Time to upgrade!

[adadrian]

Hi guys, I’ve only been “seriously” shooting for 10 months now. I’ve thoroughly loved it. Constantly shooting, getting and reading the latest mags etc.

anyway down to my latest issue, I’m getting the urge to upgrade “currently got a Nikon 3500” I can’t decide so I guess I’m just taking in advice and other people’s opinions.

should I stick with Nikon “because it’s all I know” or try another brand ? If so why? If not why not?

should I go mirrorless “I do beleive it’s the future”

just opinions guys in the end I’ll obviously decide what I want but taking in all opinions.

thanks guys

adrian

p.s I take all photography macro,landscapes,action family photos etc so need a all rounder

[ricktas]

If you are ready to upgrade, then you are likely no longer a beginner. Congratulations on being moved to intermediate experience level.

[Bensch]

The question to ask would be: In what area is your current camera falling short in? Or is it a "just because upgrade"?

If you do decide to upgrade your camera, the best bet would be to take a visit to your local camera store (assuming it is open at the moment), and try holding and taking test shots with multiple brands and models.

In all honesty, a camera is a camera, if it takes pictures, it is a good one. We all have our reasons as to why we like a specific brand, but it varies for everyone.

For example, I like Olympus because of the weight to performance ratio, but that is something that is important to my needs in particular.

If you enjoy your current Nikon, perhaps look at upgrading to another Nikon? If you are finding the menus/functions/handling annoying, perhaps take a look at a different brand.

As for the mirror vs mirrorless, try both....you may find something on one that you particularly like which isn't available on the other.

Probably not the answer you are looking for, but as with most things cameras are a YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) kind of thing.

[Glenda]

Good advice from Andy. I think all popular models of cameras do a good job dependent of course on who pushes the shutter. Usually, once you start investing in good quality glass you get locked into a certain brand, unless of course money is no object. My first DSLR was an earlier model of yours the D3200 and I initially upgraded because I wanted to be able to set up exposure bracketing in camera. I am currently looking at changing to mirrorless because of the weight factor and I know there are things I will miss about my full frame but as I've got older I am finding it heavy to cart when walking. There are definitely bricks and mortar camera shops open in Brisbane now so I would go and try some out. Then, if you have a preference there will be people here who could answer any questions about the pros and cons of that particular model or brand.

[adadrian]

Haha it is definatly a just because upgrade. The 3500 does everything I want really. So I’ll definatly be upgrading!

- - - Updated - - -

If you are ready to upgrade, then you are likely no longer a beginner. Congratulations on being moved to intermediate experience level.

thank you. I definatly feel my knowledge has grown so much since I started! (But so much more to learn)

[Bensch]

Haha it is definitely a just because upgrade.

Yep, we're all guilty of that

When you have a rough idea of what you're going to get, post a thread about it and people will be sure to help with specifics

[arthurking83]

....

thank you. I definatly feel my knowledge has grown so much since I started! (But so much more to learn)

LOL! so many virtual photographers are guilty of this, so welcome to the club!
note that the term 'virtual photographer' is simply the internet side of photography related activity.

But if the need is to upgrade, then upgrade... To what ... doesn't matter.
The mirrorless-SLR debate should not only have ever happened, I hope we can just all now consider it to have been futile over the course that it's gone through(it was really stupid), and hope it's now dead.
You upgrade to whatever you think is right for you, and your needs. Your needs are not just needs in the pure sense, but wants are also needs .. you want something, therefore you need it.
My philosophy is that you want(or need) it, so just do it, if it's within reach, and then get on with the physical activity of doing it.

I went from a D70s, to D300 to D800E .. and then in a roundabout manner .. D5500.
Thought for a while to get a Z7 instead of a D850 as the (mirrorless) Z7 had some abilities that the D850 will never have, but the D850 has some abilities that the Z7 doesn't(yet) have.
So decided to forget them both and just get a better shed!

But I wanted(needed) a D300 level camera for one thing only .. (proper) mirror lockup modes, not just exposure delay. Just happened that the D300 did liveview too, so the other option at that time was a much cheaper D200(no liveview) or a more exxy D300 (with).
So spent all my spare cash at the time on the liveview option, and hence no spare $s for that new lens I also wanted to get(28-70/2.8) instead.
I liked liveview for some things, useless for others. But better to have than not overall. Only problem with D300's implementation of Lv mode was that it was uselessly done when actually taking photos.
Had I taken the chorus of advice (usually given) to upgrade the lens first, I'd have not been as happy with my choice, as I did want this lens too, but the features upgrade over the less featured camera came to be the advantage(for me).

Then came the itch to upgrade to the larger proper 135 format(full frame) camera, but I also wanted some video ability. Primary was full frame, secondary was video .. what to do.
D800's were over $1500 more than outgoing D700s at the time .. and $1500 can get you a fair amount of good video camera gear.
But I didn't want more gear(even tho this is usually a good thing), anyhow I got the D800 over the D700 simply for the video option .. both full frame.
Other than the lack of PC speed, no regrets there. PC was due for an update at that stage anyhow.

