of superb and easily obtained lenses - I'm also a horribly biased Nikon fan!

The good news is there have never been so many excellent cameras to choose from - the bad news is it makes picking one very difficult.

Good luck and enjoy whatever you go for
 
I moved from Sony A100 to Nikon D300 and have only regretted the fact I had a range of lenses with the Sony. I had to go down to one lens to get the D300. Still worth it in the end but it can be difficult to start again from scratch if that is the position you will be in?

Paul
 
Absolutely agree with that - if I didn't have to go to stupid places, a D300 would be more than adequate - really good 'high' ISO performance...
 
MarkydeSad said:
I'm prepared to spend £1000 on the body - £1500 at a push

I'll buy lenses as funds become available ;)

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I looked into this recently myself (upgrading from a 450D) and for that price, as the gents above said, the Nikon D300 stands out from the crowd.
Like Hammerhead64, if i bought it i would have only been able to afford 1 lens also. I bottled out and went for the cheaper 40D in the end but i am still tempted to buy into Nikon.
 
How about an A700?
Only ~£550 these days & with V4 firmware A700/D300 results are indistinguishable.
The D300 is still ultimately the better body but you may well not need the extra 5% or so abilities that it adds & you'll be paying nearly double for it.

Then again an A900 is ~£1600 & has superb IQ but it's optimised for lower ISOs.

P.S. bear in mind that both the A700 & D300 are long in the tooth now & due for replacement.
 
heidfirst said:
How about an A700?
Only ~£550 these days & with V4 firmware A700/D300 results are indistinguishable.
The D300 is still ultimately the better body but you may well not need the extra 5% or so abilities that it adds & you'll be paying nearly double for it.

Then again an A900 is ~£1600 & has superb IQ but it's optimised for lower ISOs.

P.S. bear in mind that both the A700 & D300 are long in the tooth now & due for replacement.
Click to expand...

How does the V4 firmware improve things?
 
Go into Jessops or Jacobs are go try out what you can afford and see what you like the feel of... Choose five or so models in your budget and try them then go back to the reviews and ask the members on here who have what you like, what they like/dislike about their kit... my advice is to put your money towards good glass and think about the body later! The entry level Nikons are good... I am a Canon man but the Nikons have a lot to offer!
 
MarkydeSad said:
How does the V4 firmware improve things?
Click to expand...

it improved the noise at higher ISOs.
The D300 & A700 use essentially the same sensor so it's no surprise that they are capable of similar results.
Certainly worth at least handling an A700 as it will be quite a step up from the A200 (btw if you are using a shop demo unit check that it has the updated firmware).
 
The D300 is "good" at higher ISO's but "excellent" is D700/D3 territory. The full frame FX sensor just blows any crop sensor into a cocked hat.

You should be able to pick up a good 2nd hand D700 for 1500 quid.
 
heidfirst said:
it improved the noise at higher ISOs.
The D300 & A700 use essentially the same sensor so it's no surprise that they are capable of similar results.
Certainly worth at least handling an A700 as it will be quite a step up from the A200.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that :)

I'm a bit of a computer-illiterate. How would I go about installing the firmware?
 
tbh I don't know that too many camera shops will be happy with you updating firmware on their demo unit but http://support.sony-europe.com/dime...aspx?site=odw_en_GB&m=DSLR-A700&f=A700_V4_WIN

how to check firmware version on the body
slide the POWER switch to ON position.
Press the MENU button, then LCD monitor displays menu.
Press the DISP (Display) button while menu is indicated.
A window will show the firmware version on the LCD monitor.
 
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