New camera question

anoble1

New member
Hi guys,
I am a newbie. Looking to buy a camera to take high res photos with of small items at work and work with Photoshop. Costco has a D7500 with (AF-P DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Lens) and (AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR Lens) for $1,000.


Looking on eBay I saw a D810 with a Nikon 50mm 1.8D lens & 80-200mm 4.5-5.6 D for about $1,000 with 53,500 shutter clicks.


What do you guys recommend? I am looking to take maybe TOPS a few hundred photos a year.
 

nickt

Senior Member
D810 is a lot of camera, probably not your best choice for a beginner's limited use setup. D7500 is ok but many prefer the fading away d7200. How small are the items? A shoe may be considered small for some, or are we talking bug size? If very small, you might need a macro lens. If things are a little bigger than bugs you can get away a regular lens. Maybe you don't even need a fancy dlsr camera. Tell us more about what you need to photograph.
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
53,000 actuations and $1,000 for a D810 with all those lenses tells me two things.

1. 53,000 clicks is a lot
2. the price is extremely low...that tells me welllllllll used and abused...
 

Nalani

New member
I just purchased the d7500 from Costco. I had the d7200 but the door to the card slot was broken. Weighing repair costs vs new camera...I bought the new one and I'm THRILLED with the updates! I shoot mostly live music pictures in various lighting conditions using the Sigma Zoom 18-250 mm.
 

nickt

Senior Member
Sizes from a spray can to a 6’ x 3’ rubber track. Along with family photos, activities, nature.
No macro lens needed. The costco kit could be nice. A d7500 body with no lens is $800, so you are getting 2 lenses for $200. Think on it and see if that is $200 well spent. Some of us are disappointed in the d7500 because it seems a step down from the d7200. It is still a good camera though.
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

I agree, you don't need a macro lens for what you are shooting. However, the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Lens is far from the sharpest lens available so I would really recommend skipping the costco deal> Also a agree the Eday deal scares me so I would instead recommend looking for a good D7200 deal with a good lens.
 

anoble1

New member
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, 7200 looks a little better in some aspects.
I see some prices for the D750 & D610 similar in range. Would you guys take the D750 or D610 over the D7200?
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I just purchased the d7500 from Costco. I had the d7200 but the door to the card slot was broken. Weighing repair costs vs new camera...I bought the new one and I'm THRILLED with the updates! I shoot mostly live music pictures in various lighting conditions using the Sigma Zoom 18-250 mm.

You might have been able to get a replacement door via ebay and install it yourself. I *think* a few people here have done that. Hope the D7500 is working out for you.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, 7200 looks a little better in some aspects.
I see some prices for the D750 & D610 similar in range. Would you guys take the D750 or D610 over the D7200?

If you don't really need the crop factor (DX) for birds and such, either the D750 or D610 offers a better sensor. The D750 has a rear screen that can be pulled out if you are working low to the ground or at unusual angles. Good luck with whatever you choose.
 

editorial_use_only

Senior Member
Somewhere in the thread, you switch from "D7500" to "D7200". D7200 is 24MP. D7500 is 20.9MP.

Yes, I would prefer either the D750 or D610 to the D7200 or the D7500. For what I shoot. For the subjects you are talking about, I don't think it will make much of a difference to be honest. You mention wanting "high-res" and the D7200 may be the best bet there. It has the smallest pixel pitch. But I think all of the cameras will do fine, and frankly I think all of them are probably overkill.

For whatever it's worth: 10 years ago, I had to shoot a high volume of flat copy work. Like, 20000 (twenty thousand) frames. I didn't want to put that on my D3. And it was unnecessary. So I bought a $90 Canon point-and-shoot. I can't remember what it was, 8MP or something. But the key was not the camera. It was the lighting. I set up studio lighting and lit everything carefully and that little Canon P&S did great. You couldn't tell the shots were from a cheap camera. I didn't need the performance of a D3. And that's the secret. For what you are talking about, it's the lighting not the camera. With good lighting, any decent modern digital camera will get you a great shot. If you can control the lighting, I doubt you need a D810 or D7200 for what you are talking about. And with small objects, that is where you can and you should control the lighting. You could buy a $100 Canon PowerShot 20MP camera. It's not exciting, but it's probably all you need. And with crappy lighting, a D810 isn't going to magically make beautiful photos for you. You are just going to end up with more expensive photos in crappy lighting.

Now if you are going to shoot other things, architecture, events, portraits, then it's a different story.

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, 7200 looks a little better in some aspects.
I see some prices for the D750 & D610 similar in range. Would you guys take the D750 or D610 over the D7200?
 
Top