Going through DTs !!!!

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dh photography

Senior Member
Here I sit, all broken hearted. Came to sh ..... Ooops, wrong story.

I am a bit brokenhearted, though. My misses left out this morning with the kids and in-laws for 5 days. Yay you say? Might be peaceful, but she took the D3200 with her!!! :( I'm besides myself with grief and sorrow already!! The one time I'd have free time in the evenings and all weekend to go take pics .... I'm without a camera. Shameful.

Time to invest in another rig for sure!!!
 
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traceyjj

Senior Member
When I had my Olympus set up, I got so sick of the family borrowing my gear, I upgraded and donated the existing stuff to the family.... trouble is, when I sold up, and moved to Nikon, I had to buy the family a camera, and myself one too. :)
 
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dh photography

Senior Member
You guys are great. Now if any of you care to contact my "minister of finance" and convince her ... I'd be watching the mailbox tmwr. LoL.

Actually, I had been looking into a new set-up the last couple weeks. I can't make up my mind on what to get though. And unfortunately I'm on hold until the 1st for the new purchase anyway. I've set a budget of $1100 or less for body and at least one good lens (other than the kit 18-55 or 55-200).

I can go with a used D5100 or D3200 and a Sigma 150-500 APO - or

I can go with a used D700 or D7100 and a 35 1.8 or 50 1.8 - or

Ahhhhhhh!! The choices are maddening!!
 
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hrstrat57

Senior Member
Used D300 or D300s on KEH

Cheap, killer and pro!

No way I would ever be with just one camera in the house.

(the minister of finance or as I call it budget police is in this case the guilty party, she stole your camera)

Edit:

Notice you have the Nikkor DX kit duo, they just pop on the D300 I am shocked and pleased at how good they are on the D300....
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
That is a wide range of models and lenses! You might need to narrow it down a bit to help you decide. I'd suggest going by what you enjoy photographing most, and the decide which models have what your wanting to accomplish that with. :)
I'd start by asking myself if I wanted a pro feature model, with a prime to get the shots I want to take. Or if that will work for ya until you can get a lens that will do the job.

Or ask yourself if a consumer model will fit my wants/needs enough to satisfy you. :)

Also consider what you already have for lenses, before you decide to go full frame like the D700. You won't want to use DX lenses on a FX camera, and the cheaper fx lenses won't AF on your D3200 DX camera. So staying with DX models might be a good idea right now.

Anyway good hunting! I hope you get a great Nikon model for your needs my friend! :D

Dhopper71 said:
You guys are great. Now if any of you care to contact my "minister of finance" and convince her ... I'd be watching the mailbox tmwr. LoL.

Actually, I had been looking into a new set-up the last couple weeks. I can't make up my mind on what to get though. And unfortunately I'm on hold until the 1st for the new purchase anyway. I've set a budget of $1100 or less for body and at least one good lens (other than the kit 18-55 or 55-200).

I can go with a used D5100 or D3200 and a Sigma 150-500 APO - or

I can go with a used D700 or D7100 and a 35 1.8 or 50 1.8 - or

Ahhhhhhh!! The choices are maddening!!
Click to expand...
 
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dh photography

Senior Member
Guess this could quickly turn into a "which camera to buy?" thread. There are a few things I like about the 3200, but being about as entry level as it gets, most any of the choices above would be a step up. Now becomes the time to decide what step up features should be my main goal and which body gives the best bang for my $1K.

There's a used 300s here locally that I can get for just under $700 (body and grip). With it's lower pixel resolution, how does it stack up to a used 7100 for close to the same money or even more?
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
I love my D300. But it depends on what is most important to you. Because it's mostly pro body vs higher tech. Most would say go for the D7100 hands down. But a few like me are very happy with the D300, not needing the higher tech so much and enjoy having a pro body.

I can't answer your question without predigious, since I'm a D300 fan. Sorry buddy. :(
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
Dhopper71 said:
Guess this could quickly turn into a "which camera to buy?" thread. There are a few things I like about the 3200, but being about as entry level as it gets, most any of the choices above would be a step up. Now becomes the time to decide what step up features should be my main goal and which body gives the best bang for my $1K.

There's a used 300s here locally that I can get for just under $700 (body and grip). With it's lower pixel resolution, how does it stack up to a used 7100 for close to the same money or even more?
Click to expand...

If you can afford it go for the 7100 as the ISO performance alone makes it the right choice. That's coming from someone who loved their D300 and still thinks it's one of the best packages Nikon ever made.

On the subject of kit for all the family, my wife and I effectively have duplicate setups albeit she is DX and I'm FX glass and both DX and FX for bodies. That even includes pairs of Nikon 70-200 2.8 and the Tamron 150-600 lenses. Sounds crazy but we go togging together so we always need the same glass at the same time. Even worse and I'm not sure how it happened but my wife actually has some things I don't like a fish eye.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
PS. The difference between the D300 and the D300s is video and an extra card slot. So if you like shooting video then the d300s would be a good choice. Other wise your paying more for just an extra card slot. Both the D300 and D300s are pro bodies and great cameras depending on what your wanting. :)
 
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hrstrat57

Senior Member
Dhopper71 said:
Guess this could quickly turn into a "which camera to buy?" thread. There are a few things I like about the 3200, but being about as entry level as it gets, most any of the choices above would be a step up. Now becomes the time to decide what step up features should be my main goal and which body gives the best bang for my $1K.

