Decisions, decisions....

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
I find myself in the unfamiliar position of having a little bit of money to play with. Not having to commute a hundred miles a day to work since COVID restrictions kicked in last May has meant close to a hundred dollars a week saved just in gas money. Not to mention no yearly brake job, lunch expenses, etc.

I've been squirreling away a bit here and there over the last few months as a result, and I can see that if I keep this up I may actually have enough to purchase either my dream camera (D500, albeit used), or one good lens (I have 4 mostly kit lenses, and all cost under a hundred dollars except my 40mm Nikkor Micro at $125). I'm talking around $900 to be spent overall, if my calculations are correct.

What do member here think would be the better choice: a D500 with inferior lenses, or a D5500 with a better lens?

My heart is leaning towards the D500 for a couple of reasons: weather resistant body (lot of rain and snow here), FPS (I'd like to do BIF), and features like high speed sync, etc. But would that body be wasted if it was mated to lenses that weren't able to showcase the body's better sensor, et al? (I did entertain thoughts of the D7200/7500, but that D500 really is what I want.)

I'd love to hear any and all thoughts. Thanks!
 

nickt

Senior Member
I think the textbook answer is to buy better glass. But we are also talking about two different user interfaces here. The menu diving d5500 and easy access buttons of a d500 or even a d7x00. So you might have more fun with a camera that you can quickly tweak on the fly along with the top lcd so you can quickly see where you are set. I'm a very technical guy and I don't feel artsy at all about photography. For me, I'm taking a 'measurement' and the easy access controls and top lcd let me take that measurement in the most efficient way. You would be moving up to a body with a focus motor too, so maybe more used lens choices too.
 

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
"but that D500 really is what I want" So do it. My thoughts are the lenses will preform about the same on either camera the sensor resolution being about the same. Then hope for the 2k stimulus and get a 200-500 to slap on it and your set for BIF. Or you can just send me the money and save making all those hard decisions. :D
 

Peter7100

Senior Member
I think it depends on what you are mainly shooting. If it is mainly fast moving subjects I would go for D500. However as stated already quality glass in the majority of cases will in most cases yield better results. Don’t know if I can mention this here :) but I own some really quality Canon lenses that I use on two fairly old bodies and they produce superb images. This is the problem with photography, there always seems to be so many choices that require lots of our money. Is there is an option to keep saving and eventually get both by trading in some of your existing lenses?
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
I think it depends on what you are mainly shooting. If it is mainly fast moving subjects I would go for D500. However as stated already quality glass in the majority of cases will in most cases yield better results. Don’t know if I can mention this here :) but I own some really quality Canon lenses that I use on two fairly old bodies and they produce superb images. This is the problem with photography, there always seems to be so many choices that require lots of our money. Is there is an option to keep saving and eventually get both by trading in some of your existing lenses?


Thanks Peter. Lol, I remember my dad - a small plane pilot - used to say "If god had meant man to fly, he would have given him more money." I don't think photography is too far behind that sometimes.

I really would like to get both. I don't think even selling all my lenses would allow that (the 18-55mm kit lens for instance sells for all of 70-ish dollars on retail sites I've seen, and the others aren't much more). I'm more or less hoping that my saving streak will continue for another year, when I can then get the item I didn't get this first go-round. It sounds odd, but I'm almost hoping the COVID lockdown here continues for that reason alone!
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
I think the textbook answer is to buy better glass. But we are also talking about two different user interfaces here. The menu diving d5500 and easy access buttons of a d500 or even a d7x00. So you might have more fun with a camera that you can quickly tweak on the fly along with the top lcd so you can quickly see where you are set. I'm a very technical guy and I don't feel artsy at all about photography. For me, I'm taking a 'measurement' and the easy access controls and top lcd let me take that measurement in the most efficient way. You would be moving up to a body with a focus motor too, so maybe more used lens choices too.

