Upgrading my Nikon D90? New walk-a-bout lens? Go Mirror-less? Go Canon? (Argh.....)

ERU

ERU

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Hello knowledgeable people,

I'm after some sounds advice...

I have a Nikon set-up: Nikon D90, Nikon 18-200mm, Nikon 35mm, Nikon 12-24mm and associated tripod/bags/filters. But the motor has just 'died' in my 18-200mm! I tried to dismantle it myself but it now seems to 'stick' 100%. Therefore my plan is to sell it on eBay (as spares/repair) and look for another walk-a-bout lens. I was thinking of the Nikon 16-85mm - unless there is a better model on the market for about £400 tops?

This then got me thinking ... what do I use my SLR for? Why does if often stay at home? I'm an active person and, if I'm honest with myself, the D90 SLR often stays at home due to it's bulkiness and weight. I often just carry my Canon S95. Maybe I should get a smaller setup (G16?) that I will be more likely to carry about? Or stick with it and maybe get a Nikon D7100/7200 with a kit lens? Or go Canon for cheaper lens?

I've tried googling about for info on these newish mirror-less cameras, but without using them, find it hard to compare to what my D90 can do. What will I loose? I want high quality photos and a setup that provides this, but am aware I'm not a professional togger. (For example: the 18-200mm was my 'most used' lens with Adobe LR.)

What can you advise is best in 2016? Should I got D7xxx/kit lens or something Mirror-less? Second-hand? Or just get a new lens for the D90? Maybe a prime? Which one?

Budget is £500-700 (as selling the old D90 set-up will be heavily funding this.)

Thanks in advance
A VERY muddled amateur.
 
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Sell the D90 and put that towards getting a new D7200. All your lenses are DX so moving to FX would be too much of a stretch imo.

You could pick up the seemingly half decent 18-140mm when funds allow. The D7200 atm comes with a free official grip from Nikon which is worth around £200 i believe. If the grip is of no use to you then you could sell on and use the cash to fund a new lens.
 
All modern mirrorless cameras have better sensors than your D90 and can do many many more wonderfully clever things. Given what you've said about your usage it sounds like a mirrorless would be more suitable for you too (unless you shoot sports - continuous AF isn't as good as DSLRs yet).

Personally I would (and did) move to mirrorless however, you are invested in Nikon glass so that could sway things quite a bit. The sensible choice would be to just get another lens.
 
CSC's do seem tempting because they are smaller but you can still end with a bag full of stuff so they aren't all that practical and most are still too big to fit in a pocket. I used to have a sony Nex 5 but it was no match for my canon dslr but I do believe they are a lot better now from the like of Fuji, Sony and Olympus. My advice for them is go to a shop and try them out.

Because you still have one or two lenses and accessories I would be tempted to update your body like David suggests and get a new lens when funds allow.

Ofc you could get a high end compact like a rx100 but they have limited zoom range or have a look at a canon G3X which has an insane zoom range. but it all depends on what you use your camera for.

Good luck what ever you decide.
 
I'm swaying towards the D7xxx option. I could sell the lot and get this cheapish looking £770 Nikon D7200 Kit AF-S 18-140mm VR Lens Digital SLR? Not sure how legit the link is tho, but seems ok. But I wouldn't get the free grip, as it's out the UK. I could also opt for a cheaper D7100? Or D7000?

I was looking at the Sony DSCRX100M3 in Jan '15, but eventually decided it wasn't much bang for buck; and would drop massively in price. I also thought it was too similar to my pocketable Canon S95. (Although not as good and I miss RAW.)

What CSC's should I be looking at? Would the 'quality' be light years away (acceptable?) from a D7200 / 18-140mm set-up?


PS: I forgot to say I've got my first baby on the way in a few weeks. This is a massive motivation for making this step. Thinking about it ... I'll probably be able to carry an SLR a bit more than my current lifestyle...
 
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CSCs share the same types of sensors as DSLRs so in terms of image quality they are all comparable although the sensor in the D7200 is the best crop sensor out there.
 
I had a similar quandary. I went with the D7200 as it's not that much bigger than a Fuji XT1 for example. Neither are going to fit in a pocket with a zoom lens attached. M43 from Oly or Panasonic are smaller, but so is the sensor. I used a borrowed D90 before I got the 7200, you'll certainly notice the difference :)
 
|f its any help I am going through a similar excercise.
I have decided to sell most of my Canon gear and go mirrorless, simply for weight reasons.
I have I think settled on the Fuji XT-1 with the 18-135 lens for general use as there is a good offer on at the moment .I will keep my 5DMk2 , Fisheye and TS-E for specialist use and probably pick up a 50mm 1.4 for low light with the 5D
 
Depends how long you need. THE best Zoom lens for DX is the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8. It's obviously a very limited range though.

