Just Signed Up Today - Beginners Questions - Camera/Lens

[The Fisher King]

I really appreciate your posts about the above mentioned lens being the 70 - 300mm Tamron but all of the acronims mean nothing to me sorry only being here since yesterday.

No offence intended but I am still no wiser sorry.

I suppose to put it this way - if I buy it will work sort of or maybe not.

D3000 lens to D3200 body

Still fishing

[ameerat42]

...
I suppose to put it this way - if I buy it will work sort of or maybe not.

D3000 lens to D3200 body

Still fishing

OK, it appears the lens has its own built-in AF motor. As far as I can see, both cameras will take this lens.
I checked the specs for both cameras as well.

NB: I'm not 100% sure, and you had better get confirmation from some Nikon users here.

Yeah, acronyms, eh? - They seep in after a while, then a new crop come up

Now to some acronyms... a complicated reference of names you might see

[Hawthy]

Yes. If it works on a D3000 it should work on a D3100, D3200, D3300, D5000, D5100, D5200, D5300, D5500, D7100 and a D7200. Here is a link showing lens compatibility for Nikon DSLRs and Nikon lenses.
https://www.nikonians.org/reviews/ni...-compatibility

As a guide, if you are looking for a Nikon lens on a D3200 or D5100 or any of the D3XXX, D5XXX, or D7XXX series cameras, the things to look out for on the lens are VR & AF-S. VR is Vibration Reduction (?) and will help you take clearer shots. I don't know what AF-S stands for (it may be Auto-Focus Silent wave) but it means that the lens has a motor in it and it will auto-focus on the D3200.

Some other Nikon DSLRs have the focus motor in the camera and if you buy one of those lenses you will need to manually focus. I made this mistake when I bought an AF-D 35mm lens. It worked but I had to manually focus, which became a drag.

Be careful when buying lenses to make sure that they not only fit but that they will also auto-focus. I remember another problem lens that I bought once and it would not recognise the in camera aperture settings. there was a work around but it was a pain in the you know where.

[Edited to say "should" rather than "will"]

[tandeejay]

Yes. If it works on a D3000 it will work on a D3100, D3200, D3300, D5000, D5100, D5200, D5300, D5500, D7100 and a D7200.

This is not quite 100% true. As I said earlier, my father has a Sigma 150-500 lens that works fine on his D3100, but my D5500 can't auto focus. The lens needs a firmware update for my D5500 to be able to control the autofocus. I'd make your "will work" to a "should work". Although my experience with the sigma was a difference between a D3xxx and a D5xxx. Maybe the difference between different D3xxx models is far less likely to cause compatibility issues...

So would need someone with Nikon/Tameron experience to confirm absolutely if that specific Tameron lens has any "quirks" with a D3200. Theoretically it should work.

[Hawthy]

Good call, John.

I also just realised that he is asking about a Tamron rather than a Nikkor / Nikon.

Surely, Tamron will have a compatibility chart somewhere.

[Colin B]

Just to weigh in a bit late on this thread..........For years I carried a Fuji SLR with two lenses and a flash unit and found the weight and the fact that I needed two bags - one for the camera and one for the accessories a bit of a pain. I now have a Nikon Coolpix B700 and recently used it on a holiday through Europe and another touring up to Broome from Perth by caravan.

I chose this camera because for a relatively modest price it does most of the things I want to do well and at only 565gms weight I can hang it around my neck all day with both hands free while I scramble on rocks or thread my way through crowds. I can also carry extras like a brolly or backpack without looking like a pack mule. The shutter and autofocus are fast and the long zoom lets me chase wildlife or candids easily but a note on his: Crank the zoom right out and you need good light for a fast shutter speed to get clear pics. It is tricky framing accurately at long range and a rest or tripod makes this much easier.

sure, as Ameerat points out, it has its limitations and would not do for a serious professional but for a hobbyist it is a petty good compromise.

