I would most very strongly recommend that you purchase a Refurbished, Nikon D7200, Body, for (dirt cheap, relatively speaking, of course), from either: Nikon sales directly, or much better yet, from the wonderful Photographic Store in New York City, called, B & H Photo-Video, on-line, @ www.b&hphotovideo.com, for only, $779.00!

Then shop for it's excellent and fantastic, extremely sharp "kit" zoom lens. This lens, is a Nikkor AF-S DX 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6 G VR, and it normally sells for $499.00.

However, if you "really shop around for it", you might, be able to locate it, for a lower price. It is, well worth, it's $499.00, regular price. But, I did, see one last month, somewhere, being sold for $399.00!!! (This is very rare!!!) It is possible, that I may have seen it at that price on EBay!

This lens, is extremely sharp at all of its apertures and focal lengths, according to DP Reviews tests! I have it and can attest to that!

As for the Nikon D7200 camera, there is just no better camera around. It consistently produces the very sharpest images that you could imagine! It's also a perfect camera for all general purpose photography, and it's built like a tank, and its weather proof.

I am an extremely picky man, and I spent an exorbitant amount of time, so very carefully, reading up, on all of the different comparable, mid-range DSLR cameras, that are on the market. I spent literally hundreds of hours, for months, studying every bit of information, that I could possibly obtain, from all of the organizations, that test these cameras, and rate them, as well as from consumer publications, and I also spoke with people who actually own many of these cameras, and I handled all of them myself.

I narrowed my search down to the Nikon D7200, Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II, Canon EOS 7D Mark II, Canon EOS 80D, Sony A6300, Fuji Xt2 & Fuji Pro2. Some of these, being more expensive than others, price was not a limiting factor to me, up to the point of those cameras; and the Nikon D500 hadn't been released yet.

What I wanted was the very best, all around use, camera, that would serve me, the best overall, in all ways considered overall, and its manufacturer offering the full, and complete array, of extremely fine lenses, available in
all sizes, and types, as well as other system accessories; this being of lesser importance to me, however.

****NOW, THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CAMERA"S DIGITAL IMAGE SENSOR: THIS BEING THE VERY, VERY, HEART OF THAT ENTIRE CAMERA!!! THAT SINGLE DEVICE, BEING WHAT TAKES THE OPTICAL IMAGE, WHICH COMES THROUGH THAT ALL IMPORTANT, AND SO VERY CHERISHED, AND WORSHIPPED LENS!!! AND THEN, WITH YOUR RESULTANT EXPOSURE SETTINGS, BEING APPLIED....THAT OPTICAL IMAGE IS APPLIED TO THAT .... VERY ALL...
IMPORTANT DIGITAL IMAGE SENSOR...WHICH HAS THE JOB, OF TRANSFERRING THE LIGHT'S PHOTONS, INTO AN ELECTRICAL IMAGE....AND ITS PERFORMANCE, IN CARRYING OUT THIS OPERATION....DOES DICTATE, EVERYTHING!
REGARDING, HOW LIFE-LIKE, YOUR, PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE, WILL BE!!!

THEREFORE: THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CAMERA'S DIGITAL IMAGE SENSOR, was of course, of the very greatest importance to me!

I studied and learned, that all, of the Nikon, camera's, absolutely and completely excelled, in all, of their measured, and documented aspects, regarding their camera's, sensor performance! And, that this, translated into, superior quality images that the Nikon camera's produced. And, this, was very important to me!

This is what, it is, all about really! Everything else, is simply add-ons, and relative "fluff", to the final quality, of the images.

Also, this D7200 camera, handles very nicely, in every possible way, and it is laid out, extremely sensibly, and it's viewfinder, and focusing, are superlative, as are all other aspects of it! I have had it for a year now, and have never been so very satisfied, by any product, in all of my life!

I would very highly recommend it, to anyone! I certainly could not say that, for its competitors, for various different reasons, although, in their own rights, they are all, also, very extremely, nice, photographic tools, as well!!!... Rob.

PS - I advise you, not to go near to, the Nikon D7500, camera...it is, an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT, AND INFERIOR, Camera to the D7200. It is, a very nice camera, IN ITS OWN RIGHT!

Yet, IT DOESN'T HOLD A CANDLE TO THE D7200...There are technical reasons...beyond those that are often spouted off in this forum. It is, an inferior camera, TO THE 7200.... (It is a very fine camera in its own right, on its own merits.)

You, purchase, what you,... choose, to....it will be YOUR own camera. I would buy the D7200 if I was to select between THE TWO OF THEM! That is my own educated opinion.

Have a very great day and really enjoy your summer.

7500 IS NOT THE UPGRADE TO THE D7200 AND IT IS NOT THE "LITTLE BROTHER" TO THE D500!!! (Scoff!)
7500 = is a camera that Nikon chose to slap together for its marketing and sales purposes to make money on!



