Worth it to go from Sony to Nikon?

Hi guys, this is my first post here!


When I became interested in photography I started out shooting with a fun little D3100. It was great fun and I learned on it for years. I borrowed lenses from family and was amazed at the depth of field I could create outside the kit lens. The sharpness of their lenses really blew me away also.


I had no idea what I was missing out on until I borrowed a full frame camera and some quality glass. A D600, some primes, and 2.8 zooms. I had missed out on so much, and foolishly thought my 35mm APS-C field of view was the same "wide angle" everyone else was seeing on their film and professonal cameras.


I wanted to join the full frame world too, so I gave my D3100 to a family member (was great to learn on I dont regret that camera one second). Instead I purchased a Sony A7 at BestBuy because it was small, light, and cheap, but still full frame. What I didnt know was that most of the lenses for the Sony E mount are for their crop sensor cameras, and they only had about 5 native lenses that could use the full frame system. Their FF lenses are also expensive with the least expensive one being $800 new.


Im considering selling the Sony and returning to Nikon. Is having all of those lenses available worth leaving a system that you find comfortable and ergonomic to you?


There are many pros to the Sony though, one in particular for me is big, I can look through the viewfinder without my glasses on and still see everything sharp and clear because of the EVF. Without glasses in an optical viewfinder I noticed I have a hard time focusing and my eyes strain more. EVF also helped make my manual focus spot on which added a certain joy to photography again. OVF seems somewhat... dim.


I know you guys are a Nikon community and you are probably a little bit biased, but what would you do in my situation. I was considering the D750 because of the size, wifi, and tilting screen.


- 247th

Welcome to the forum,great first post it should be fun reading the answers

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I can't talk about Sony since all I ever owned of them was a walkman but when looking at what they have to offer, I can't say, to me, it is worth leaving Nikon. Maybe that is an indirect answer to your question.

Even if that would change, I doubt I'd ever do a total switch. Many of us invested quite some money in lenses and the larger that investment, the less tempted you are to start from scratch. I'd rather add another brand than drop Nikon. Sure we could sell the lenses and recover money there but what you'd get depends where you live. Here the common lenses are worth very little money and the more expensive are hard to sell. I see one try to sell my 200mm macro for about 4 months now and all that happens is him dropping the price more and more. DX lenses are even worse.

I have the D750 and it's a fantastic cam but I never used the WiFi nor the LCD screen. But I cut my glasses to insert into that viewfinder thingie and see as perfect as I should.

Welcome to the forum!
There has been some healthy debate on the forum recently over Nikon DSLR's and Sony's mirrorless range, so don't worry, it's not anything you said! We have members here who own A7's and Nikon DLSR's so you will get some good advice.

What type of shooting do you do? Is there situations where you could do with a specific focal length or aperture where Sony don't provide coverage?

For @247th. First, welcome to this forum.

I own both a Nikon DX and a Sony A7. I have what I consider to be Sony's Trinity (but not Holy), since I have the Sony mid-range lens instead of the Zeiss. I will tell you this. I love not having to lug my old D610 and the real Nikon Holy Trinities around. The Nikon full frame lenses take beautiful pictures, and I love them. The only problem is I'm going overseas next year and didn't want to lug all that heavy glass. The Nikon 70-200 vr II is one hell of a lens, but it's built like, and as heavy as a tank. The 14-24 mm f/2.8 is another one that takes beautiful pictures, but's it's a bazooka. I didn't care about the lack of being able to put on a lens filter (it's very difficult if not impossible), it took magnificent pictures. Sharp, high resolution, beautiful color pictures. It comes with a price. I couldn't hardly fit my 4 lenses in my backpack. The pack weighed over 30 lbs. That's a lot of weight to lug around.

In the end, I sold my D610 and D7100 and started over with the Sony A7. You can look at my signature to see what I have now accumulated. I don't regret my decision a bit. I regret not buying the Sony in the first place (but I don't tink it was out at the time I bought the D610. I did go back and buy another D7100 and 18-140mm so I will have DX, and a good walk around lens. I don't plan on taking the D7100 overseas with me though.