Just another suggestion - My manual, like most of the camera manuals these days can be downloaded online and if you are planning to spend serious money on new gear it would be worthwhile checking out the full manuals of the contenders first.

[arthurking83]

Just one more thing(actually two, but who's counting!)

1/. lens image quality if usually tied to focal length multiplication. The more focal length range, usually the lower the overall IQ. It's not strictly true, but generally true. That is, a 70-300mm lens usually has less IQ at the long end, than a 150-300mm lens will.
So a 18-200mm lens usually is much much larger to compensate for this loss of IQ at the long end, or it just loses out in IQ terms.
Tamron for many years were the masters of uber long focal length multiplication .. they still have their 18-400mm lens .. recommend to avoid this type of lens for use a the long end!

2/. this is where it gets long and arduous, but it'll be important if you don't stick to recommendations already offered!

AF-S in Nikonspeak has two meanings: Don't worry about the second meaning which related to how you focus with the camera, concentrate on the lens hardware version of AF-S.

in terms of lens hardware, an AF-S lens = AutoFocus Silent wave.
Other lens hardware focus types are:
AF = very hard to find old lenses .. fine to ignore
AF-D = old focus drive type, needs body focus motor
AF-I = very expensive lenses, don't bother researching this focus drive type
AF-S = basically an electronic focus motor drive type
AF-P = Nikons latest focus drive type. Nikon have brought on a whole new meaning of PITA when they introduced this new focus drive type .. be very careful what camera body you choose for this lens type!

AF and AF-D are mechanically driven focus system types. Those two focus types necessitate a camera body that has a AF motor in them.
D3xxx and D5xxx bodies don't have that. These are very old lens types, and not many are sold new. As I currently remember, I think only the 105, 135 mm(DC type lenses), the macro 200mm and 80-200mm are the only brand new Nikon lenses that are body driven(AF-D) that still sell new.
If chasing old Nikon branded lenses, be mindful of the name in the lens and that it doesn't contain AF or AF-D.

What gets more confusing is third party lenses! Basically it's very hard to know which lenses will work on a D3xxx and D5xxx if second hand.
I'm fairly sure almost all brand spanking new thridparty lenses from Tamron/Sigma/Tokina are all silent wave compatible. They have their own nomenclature.

I think Tamron's is USD and Sigma's is HSM.
These are the two telltale signs that the lens will focus on those non focus motor bodies.
So if a Tamron lens is model No. XXmm f/N.N DiII VC USM .. you know that it will work on a D3xxx and D5xxx. If that model was XXmm F/N.N DiII VC only, then it won't autofocus on those two bodies.

This is where the D7xxx bodies(except for the D7500!!) is handy to have.
The D7000 - D7200 all have in body focus motors, so will focus with the non focus motor type lenses!

Some of those old lenses can offer very good IQ/$ value.
So you may pay more in terms of camera body .. you could easily make up for it in cheaper lenses due to the in lens focus type.

if you were to look for a 70-300 lens, I'd recommend a Nikon 70-300 AF-P.
Focusing will be slightly faster due to the focus motor type in the lenses, and according to Thom Hogan both the AF-P models are very sharp at the 300mm end.

I've had a play with the Tammy 70-300 USM lens, it is very large for what it is, and does work well, but focusing was medium slow affair as I remember it. IQ was good, but indoors and dark doesn't allow for proper judgement.

AF-P = a bit of a PITA from Nikon in terms of compatibility.
There is a list of camera models that don't work with this lens focus type, the PITA component is that some camera bodies kind'a work, but not fully, other just don't work at all, and others are fully compatible.

For your purposes, D3000 - D3200 bodies don't work. D3300 and later will.
D5000-51000 bodies don't work, D5200 is semi compatible and D5300 and later work fully.
The breakdown here is, if you are intent on a D3xxx or D5xxx, then stick with D3300 or D5300 and later models.
The AF-P focus drive type is much better than the AF-S on those model cameras for consumer grade lenses.

