Nikon body for Macro ONLY

[DaveNewman]

morning all, (UK)

im looking for a new Nikon body for Macro only (insects, wildlife, etc etc) this is to accomplish the Sigma 105mm Macro lens.

what body would you guys go for with a little explanation of why??

thanks
dave

 

[BackdoorArts]

I need more information to say for sure, in particular what you will be doing with the photos. Are they for display online only or are you printing them and if so how large? That dictates the sensor size.

Without knowing otherwise I'd point you to a D7200. The DX crop will get you "closer" without actually having to get closer, and the 24MP's will give you 20% more pixels than the D7500 which helps with cropping and enlarging.

 

[DaveNewman]

social media (all on line) not for prints

 

[hark]

I agree with BackdoorArts that a D7200 would be my first choice, too. Since the D7200 is a crop sensor body, that means your subject will appear larger than if you were using an FX body at the same distance. One difference between crop sensor body vs. full frame is how it will affect your depth of field. Since a DX body can be further away from the subject than FX (to yield the same sized subject in your viewfinder), you will have a greater DoF with which to work. Just be aware that with macro, you will be at a very narrow DoF to begin with.

The D7200 has been discontinued but is available preowned or refurbished. B&H has a refurbished one listed on their site. If you are looking for a new body and aren't able to find a new D7200, then my next suggestion would be a D7500. It has a slightly smaller sensor than the D7200 but still has the ability to produce a larger subject in the viewfinder compared with an FX body set at the same distance.

 

[Fred Kingston_RIP]

social media (all on line) not for prints

In that case... ANY Nikon body that's in current production, and many that are not, will be suitable... Macro photography is more dependent on the lens than the body...

Social media only needs JPG at 72dpi which is about the lowest resolution for today's monitors...

 

[TwistedThrottle]

Although I love my D7500 for macro work, I agree with Fred as any Nikon will work. I would steer you to a flippy screen, it makes contorting into pretzels to get the shot a little easier. I do prefer the folding screen I have on the D7500 to no folding screen but the flippy screen like what I had on my previous D5300 was heads and shoulders better than the folding screen. You could put the camera anywhere you wanted and flip that screen perfectly to see what you were shooting. I believe the 3xxx and the 5xxx have the flippy screen. Careful, the D3xxx cant use a remote shutter- you must use your phone. Maybe a deal breaker for macro. Maybe not.

 

[Roscoe Primrose]

For social media, I'd say anything in the D90/D300 generation or newer would be fine from an IQ standpoint, although the older ones won't have flippy screens. For Insects etc. a good lens and a ring flash are a lot more important than which body you use.... A macro plate for your tripod would probably make focusing a lot easier at least with static subjects.

Roscoe

 

[DaveNewman]

at the moment i have the D500 for my zoom lens work and wildlife.

the D7200 isnt expensive at all and nor is the lens im wishing to get to use with it (great reviews on the lens)

body wise, no idea, hence my question....... if the D7200 will do a cracking job along with that lens i mentioned, then im happy with that in all fairness

 

[Fred Kingston_RIP]

at the moment i have the D500 for my zoom lens work and wildlife.

the D7200 isnt expensive at all and nor is the lens im wishing to get to use with it (great reviews on the lens)

body wise, no idea, hence my question....... if the D7200 will do a cracking job along with that lens i mentioned, then im happy with that in all fairness

You have a D500??????? You don't need a separate body just to take Macro... USE the D500 body... Just change the lens... ????????????????

 

[TwistedThrottle]

I assume you want to carry around 2 bodies without changing lenses. I would get the lens first and see how much you like taking macro with the folding screen on your D500. If you dont use the screen and just use the view finder, go with the D7200. If you like the feature go with a second D500 or D7500. Nothing below the 7xxx series is weather sealed, which may be a deal breaker in the wild.

 

[DaveNewman]

morning all,

thanks for the replies..

YES, i have a D500 but im only wanting to use that for long zoom work (wildlife) every on that camera is set, so i dont want to be constantly in the field changing lens, changing settings, putting it all back again, very very much time consuming. Hence why im looking for a new body. Some may call this lazy, but as far as im concerned its about speed and not missing those vital shots.

im in the market to purchase "said" body, so thats the reason why.

the tilt screen on the D500, ive never used it and never required too.

i tend to NOT go out in the rain either, so being weather sealed or not isnt an issue.

so, back to my question, which body would people recommended, D7200?

 

[hark]

....so i dont want to be constantly in the field changing lens, changing settings, putting it all back again, very very much time consuming.

I know you still want a second body, and yes, I'd choose the D7200.

One thing the D500 lacks are the U1 and U2 options that the D7200 and many other Nikon DSLR's have. You can save user settings to either/both U1 and U2. I use this feature a lot especially U2. U2 is programmed for BBF (back button focus), manual mode, and Auto ISO. I also use Aperture Priority a lot which uses the shutter button for focusing and also where I choose my ISO (no Auto ISO used in this mode). All I need to do is to change the mode dial, and my settings are available instantly.

I also have U1 programmed with settings I chose but never use.

I think the D500 has some type of custom settings instead of the U1 and U2 option; however, it would still require you to change lenses.

 

[DaveNewman]

so, at the moment, D7200 is top of the list, unless another body would be better.