PS- D7200 has MUCH better image quality than Canon 80D and its a MUCH better Camera; also very well worth getting the D7200 over the D5600! Another world and class of camera that you'll Really love and be so very glad to use and really enjoy! It is the real deal. Then buy Thom Hogan's D7200 Guide (an EBook for $29.00 900pgs & also
Dave Busche's Guide To The Nikon D7200" from Amazon.com for$29.00 500 pgs these are very important for you to REALLY learn all about the camera very thoroughly...it is unimaginably advanced in so very many ways! The more that you learn about it the more confident and the better that you'll be able to be in handling it w/o thinking about it!
Have lots and lots of fun...It's a wonderful journey! God Bless You. Rob.

Architect1776 you need to more logical. You design structures? I am aware that Nikon chooses, not to fabricate their own image sensors. (I also, perceive that you are most likely, a disgruntled man, who owns Canon DSLR's, which have image sensors, that are rated poorly, for the most part.

All of their ASP-C's, except the 80D which is moderate, and their full frame DSLR's which are rated fairly good, but nowhere nearly, as highly, as the Nikon DSLR's are!; Where, Their Full Frame camera's, are entirely, filling up, the ENTIRE TOP, of all of the sensor ratings, in all of the various categories, and even Nikon's ASP-C DSLR's, are up their just as high, or typically, even much higher, than most all, of Canon's full frame DSLR's!...and this fact, really, bothers you, and it makes you aggravated, when someone such as myself, comes right out, and brings it to the light, for the benefit, of a new camera purchaser, such as in, this particular post. I can see from your smart reply!

Unfortunately, it's simply a fact of life... Oh, yes, I realize, that Canon makes an "ultra high mega pixel" camera that scores higher, than its others, and costs over $3,500.00.

BUT IN YOUR SILLY, MEANINGLESS POST TO ME...YOU SAID THAT NIKON DOES NOT MAKE THEIR OWN SENSORS BUT SONY DOES, SO THAT IF SENSORS WERE SO IMPORTANT TO ME... I SHOULD, GET A SONY!

THAT IS PURE BS! AND YOU KNOW IT, TOO....

First of all, I have a Sony Mirrorless, and I also have a Canon DSLR, and my Nikon, and I like all of them, allot.

The Nikon, has the best sensor, the Sony 2nd, and the Canon, a very long distant 3rd.

Nikon is very SMART! AND THEREFORE THEY CHOOSE to not build their own image sensors.

The fabrication of image sensors is an extremely complex, state of the art, type of work I've read about, and that
to stay current in it, the business, necessitates, the entire restructuring of its factories, in many different, and very expensive ways, ongoing.

Because of these facts, Nikon chooses, to use, VARIOUS, ongoing, different vendors, to fabricate, and purchase their image sensors from, and NOT, only from Sony, though primarily. By doing this, Nikon is in a position, where they can spell out, and dictate to the companies, which they are hiring to produce, their custom made, state of the art, vastly superior, image sensors, the precise specifications which they demand that they're to be built to.

This way, Nikon always has, the very latest, state of the art image sensors, that out perform, everyone else's.

On the very opposite end of the spectrum, is your beloved company, Canon. They have an entirely different, and completely opposite philosophy, that does not get them, so very far, in the design, of their image sensors.

The way that they choose to operate is to manufacture all of their own, image sensors, within their own, Canon factory, to their own Canon (dated) specifications. They don't retool their factories, yearly, as this would be prohibitively expensive. This is why Nikon simply chooses to go to whoever has the current state of the art factory at that given time and purchase their state of the art image sensors from them. A different brand new facility, every year! BUT OLD CANON, just keeps manufacturing, there same old, very outdated, and low performance, image sensors, that they produce, inside, of there same old, Japanese factory, that they've been building them in, for God only knows, how many years.

This is the reason, that Canon ASP-C cameras, have THE VERY LOWEST RATINGS, for their image sensor performance and Nikon, has THE VERY HIGHEST FOR ASP-C AND ALSO FULL FRAME. Also, this is the reason that now, Nikon cameras produce sharper images, than Canon cameras do, as do, Sony camera's, also produce sharper images, than Canon's in ASP-C's. It may be the same with the full frames to I don't know? I know that the Nikon full frames do have better image sensors...

So, simply because Nikon does not produce their own image sensors, does not mean a thing! They simply purchase them, and use them, in their cameras! And the Nikon cameras, are better, due to this. As are the Sony's as well.

Canon is immensely established, but they had really better do something, about their inferior image sensors, in their pathetic ASP-C cameras...this is the sole reason that I refused to purchase a Canon EOS 7D Mark II camera, because it had a piece of shit image sensor, that had terrible, low light performance.

I AM VERY WELL AWARE THAT YOU DO NOT LIKE A SINGLE WORD THAT I HAVE TYPED HERE, YET IT IS ALL THE TRUTH! Please have a nice day. Rob.