I had more than enough lenses for the switch from APS-C to FF, except for the most used UWA lens. I used the Sigma 10-20mm (APS-C only) on the D800E for a good 12 months while I waited and trying to decide which FF UWA lens to go with moving forward.
It was between the Nikon 14-24/2.8 and Sigma 12-24/4.5-5.6 lenses, and because of my photo methods, I decided the Sigma was the better fit for me, even tho the Nikon lens was the much better lens in terms of overall quality.
Again no regrets with the S 12-24 choice and the lens has been the most used on my D800. Main reason was for the smaller size of it and therefore easier method to use filters on it(at the time). But for the 12 months up till I got the Sigma, using the APS-C lens on the D800 wasnt' that much of an issue, other than it didn't give the wider than 15mm FOV. It still worked, allowed a bit more frame to be used than on the APS-C camera too.
What irritated me tho was that 6 months after I bought my Sigma 12-24, the idiots announced the Sigma 12-24/4 lens, an updated and much better lens than the cheaper smaller version I got.
I call Sigma idiots here because, had they announced that the new version was coming, I'd have waited and they'd have scored more $s off me than they did(at the time).
Moral is, that sometimes it's better to wait a while too.
This is the most frustrating part of getting upgrades. The idiot manufacturers are far too paranoid about announcing gear, which is then left to the internet warriors to spread rumours about! .. I believe that they lose potential sales over this paranoia.

But the most important aspect of 'upgrading' is the budget. Figure out that maximum first, then any queries as to whether 'this camera' or 'that widget' is a worthy upgrade can easily be answered once the question has been asked.

[I Like to Watch]

Assuming you already have a number of lenses.....then stick to the same brand for the body.

[Hawthy]

Assuming you already have a number of lenses.....then stick to the same brand for the body.

Good advice. And seeing that you have an APS-C camera rather than a full frame camera, it would make sense to upgrade to another APS-C Nikon. that leaves you with the D5600, the D7500, or the D500. If I had my choice right now, I would take the D7500 because it's weather sealed, has high speed synch for flash photography, more solidly built with a metal frame, and cheaper than the D500.

If you really want to improve your photography, spend your money on a photography course rather than a new camera body.

[arthurking83]

Good advice. And seeing that you have an APS-C camera rather than a full frame camera, it would make sense to upgrade to another APS-C Nikon. ....

Not so sure on that one myself.
As in my reply(which I know are usually arduous to read) but this idea that you currently have APS-C lenses, so stick with APS-C cameras .. maybe for other brands, but Nikon, Pentax, Sony(dunno of others) do allow mounting crop lenses onto larger sensor bodies.
Just that you do get a vignetted images.
But!!!(and as I said in my reply above) it still gives you a bot more flexibility(as I got with my Siggy 10-20mm, which is APS-C) on my D800 for a good year or so.
I could crop at a more wider FOV, which you obviously can't do on an APS-C sensor camera, so the APS-C only! 10-20mm became more like an 8-9mm at the wide end lens on the D800.
More importantly is that the vignette(mechanical) darkening is primarily at the lateral periphery(side to side), but the longitudinal periphery allows much more FOV(so to speak), so you can then crop at 10mm FOV in a 1:1 square format.

The easy way to read that, if it don't make sense is that on an APS-C camera the lens allows only what the sensor can see, that is it's fixed.
The APS-C lens on the fullframe sensor, even tho you will get vignetting like crazy, and you want to crop it out, the crop you can create will make is a much wider FOV in the end, than the APS-C sensor can provide.

There are advantages to all system formats.
smaller provides greater DOF, so things like macro would be better done on a cropped sensor. More cropped deeper DOF for a given framing setup.
Many think that smaller formats also give better landscape photography due to deeper DOF, but I've never seen that advantage ever! For sure the smaller formats allow smaller gear, but my preference for landscapes is bigger always = better.
For a long time I wanted to get a Pentax 645 for landscapes, and for a bit of fun .. looking to get a large format setup too.
For portrait, for sure larger formats .. fullframe is better. While you can get fast prime lenses for smaller formats, you still can't get as fast overall(equivalency) apertures for any lenses on the smaller formats than you can get for the 135(ie. FF) systems.
Remember the only downside is that the shallower DOF you aim for, the larger(much larger) will be the gear!

That's really the underlying reasons to go for one format over another ... what do you want to achieve with a specific day of photography?

Oh, and the D7500 is not metal(magnesium) like the Dxxx bodied cameras. It's a very strong plastic. It's a carbon reinforced plastic.
Plastic may sound less appealing, but that's because most folks don't think that plastics can be so strong.
I'd prefer a carbon fibre 'something-or-other' over a metal version it any day!

[Hawthy]

Thanks Arthur. I didn't realise that the D7500 has a carbon fibre body. The last time I looked in any depth at the D7XXX series was the D7100 and it had a magnesium body so I assumed that had been continued through the series. Agree that carbon fibre sounds a better alternative. (Not that I know a lot about these things).