I would pick the Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 over the new 16-80 jobby.

The 18-140mm is apparently a nice improvement over the older 18-105mm which it replaced.

I would keep the 35mm as it's only worth about £85 second hand but can make your camera a very lightweight small package which can produce excellent results with nice bokeh.
 
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Just doing some thinking/reading about both Nikon D7xxx and Fuji X-T1 systems. Mainly as the Fujifilm X-T1 seems like the strongest contender to a D7200.

I am quite familiar with my Nikon D90, and I use it when I need a reliable, fast work horse or ultimate image quality, AND if I can carry the weight. Images can be fantastic, but I find it harder to get pleasing colors with Lightroom (which I use) than I might with a Fujifilm X-T1. Another very strong point, it seems, is for the Nikon is the CLS Flash system, which is great for off-camera work.

The Fuji would be great for travelling, street photography and whenever I need to go light. I would NOT use it for sports or other fast moving action - as it's rubbish at this! The lenses are great, but the system 'cost' is also very high, and the weight can then also add up. I feel that the X-Trans sensor is sub-par in terms of fine details and textures, however, I have to say I really like the film simulation idea. That said I read a comment about the Fujifilm X-T1 film being unusable.

So again, each system has their strengths and it depends on what's most important for me... Ultimately I'm worried I'd be disappointed with a Fujifilm X-T1???
 
What eventually put me off an XT1 was the cost of extra lenses, and currently, no long tele offering. I used to use a Fuji bridge camera which seemed to focus OK most of the time, I can't imagine the XT1 would be worse than that. D7200 is very quick focussing though + it can pretty much focus in near darkness. Since getting it I've started shooting RAW and using LR, no complaints about colour rendition, seems bang on. Notably better than anything else I've ever used.
 
The X-T1 isn't rubbish at sport photography. It's a very capable body. What lets it down are the long lenses. There aren't any. It's focus tracking with the new AF firmware is excellent.

Another big let down for me was the p*** poor handling of the RAW files in Lr. Adobe need to improve their support for them imo. The film sims are ok in camera but that means shooting JPEG. I prefer shooting RAW so if i wanted to use the film sims then i had to use the camera profiles in Lr. Again, they never got close to what the Fuji could magic up in camera.
 
If you're not taking the d90 out now, cos it's too big, then why bother buying a d7200? Take a look through your photos and see which focal lengths you use most, and go from there. If you can buy a small, light camera and a couple of smaller lenses, you may be more inclined to take your kit out :)

My wife uses a Fuji x-m1 with nothing more than the tiny 27/2.8 pancake lens :)
 
manualfocus-g said:
If you're not taking the d90 out now, cos it's too big, then why bother buying a d7200?
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I'm not sure tbh, maybe it wasn't because it was too big and I needed a break. Time will tell - I've just bought the D7200. I figured I'd see if I do use it over the next year. If not, then I know I need a compact.

Thanks you, all, for the help! It genuinely helped!
 
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I went the same rout a while back, D90 lenses, large kit bag . . . simply to much especialy as one finds that aproaching retirement, it all sounded like a good idea, but when you get there things are not so rose. I bought a Lumix G1, loved it, made the mistake of upgrading and selling the G1, stoped taking pictures for fun and simply used a compact if I needed to. That was a couple or three years ago, now got a bit of mojo back, sold all the desasters that I had been hording and not using. What do I want, more to the point, what can I use, walking any distance is not easy, need light'ish, but want good pictures for the effort I will put in. I like 4/3rds, remember G1, I decided I liked the full twist/tilt screen, not many have it, I like the waist hight view and shooting around corners. The GX7 was atractive to me but it was lacking the twist screen and there were other issues, so no new camera 12 months ago.

Enter the GX8, Panasonic had been listening, twist screen, better EVF, better sensor, better video, 4K grab . . . One issue, it was bigger, when I had a look in my hand, it was not so big, came to hand much nicer than other 4/3 cameras I was looking at on the day. Put a pancake lens on and every thing in the garden was rose, a deal was struck, I even got a bit of discount.

I have not tried it yet . . . I'm strange like that, probably pick up the GX8 'destructions' and start looking this evening, its all about working up to the event, talking about it gives me interest.

So there you are ERU, thats my experiance, perhaps it helps?

CJS
 
banjokat said:
Probably not, He's bought a D7200 :D
Click to expand...

Mmm, I should have looked a little closer . . . However, I've been there, size/weight/lenses etc. I suspect a sideways move for ERU?
In my retirement, I have learned lessons in my verious interest, they all ad up to the same thing . . . 'keep it simple'. then get the best out of what you have, its suprising how much pleasur there is in the simple things in life:)

CJS
 
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