A nice relatively cheap camera lens combo with up to 300mm would be D3300/D5300 + Nikon 70-300 VR DX AF-P lens, plus a 18-105/18-140 walkabout lens.
But seriously, if your interest is in birds ... 300mm even on Dx is still far too short. Min 400mm(why I recommended the Tammy 100-400 lens) .. 500mm better either Tamron 150-600 or Sigma 150-600 work well at this focal length.

At this stage of your photography experience the DoF equivalence referred too earlier isn't so important.
However! whether a lens is Fx or Dx, makes no difference to DoF! The difference in DoF is related to the framing - focus distance - focal length relationship. Nothing to do with the fact that a lens is Fx or Dx.

Only restriction with Fx/Dx lenses, is that a Dx lens on an Fx body will not produce a full image circle on the Fx sensor. It will produce a very strong mechanical vignette.
Fx lenses on Dx bodies is probably an optimal combo.

Makes no difference if a specific lens type is a Fx or Dx type.
eg. as above with the 70-300mm types.
There must be 3 million Nikon 70-300mm lens models, some Dx some Fx. .. the latest three AF-P lens introduced in the last few years, two are Dx, one with VR one without, and one Fx with VR.
They will all give the exact same FoV(roughly speaking) and DoF for the same focal length set on the lens.

The only difference is that the Fx model is physically a lot larger and heavier. And on a Dx camera, the IQ it produces at the edge of a Dx camera will be of higher quality than the two Dx lenses will give.

note that it's good to see you still 'fishing' .. best way forward is to gather all the info you can before you commit to whatever you decide on.
If it helps too, give us a rough estimate on a budget you want to limit yourself too.

No point in offering $XXXX hardware recommendations, if your budget is $xxx dollars!
OH! and in the world of photography .. the old adage that you get what you pay for is almost 99.999% true!
Pay less, get less. Pay more .. this is where the 99.999% happens .. you usually get more.

So with more of the above now explained, I do highly recommend that camera body should be a minimum D3300, a more better(!!??) .. body would be a D5300 or greater.
If you do want to go down the cheaper lens path at some point in the future tho .. then I'd strongly urge that a D7100 camera body is the way to go.
Some nice fast longish lenses available for that camera body type that would struggle with the consumer spec bodies.
Note that I said 'struggle' and not 'not work'.

Tandeejays specific issue of a non focusing lens on a camera body is hit and miss. My Sigma 150-600S lens focuses fine on my D5500, D70s, D300 and D800E .. just a later lens with better compatibility I 'spose.
Lenses with compatibility issues are usually taken back to service centre formware updated and all is forgotten. I remember this for Sigma lenses was a free service .. almost whilst you wait too.

Some newer lenses, from Tamron and Sigma have this ubute USB dock compatibility that allows you to update firmware in the comfort of your own PC environment.
Also handy to tweak lenses for a bit better compatibility with your requirements.

ps. did I mention the Tamron 100-400 lens!

[The Fisher King]

Thanks Arthur K for your very well informed and written above post,appreciated

Question Please - I think my introduction thread has run it course,so were would I go to start my own thread.

I have one photo to upload and a "big announcement" to make,don't worry it isn't that big.

Thanks

[ameerat42]

If you want to post a photo for CC - constructive critique - go to the appropriate CC sub-forum.
Click on the Forums tab near the top of the page, or here. Scroll down to the section in the green bar called
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE - Members' Photos:

Look through there to see what is a suitable place.

If it's for posting a picture of equipment for info only, scroll back up to "Gear Talk" and look in there.
Finally, there the Not For Critique forum when all else fails

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If you need help posting an image by uploading to AP, have a look at
this thread here.

[The Fisher King]

Do we as members have our own thread titled say - The Fisher Kings Photo's etc - or do we all post them together under certain headings

Thanks

[ameerat42]

No, just a new thread each time, unless posting an update to an earlier one.

[tandeejay]

This is where the D7xxx bodies(except for the D7500!!) is handy to have.
The D7000 - D7200 all have in body focus motors, so will focus with the non focus motor type lenses!