I also bought highly rated lenses, but I bought all the Nikons used, so I saved some money that way, and they were in top notch condition. No one could have told they were used. They were very clean, and free of any defects. Sure I lost some money trading them back in, but didn't take that big a hit since they were used to begin with. I'm happy now, and love my A7. I think Sony and their A9 Pro line that's soon coming out will probably blow your socks off. I'll let you in on a well known secret. Nikon and several other manufacturers use Sony sensors. I love mirrorless. I hope I saved you some money, but in the end, it's your choice. You'll be happy either way I'm sure. I just hope you don't regret your decision. Being full frame with Nikon is bulky and cumbersome, and a LOT more expensive than Sony's lenses. You get high quality in return. With Sony, you can use any of the lenses in your Nikon arsenal, with the metabones adapter. I will admit I gave that a thought but didn't want a gorilla of a lens on a small mirrorless body. I was willing to sacrifice the f/2.8 for a f/4.0. Good luck. If you have any questions, let me know.

I can see mirror-less being the way forward at some point,i have no idea how my recently purchased Nikon V2 compares with the upmarket models for speed of using,ie how quickly you get the image back in the EVF after taking a picture but i would want a far more responsive camera as my main one.
Could be sony ect are already there in that department,comments on the operating speed would be welcome.

Realize that when you say Sony's lenses are "so expensive" that if you make the jump to Full Frame Nikon then you're not getting into the "cheap lens" arena. Folks like Sigma are making great lenses with Sony mounts, so while the Zeiss stuff ain't cheap (nothing "good" ever is) there are alternatives, with more and more coming every month as Sony gains traction.

Honestly, I love my Nikon full frames. But if I was doing today what I did 4 years ago when I started down this photography road I would have a hard time not choosing Sony, particularly based on the models they just introduced. Mirrorless will supplant the DSLR for the serious amateur and will live along side them for most pros, particularly in the studio.

So, let me get this straight, you want to leave Sony because you think the lenses are to expensive?? Yet, you want to go back to Nikon and stay full frame? I really don't think you are going to get away paying a whole lot less with Nikon. If you think Sony FF glass is expensive, look at Fuji's latest 56mm APD. It's going for $1500 and it's an APS-C lens! Sony has 7 FE lenses right now, ranging from 16mm to 200mm (correct me if i am wrong) and have more in the pipeline. What more do you need?? In regards to price, the difference between the 16-35 Nikon and Sony, is $92 and the Sony is a new release, so it's a given that it may be slightly more expensive. Personally, i see no reason at all for you to switch back to Nikon. But hey, it's your money.

Good things come to those who wait. The Sony full-frame E-mount is new but lenses are coming out here and there, but according to Sony it's here to stay.

I have an A7 as a walk around / traveling camera and I love it. The Sony Trinity that @sonicbuffalo mentioned is quite brilliant (a trinity is really just three zooms which cover 16-200 wide, normal, zoom), sharp from sea to sea, F/4 is just as fast as anyone needs. Even beautiful wedding dance shots are taken at F/4 often. The bokeh is barely any different when shooting on the far end as well, only more noticeable on the short end. I can use my Nikon lenses on manual with the metabones adapter and photo quality is the same. Do I wan't native large aperture primes? Yes. But I'm patient. ; )

I also have a few Nikon Film cameras and a DSLR. That I use as my work horse and for enjoyment.

Here is the Sony FE lens roadmap. I don't like the looks of the converters though.

The Sony lenses will eventually be there. If the Sony camera is what suits you best then I think going Nikon will just have you peeking over at Sony every other day watching what is happening. I personally think you should stick with Sony and wait for the glass. For me, it's not a welcome notion to go Nikon and THEN when Sony finally gets there, having to change an entire ecosystem to convert back to Sony.

It's a very personal decision because your tolerances and expectations could vary wildly to others. Best of luck.

Wow, this being a Nikon community I thought thered be more to moving, but the consensus seems to be the other way around! I dont have much besides the kit lens to be invested on. I know that the upscale Nikon lenses arent cheap, but they are available and can make the background disappear for beautiful shots. It seems like a good bouquet of moderate 1.8 primes, but ive been looking and f4 constant apertures seem to be enouh for many. I should just shut up and shoot. thanks guys!

Really shocked though, this community seems really nice compared to other forums Ive been on. Having a back up economical DSLR like a lot of the others here wouldnt be bad either.

247th said:

Really shocked though, this community seems really nice compared to other forums Ive been on. Having a back up economical DSLR like a lot of the others here wouldnt be bad either.

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You'll find we are photographers first! . I recently sold all of my Nikon Fx and went with the Olympus pro line. I still have my Nikon 1 system to maintain an inch of credibility here . I love mirrorless now, but do have moments when I miss my D610. Each has it's place, go with what makes you feel good.

Luckily the boss here has given us a spot for non-Nikon gear, so no matter what your choice, you still belong! Welcome to the site!

Nah... we're shallow and petty for SURE! You just caught us on a good day.