[arthurking83]

Yeah, they chop and change(their minds) all the time there at Nikon HQ.
Can't recall exactly but the D7100 was always touted as a D300(s) type replacement, where Nikon had a long long break between the D300/D300s twins and then the subsequent D500(ie, no D400 in there).
So maybe that was the overall model iteration idea, but then changed or whatever.
And then they did something similar to the D800 -> D810, where more of the D810's body went with plastics ... not all, just more than the previous model had ... and all the internet warriors went crazy.
Nikon addressed that and gave the D850 full metal jacket.

I wonder how many D810 have seriously failed with their more plasticky bodies?

Plastics have their place, and metal has it's place .. but as said before if I had a plastic or metal option for some specific thing(say a tripod) .. plastic would easily win for some things. (noting that carbon fibre is a plastic )

Plastic camera body .. never really bothered me much.
My D70s had it's fair share of use and a little abuse, same condition as my D300(ie. very good to excellent), but the D800E did fail in a metal to metal/plastic joint .. the 10 pin port gave in.
Only part that I'd say would be better made in a lightweight sturdy metal tho is always the bottom plate. That's the main area I feel you feel a difference between plastic and metal.

[jim]

Yeah, they chop and change(their minds) all the time there at Nikon HQ.
Can't recall exactly but the D7100 was always touted as a D300(s) type replacement, where Nikon had a long long break between the D300/D300s twins and then the subsequent D500(ie, no D400 in there).
So maybe that was the overall model iteration idea, but then changed or whatever.
And then they did something similar to the D800 -> D810, where more of the D810's body went with plastics ... not all, just more than the previous model had ... and all the internet warriors went crazy.
Nikon addressed that and gave the D850 full metal jacket.

I wonder how many D810 have seriously failed with their more plasticky bodies?

Plastics have their place, and metal has it's place .. but as said before if I had a plastic or metal option for some specific thing(say a tripod) .. plastic would easily win for some things. (noting that carbon fibre is a plastic )

Plastic camera body .. never really bothered me much.
My D70s had it's fair share of use and a little abuse, same condition as my D300(ie. very good to excellent), but the D800E did fail in a metal to metal/plastic joint .. the 10 pin port gave in.
Only part that I'd say would be better made in a lightweight sturdy metal tho is always the bottom plate. That's the main area I feel you feel a difference between plastic and metal.

Not sure if this differs from the D800 and the D850, but not long after buying it I put my D810 down on a rock, there was a tiny click and the viewfinder fell off. The whole thing is held in place by a single screw in a piece of thin plastic.

Would never have happened with my F4.

[Nick Cliff]

Perhaps joining a local camera club may help.

[arthurking83]

Not sure if this differs from the D800 and the D850, but not long after buying it I put my D810 down on a rock, there was a tiny click and the viewfinder fell off. The whole thing is held in place by a single screw in a piece of thin plastic.

Would never have happened with my F4.

Yeah, F4 is a totally different beast tho. The entire VF is a unit in itself.
That could have happened with any of the current higher end Nikons with the circular eyepiece(diopter). D800 body is the same, D850 is a little different but basically the same.
But it could have happened with any of the cameras with a similar design type. Me thinks just a bit of bad luck.

I remember my (ex) father in law had a FM(maybe FM2) and he once told me that the diopter used to undo itself. They're a straight screw on design with no locking tab like on the D8xx and higher bodies.
He had an eyecup on it too tho, maybe that was part of the reason, dunno.
I have an eyecup(forget the part number tho) on my D800E too. Never fell off, although after 6 or 7 years the rubber did shear and it can fall apart, but no issues with the circular ring coming off tho.
Top Tip for those circular eyepiece camera bodies, the rubber eyecup is a nice accessory to have

[tandeejay]

When I went from a D5500 to the D7200 the big difference I immediately noticed was the larger camera fit better in my hands, and I was more comfortable holding the camera, which had an immediate improvement on my ability to hold the camera still.

If you can get into a bricks and mortar store before you make your decision, it is definitely a good idea to hold the different cameras to see what they are like in your hand.

[adadrian]

Would the z50 be a upgrade to the 3500?

[arthurking83]

Would the z50 be a upgrade to the 3500?

Yep! Still APS-C tho, and if you had an AF-S/AF-P lens, it should work fine with their adapter too.
Z50 is more along the lines of an D5600 camera in terms of feature set.
Not quite D7200 level features, but does seem to shoot very fast frame rates.
The main advantage difference to the D5600(or D5500) is the twin dial body type.
This body type makes life so much easier if you delve into photography more and more .. one of those things you don't think of, but eventually appreciate.

Pixel count is lower, at 20Mp, but that's deceiving .. from what I've seen, much nicer quality sensor overall, and the 4 lost Mp aren't worth the mention.

So yes, certainly an upgrade.