Some of those old lenses can offer very good IQ/$ value.

This is one reason I love this forum! Someone asks a question, and then answers are provided from various levels of technical expertise, and then others (me) discover answers to questions it never occurred to me I could ask... I've now got that D7200, so that opens up to me some of those older lenses as possibilities... but I'll ask in my own thread later...

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Oh, The Fisher King, don't worry if you don't understand terms people might put in their posts. Everyone on this forum started where you are and all those fancy terms have confounded us all at one point or other. It is OK to not understand what someone said, and no offence taken for any questions you ask

Great to have you on board, and looking forward to traveling with you on your journey.

Cheers,
John

[arthurking83]

This is one reason I love this forum! Someone asks a question, and then answers are provided from various levels of technical expertise, and then others (me) discover answers to questions it never occurred to me I could ask... I've now got that D7200, so that opens up to me some of those older lenses as possibilities... but I'll ask in my own thread later...

....

if you've ever wanted one of them 70-200/2.8 lenses but were afraid of the usual prices they go for .. Tammy 70-200/2.8(original version) works really well .. Nikon 80-200/2.8 AF-D also equally well too.

I personally wouldn't pay more than say $500 for either of them models now only because there are other options around too. (eg. Sigma's later version for between $700-1000)

Nikon 80-200 had about the best bokeh and natural colour from any lens I've had/seen .. I reckon better than the 70-200/2.8 AF-S lenses.
Only reason I got rid of mine was that I had misfocus issues from it at 200mm. This was a common problem, and was a hit and miss affair .. some cameras did, others didn't. Just one of those issues that could crop up.

Tammy old model is slower to focus than more modern lenses .. still usable. sharper IQ, but bokeh not quite as good as the 80-200(I think).
But for about $500 for a fast long focal length lens .. you can forgive some issues I think.

[Glenda]

I have quite a few Tamron lenses and on the whole find their quality good. My first DSLR was a D3200 with a Tamron 18-270 which worked well and gave me a good focal range without having to change lenses. I don't have the Tamron 70-300 but do have the Nikon 70-300 and I have taken bird shots with it but you have to be close to the bird or be prepared to crop the image severely which can introduce other problems. If, on the other hand you want to take a shot of the beach, I think you would find 70mm not wide enough so I would look for a 18-270 in preference to the 70-300.

You seem to be leaning towards a DSLR over the Coolpix . DSLRs scared me initially so I bought a Coolpix superzoom first and after only one year found it frustrating and limiting and bought the D3200. So get the latest camera and lens you can within your budget and then learn to use it - you'll get lots of help on the forum.

[Tannin]

The big question here, TFK, seems to be P&S or SLR. The way I look at it, P&C cameras are between a rock and a hard place. They don't really do a whole lot that you can't do with a telephone, but (like phones) they have nothing like the ability of an SLR to do work of seriously good quality. P&S cameras and phones are alike insofar as they have very small sensors. These are fine in good light. But when the light is less than perfect, or where anything else is wrong and needs to be overcome (e.g., tricky backlighting or you need to crop hard) they don't cut the mustard. Essentially, they are downhill skiers. They'll score a lazy 102 not out coming in on a flat track two wickets down with 320 on the board already ... and snick the third ball through to the keeper for an easy catch when the openers go out cheaply and you really need the runs. Depending on the model, you get a little more reach (not all that much) and a suite of handy controls and features, but by the time you are considering P&S cameras with reach and handy features, you are already looking at the sort of money which will get you a nice little SLR.

Do not, repeat NOT, make the mistake of thinking that their "equivalent focal length" is actually equivalent to the same thing in an SLR. It isn't. Nowhere near. What counts in cameras, above all else, is the number of photons you can capture coming off the subject of interest. Simply: bigger sensors work better. And only a tiny handful of P&S cameras have a sensor very much bigger than the tiny thing in your phone. Those few are expensive.