Architect1776 you need to more logical. You design structures? I am aware that Nikon chooses, not to fabricate their own image sensors. (I also, perceive that you are most likely, a disgruntled man, who owns Canon DSLR's, which have image sensors, that are rated poorly, for the most part.

All of their ASP-C's, except the 80D which is moderate, and their full frame DSLR's which are rated fairly good, but nowhere nearly, as highly, as the Nikon DSLR's are!; Where, Their Full Frame camera's, are entirely, filling up, the ENTIRE TOP, of all of the sensor ratings, in all of the various categories, and even Nikon's ASP-C DSLR's, are up their just as high, or typically, even much higher, than most all, of Canon's full frame DSLR's!...and this fact, really, bothers you, and it makes you aggravated, when someone such as myself, comes right out, and brings it to the light, for the benefit, of a new camera purchaser, such as in, this particular post. I can see from your smart reply!

Unfortunately, it's simply a fact of life... Oh, yes, I realize, that Canon makes an "ultra high mega pixel" camera that scores higher, than its others, and costs over $3,500.00.

BUT IN YOUR SILLY, MEANINGLESS POST TO ME...YOU SAID THAT NIKON DOES NOT MAKE THEIR OWN SENSORS BUT SONY DOES, SO THAT IF SENSORS WERE SO IMPORTANT TO ME... I SHOULD, GET A SONY!

THAT IS PURE BS! AND YOU KNOW IT, TOO....

First of all, I have a Sony Mirrorless, and I also have a Canon DSLR, and my Nikon, and I like all of them, allot.

The Nikon, has the best sensor, the Sony 2nd, and the Canon, a very long distant 3rd.

Nikon is very SMART! AND THEREFORE THEY CHOOSE to not build their own image sensors.

The fabrication of image sensors is an extremely complex, state of the art, type of work I've read about, and that
to stay current in it, the business, necessitates, the entire restructuring of its factories, in many different, and very expensive ways, ongoing.

Because of these facts, Nikon chooses, to use, VARIOUS, ongoing, different vendors, to fabricate, and purchase their image sensors from, and NOT, only from Sony, though primarily. By doing this, Nikon is in a position, where they can spell out, and dictate to the companies, which they are hiring to produce, their custom made, state of the art, vastly superior, image sensors, the precise specifications which they demand that they're to be built to.

This way, Nikon always has, the very latest, state of the art image sensors, that out perform, everyone else's.

On the very opposite end of the spectrum, is your beloved company, Canon. They have an entirely different, and completely opposite philosophy, that does not get them, so very far, in the design, of their image sensors.

The way that they choose to operate is to manufacture all of their own, image sensors, within their own, Canon factory, to their own Canon (dated) specifications. They don't retool their factories, yearly, as this would be prohibitively expensive. This is why Nikon simply chooses to go to whoever has the current state of the art factory at that given time and purchase their state of the art image sensors from them. A different brand new facility, every year! BUT OLD CANON, just keeps manufacturing, there same old, very outdated, and low performance, image sensors, that they produce, inside, of there same old, Japanese factory, that they've been building them in, for God only knows, how many years.

This is the reason, that Canon ASP-C cameras, have THE VERY LOWEST RATINGS, for their image sensor performance and Nikon, has THE VERY HIGHEST FOR ASP-C AND ALSO FULL FRAME. Also, this is the reason that now, Nikon cameras produce sharper images, than Canon cameras do, as do, Sony camera's, also produce sharper images, than Canon's in ASP-C's. It may be the same with the full frames to I don't know? I know that the Nikon full frames do have better image sensors...

So, simply because Nikon does not produce their own image sensors, does not mean a thing! They simply purchase them, and use them, in their cameras! And the Nikon cameras, are better, due to this. As are the Sony's as well.

Canon is immensely established, but they had really better do something, about their inferior image sensors, in their pathetic ASP-C cameras...this is the sole reason that I refused to purchase a Canon EOS 7D Mark II camera, because it had a piece of shit image sensor, that had terrible, low light performance.

I AM VERY WELL AWARE THAT YOU DO NOT LIKE A SINGLE WORD THAT I HAVE TYPED HERE, YET IT IS ALL THE TRUTH! Please have a nice day. Rob.

You are right. I guess I am part of that crowd that hate modern sensors and prefer horrible ones. Just like all those pros you see at sporting events, press conferences and most every other pro attended event anywhere much prefer using those horrible Canon sensors. PS you have never once looked at the full rating of those sensors. After ISO 100 Canon is on par then exceeds most other sensors according to your DXO Mark full reports. I think DXO is biased for many reasons but using your own standard of measure.
Also those primitive horrible sensors with DPAF that Nikon for some reason can't come up with is interesting. Oh yes why is the Canon mount the leading mount for video products. How many pro video cameras does Nikon make?
I don't want to bash Nikon for you others. It is an excellent product line and has many salient features but let's be real. Canon is number one among pros for some reason.