Advice on what to buy next

M

makinsphoto

Senior Member
Had my D750 for years purchased new, shutter count is about 70k. I used it almost daily for real estate photography and weekends for wildlife and landscapes, mostly daylight but sometimes low light as well. In the middle of a job my auto focus quit working and the lens became stuck on the camera. I shipped it to Nikon Service but it'll be a week or more until I get a repair quote from them. I am going on vacation in less than 2 weeks as well. So maybe fixing my camera is affordable and worth it vs buying a new camera, well there's a small chance I'll get it back before I leave for vacation. So I'm thinking about buying a used or refurbished camera and then using my broken one as a backup after it's fixed (if it's worth the cost). My current backup which i never use is a crop sensor D5200.

So my question would be should i look at a used/refurbished D750, D780 or D850? I am on a budget, didn't expect to have to buy another camera for some time. Best bang for my buck out of these 3 and should i go used/refurbished or new?
 
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BF Hammer

BF Hammer

Senior Member
Personally, I would just use the D5200. It is a backup after all.

But, I cannot recommend buying a new F-mount DSLR even if the prices drop. All scuttlebutt says Nikon has stopped manufacture of F-mount bodies a while ago. Mirrorless Z-mount is the future.

I currently have a D750 that is a 2nd camera, and a Z5 which is the primary. I am very slowly working to replace the F-mount lenses with Z-mount, and the D750 will get traded-in for a Z8 sometime in the future. In the meantime I use the FTZ adapter to use the older lenses. The Z5 was available as body-only for $1000 this past month, but I think the sale ended this weekend (Just checked, through June 2). May want to look at that (but skip the kit with 24-50mm lens, still cannot figure why that lens exists). Z5 can really be thought of as a mirrorless D750. About the same specs on most things. Uses 2 SD cards like a D750, same battery, same remote shutter release, etc. It does not have the top LCD display, all the auto preset programs, nor pop-up flash. Burst mode is a bit slower too. But you gain the mirrorless features, in-body image stabilization, and touch-screen control. AF is mostly the same, but no 3D tracking on Z5.

And if the thought of mirrorless gives you a rash, used D850 prices are coming down.
 
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M

makinsphoto

Senior Member
BF Hammer said:
Personally, I would just use the D5200. It is a backup after all.

But, I cannot recommend buying a new F-mount DSLR even if the prices drop. All scuttlebutt says Nikon has stopped manufacture of F-mount bodies a while ago. Mirrorless Z-mount is the future.

I currently have a D750 that is a 2nd camera, and a Z5 which is the primary. I am very slowly working to replace the F-mount lenses with Z-mount, and the D750 will get traded-in for a Z8 sometime in the future. In the meantime I use the FTZ adapter to use the older lenses. The Z5 was available as body-only for $1000 this past month, but I think the sale ended this weekend (Just checked, through June 2). May want to look at that (but skip the kit with 24-50mm lens, still cannot figure why that lens exists). Z5 can really be thought of as a mirrorless D750. About the same specs on most things. Uses 2 SD cards like a D750, same battery, same remote shutter release, etc. It does not have the top LCD display, all the auto preset programs, nor pop-up flash. Burst mode is a bit slower too. But you gain the mirrorless features, in-body image stabilization, and touch-screen control. AF is mostly the same, but no 3D tracking on Z5.

And if the thought of mirrorless gives you a rash, used D850 prices are coming down.
Click to expand...
I don't think I'm ready to make the switch to mirrorless. I'm old school prefer holding a DSLR. My D5200 is really no good to me, doesn't work with my current flash setup I need for work, so I'm out of a job until I can get another camera. Another camera i was looking at was the D7500 looks good for cheap but of course I prefer full frame.
 
D'Grump

D'Grump

Senior Member
makinsphoto said:
Had my D750 for years purchased new, shutter count is about 70k. I used it almost daily for real estate photography and weekends for wildlife and landscapes, mostly daylight but sometimes low light as well. In the middle of a job my auto focus quit working and the lens became stuck on the camera. I shipped it to Nikon Service but it'll be a week or more until I get a repair quote from them. I am going on vacation in less than 2 weeks as well. So maybe fixing my camera is affordable and worth it vs buying a new camera, well there's a small chance I'll get it back before I leave for vacation. So I'm thinking about buying a used or refurbished camera and then using my broken one as a backup after it's fixed (if it's worth the cost). My current backup which i never use is a crop sensor D5200.

So my question would be should i look at a used/refurbished D750, D780 or D850? I am on a budget, didn't expect to have to buy another camera for some time. Best bang for my buck out of these 3 and should i go used/refurbished or new?
Click to expand...
I would vote for the 750, as you already know it and are comfortable using it. Maybe the 780 if the button placement and menus are the same (or close to) the 750. The 850 is a different beast altogether, and if you need to be productive right out of the box, the 850 might require a steep learning curve. All 3 are good cameras, and if your 750 was doing what your jobs require, then there’s no reason to go mirrorless at this time.
Andy (also an old skool DSLR bigot!)
 
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