(Disclaimer: I have and use a P&S camera. But it has a sensor almost as big as a small SLR sensor. I use it (alongside various SLRs) because it fits in a shirt pocket and takes a decent picture. But it has a very limited focal length range (Canon deliberately kept the range small in order to keep the product pocket-sized yet have good quality optics for the range it does cover) and it cost $600 or so - about the price of a cheap SLR and lens. And although I use it a fair bit, I never, ever reach for it if I have a real camera handy.)

[The Fisher King]

Thankyou all again for your posts whether long or short,I have gained plenty of useful information that is helping make a decent decision for me

I have decided to purchase a good used DSLR camera,I am looking at a Nikon D3400 with the basic lens.

Yes this is at the bottom end of the high quality advice I have asked for and received,but not getting too far ahead of myself was another great piece of advice.

Yes I would like a longer lens,but I will see what comes along.

So this leads me to my next question -

I have come a cross the word RAW I believe this is an inbuilt quality editing program.

Does this editing program come standard with Nikon DSLR cameras starting at the D3200 or above or

Thankyou for your answers in advance

[ameerat42]

"RAW", often not capitalised, refers to the native output of ANY sensor.

You can say that all digital sensors record image information in raw format.
What happens to the image data after that depends mostly on the camera model.

Many cameras, especially DSLRs, and increasingly more "lower end" cameras can save
this data in its own "raw" file format so that it can be manipulated later by the user.
But many "point-and-shoot" cameras, including many phone cameras, do an in-camera
conversion of this raw data to a finished JPEG (or maybe TIFF) format according to a
number of pre-sets the manufacturers have installed.

There is no single "raw" format (in spite of what is often misrepresented about the "DNG"
format). Each manufacturer has its own group of raw formats, such as NEF for Nikon, CRx
for Canon, X3F for Sigma, etc...

You invariably must convert a raw format to a more "publishable" file format, such as JPEG
or TIFF or Bitmap... for web, printing, etc. Specialised programs can do this. Some are supplied
camera companies, like DPP (you look up) by Canon, Capture/View-NX by Nikon, Sigma Photo Pro
by... (you guessed it). In addition, there are 3rd-party programs like Lightroom by Adobe, and
plug-ins like ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) for the likes of Photoshop also by Adobe, and a slather of
other free, standalone programs like RawTherapee, IrfanView... that can convert many raw formats.

Hey, but that's enough from me. Look up raw format in Google, and... - don't expect to lean all
about it in a flash

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PS: Of course, "your" Nikon D3200 will save in raw format, as well as in JPEG, and most probably
as both at the same time.

[Hawthy]

I agree with Tony. If I had my time over, and knew what I know now, I would have bitten the bullet and bought a full frame DSLR and explained the extra cost to the wife at a later time. That's water under the bridge now and, because of the choices that I have made , and the lenses that I have acquired, I am locked in to APS-C Nikon cameras.

My DSLR experience started with a Pentax K100D Super (APS-C sized sensor) bought second hand on EBay. A couple of years later, I was off on an overseas trip and got talked into buying a Panasonic TZ30 Travel Zoom. The photos, according to the salesman were "as good as any DSLR". The light weight, zoom capabilities, and promised photo quality dragged me in. I gave my Pentax away (and rather strangely ended up with it given back to me some years later) and set off to Alaska, Canada and all points north.

Well, it was light and had a great focal range from macro, ultrawide to a 20 or 30X zoom. The photos on the LCD screen looked awesome. When I got home the deficiencies of the small sensor and the inability to shoot in raw showed up. Highlights were blown and all in all I was disappointed. Choosing aperture was done via a menu rather than a more intuitive wheel on a DSLR.

I bought a Nikon D5100 when I got home. The little Panasonic is still awesome for stuff that people use their phone for. I remember taking a photo of something that needed fixing and going to Bunnings with it and they said that it was the first camera (rather than phone) that they had seen that year. I almost felt old.

So, yeah. Sensor size makes a great difference to photos. https://newatlas.com/camera-sensor-size-guide/26684/