Those are all excellent points. Thank you very much for the considered reply.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
As @nickt mentioned, the usual answer is to put the money into glass - plus his thoughts about being able to use older AF-D glass (lenses without focus motors) opens up a greater choice for preowned gear. But with your two options, I too feel a D500 would work well for you. Just being able to use the buttons and wheels to make setting changes rather than to go into the menu of your D5500 would give you faster changes and more time to shoot on the fly.

The Nikon f/4 Trinity of lenses are amazing for less money than their f/2.8 counterparts. Of course they are still somewhat expensive when sticking to a budget - but they are lenses you might want to consider down the road. The Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR is a decent lens, too, and was my first telephoto purchase when I switched to a DSLR. If you are into macro, some people here have used the Tamron 90mm macro lens. Since you wouldn't be switching from DX to FX, you can continue to use the glass you have now. Photo editing software can do amazing things to enhance images that might not be quite up to par.

Ultimately you need to weigh the pros and cons of each option. :encouragement:
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
Ultimately you need to weigh the pros and cons of each option. :encouragement:

That is indeed correct. But as usual, when I'm mulling over what seems like an infinite number of considerations, my mind starts to fog over and I feel a bit overwhelmed. It's tough to be objective when it's my money on the line, lol. If someone were to ask me the same question, and I didn't have a dog in the fight, I'm sure I could come to an (obvious) conclusion quickly. That's why I asked the group here. And I'm glad I did :)
 

nickt

Senior Member
Adorama out of stock on D500's. B&H out of stock. Allen's in PA out of stock. Amazon has 16. They had 18 two hours ago. I bet you know all this already.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6.......::what::

Its fun spending other people's money.:)

I got mine in June. I dispensed with all my usual month long debate with myself, hopped out of bed one night, ordered, and had a good night's sleep.
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
I would seriously consider a refurbish D7200. This would leave some money towards better glass and also give you a very powerful camera.
 

BF Hammer

Senior Member
I am going to just throw out some of my thoughts. These are my experience, I am not going to just repeat what the experts tell us is true on YouTube. I have experience in some matters that contradict.

First of all, my first DSLR was a D80. I held the D80 and the D40 in my hands at the store when I did my shopping. I knew the extra money spend on the D80 would suite me much better for the controls, top LCD, and the autofocus screw drive motor. I never felt different about that as I moved up to a D7000 and most recently a D750. But I wish I had been able to afford full-frame even sooner. I actually spent a long time choosing the D7000 as I considered an FX upgrade all those years ago. But I still have and use the D7000. The crop factor does make sense when doing long telephoto work.

Older D type autofocus lenses are slow to focus. Intolerably slow if you have been accustomed to only lenses with internal motors. There is a reason why you can buy them fairly cheap. And old lenses can make your photos look like they are taken on an old camera. They don't have the same optical coatings on them as modern lenses. When you get into a situation where there is some lens-flaring, old lenses will give ugly magenta-green colors on the flares. That is the color of doped silicon. If you wonder why they do it on a DSLR and not so much on a film camera, just look at a bare DSLR sensor. There is where the magenta-green color is coming from. Light is reflecting from the sensor to the back lens element. This is something that gets controlled better with a new lens that has optical coatings meant for a digital camera. Film is dull, flat brown and does not give that kind of reflection, thus old lenses never needed that kind of treatment. I don't use old lenses anymore. But I have had several of those older kind when I started out to save money. Just something I learned that the experts don't talk about. It was (and continues to be) a happy day in my home when I finally replaced my old 1990's Tamron 90mm f/2.5 AF with the most modern f/2.8 017 version they make now.

So the answer I say is find a way to do both. It will likely mean considering this to be a piece-meal project and you will not be rewarded with better photos immediately. Truth be told, good lenses outlive DSLR bodies. If you buy good glass now, the D500 may be something you might pass over and instead look at something else at a later date. But if you want that burst shooting now, then the glass may need to be put off.
 

Roy1961

Senior Member
Contributor
buy the D500 and save for a new lens......

Go for what your heart tells you to, if you always wanted a D500 get it, you will regret it if you buy something else.

i waited a year to get mine, another year for my new lens, as they say "it come to those who wait".
 
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