There's a used 300s here locally that I can get for just under $700 (body and grip). With it's lower pixel resolution, how does it stack up to a used 7100 for close to the same money or even more?
Click to expand...

If you don't buy it let me know where it is......

KEH EX+ without grip is current $732.

If it is a clean copy dealo for you. Compared to your entry level kit/ cam it will absolutely blow you away...

I have extensively handled D7100 and IMO the D300s is without compare for crop camera, I have relatives that shoot Canon as well and the Nikon D300s is far superior and I have owned or extensively handled all of Sony offerings, the D300s is the bees knees!!

Big ISO shooting doesn't interest me, I plan on owning only fast glass. I shot in gyms with F2's back in the day at ISO 400 and managed a few keepers so I probably have a diff perspective from many, ISO 1000 to me seems positively magical and is more than satisfactory with fast glass.

Handle both if you can before you buy....the difference in feel to me is significant.

The D7100 is a fine piece of kit but not in the same league. Either will be amazing vs. your current gear.

YMMV if course.

Good luck
 
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hrstrat57

Senior Member
btw last I looked KEH had multiple used D7100 at fair prices as well...no need to plop down $1k+ Can save $100 or more.....tho not as discounted as D300's
 
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weebee

Senior Member
I'm going to be feeling your pain here by this weekend if my D3100 sells. I'll be without a DSLR for a couple weeks then when it sells. Won't be too bad though. I'll still have my L820 to monkey around with.
 
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dh photography

Senior Member
Thanks so much for all the replies. I'm 99.9% sure I'm out on going FX. That leaves me in a narrowed quandary of deciding between a d300 and a d7100. Given that I can't afford 2.8 glass now; not within the next year likely, I would be inclined to think the ISO performance would be something very important for me to consider. Other than fps and a bit smaller buffer, I may like the size and feel on the 7100 better. On the other hand, I could get a 300 and a really nice lens for the price of the 7100.

Still needing some help here!! :)
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
If ISO is something you'd put high on your list of things your looking for, the D7100 has great low light performance from what I've heard. I don't shoot much low light shots, and I'm looking to eventually add a D700 to my D300, which will give me pretty good low light ability for my needs.
I'm not sure I can really help you decide like I said before. But both the D300 and the D7100 are great models, and both have great qualities. :)

Dhopper71 said:
Thanks so much for all the replies. I'm 99.9% sure I'm out on going FX. That leaves me in a narrowed quandary of deciding between a d300 and a d7100. Given that I can't afford 2.8 glass now; not within the next year likely, I would be inclined to think the ISO performance would be something very important for me to consider. Other than fps and a bit smaller buffer, I may like the size and feel on the 7100 better. On the other hand, I could get a 300 and a really nice lens for the price of the 7100.

Still needing some help here!! :)
Click to expand...
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
I bought my wife a D300 shortly after it came out and I struggled on with the D70 for a few years. Eventually I bought the D300s. To say we really loved these cameras is an understatement. They are a top quality piece of engineering. However, I eventually went FX with the D800 as the ISO performance was causing some frustration and the D7100 didn't exist at the time.

I kept my D300s for about 9 months after the D800 and it just gathered dust. My wife was still using her original D300. One day we went to a cathedral where I was snapping away with the 800 at ISOs up to 3200 and she was getting rather fed up with all the noise she was getting inside the building. We actually left the cathedral and went to the camera shop opposite and bought a D7100 for her there and then. I don't think she seriously used the D300 again. We eventually sold them, partly for the cash and partly because it was such a shame for them to sit on a shelf. We actually bought a second D7100 with the proceeds so we had a backup between us and I had a crop sensor for wildlife.

My real point is that the D7100 does everything the D300 did plus some extra things and the image quality is in a different league. Unlike the D300 I would be more nervous using the D7100 as a hammer but it's more than robust enough for any normal use. If the D7100 had been out earlier I would have struggled to justify the D800 for my needs. So for us D300 die hards the D7100 was very much an upgrade, except for the buffer. Therefore if you can afford it, get the D7100.

One final point, if you do get a D300s, don't do so for video as it's not very good.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
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dh photography

Senior Member
Thank again for the guidance!!

Geoff - Here's my real dilemma (or at least the one that is continually banging around in my head); I can afford to get a 7100 body. Used is going to run me about $825-850. If I do go that route, I am extremely limited in any lens purchase for me to even use on that body. Certainly wouldn't be getting anything very nice to use.

If I went he route of the 300 or even the 5300; I would have enough for a really nice piece of glass as well. Since the misses does not frequently have the need to take a whole kit for pictures, I'll plan on having access to the kit lenses about 95% of the time. I'm thinking I could then add either a Sigma 150-500 zoom, or a 70-300 and 35 Nikon.

I guess my question is this: am I giving up a tremendous amount between the two; enough to warrant needing to save for a few more months to buy a decent lens to use?
 
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Eyelight

Senior Member
The way I justify every Digital purchase regardless of cost is: The film is virtually free.:)

If you could have any camera outfit you wanted, what would it be? The next purchase needs to lead to that outfit, even if it takes 5-10 years to get That Outfit.

My 2 bits.
 
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