I would tell you the 18-140mm. My girlfriend has shot with a D5300 for some time now so I've had a lot of opportunity to shoot it alongside a D7100. The 18-140 handles and shoots beautifully on both of those bodies. So again, yes; I'm saying the D5300 is worth the extra money based on the feature set it offers. I'm not really advising you which camera to buy, though; I'm simply giving you my opinion, based on my experience.
I read that the 18-55mm have better image quality comparing to 18-140.
Zoom lenses, typically, are a juggling act of IQ versus focal length. The 18-55mm may give better IQ, but how MUCH better and it also has the more limited focal range. You have to weigh for yourself how important each factor in the equation is, and go from there. The 18-55mm is a great little lens but having shot both, I prefer the 18-140mm for the extra reach.
Well you have a lot of options. As a mechanic friend of mine says, "How much money do you have and how fast do you want to go?" If it were me and budget was of concern, I'd pair the 18-140mm with the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR and have probably 99% of my shooting covered with two lenses. If budget was of no concern I'd pair the D5300 with a Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM Art and a Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD. But that's me... This is a very subjective topic, though, and there are several things to be considered.
I'm a huge advocate of auto-focus fine tuning but saying, "you are always shooting out of focus pictures because you have no [auto-focus fine-tuning]" is nonsense.
That's making me doubt about the D5300 lol ... it can't be that big of a difference
Don't listen to him. There are tolerances within both the camera and the lens, depending on where the actual measurements line up to those tolerances sometimes you can get a combination of lens and camera that consistently front or back focus. But there are other factors at play, motion of the object, front/back lit, low contrast setting etc.
I started with a 5200 and started picking up lenses from there. Fantastic camera, great image quality, and the user interface on the back was extremely helpful.
The GUI looked like this
The three main settings changed on the screen as you changed them in the camera to help you have a better idea of what is going on. I found that very very very useful when i first started this journey.
Plenty of people recommend glass over a body. I'll chime in too. Every lens i have bought in the last few years i still own and use. I've gone through a few camera bodies now but i've kept my lenses. I've never used an 18-140mm, but the 18-55 that came with my D5200 was so-so in image quality.
Since your mostly interested in landscapes, the lenses will be more important. So a refurbed 5300 will allow you to get a Sigma 10-20 or Tokina 11-16.
This is no different than any Ford vs Chevy or Mac vs PC discussion, lots of useful opinions and lots of chaff. Go spend some hands on time with the cameras in a shop, or go out to a camera club meet and see if you can get some hands on experience with them. That will be a better determinator for what will work for you.
I'm enjoying this whole thread with the various recommendations.
It is indeed very subjective and at the end of the day it could take months to squeeze the trigger.
Just do it already - all the models mentioned are great. If possible buy f2.8 lenses.
A tripod is not essential and can be picked up for next to nothing second hand to tide you over.
Now hurry up please I want to know what you decide on ...
Never owned an 18-140. That came out with the D7100 i think. At that point i had already bought a Sigma 17-70 2.8-4 C so i bought the body only D7100.
