Castaway

Been lurking on here for a month or so - thought it was time to take the leap. Investigating new camera options. Had an old SLR (Nikkormat)- switched to point & shoots (Fuji) - from which I got good results - consider myself a fairly competent photographer - though far from professional of any kind. Find camera phones pretty overrated no matter which you choose.
Looking to get into more serious picture taking again - mostly landscapes, nature - some macro, but most buildings, trees, mountains.
I like the appeal of the Nikon 3400D; less expensive, good entry/reentry camera. Seems to have options I would use. Obviously looking for input regarding pros/cons or other suggestions ....
Appreciate the feedback.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Good place to start, but this body has its limitations. If you consider yourself a fairly competent photographer (your words), I think you will outgrow the D3400 quickly. Look at the Nikno D7200 with the 18-055 kit lens, the Fuji X-T20 or even a Sony RX100M4.

67skylark27 Loc: Fort Atkinson, WI

Welcome to the forum!
Incidentally I just listed my D3200 2 lens kit, might be a good starter for you.
Just look in the classifieds section and private message me if you
have any questions. If not, I'd check out d3300's or d5300's over the
D3400.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I had a couple Nikkormatts and switched to some Canon and Nikon point and shoots for a long time.

When I decided to "get serious" again I decided mirrorless was appealing along with smaller size and weight. I chose Panasonic.

The good news is that there really are no bad cameras out there!

CO

Nikon eliminated the ultrasonic sensor cleaner in the D3400. All of Nikon's recent DSLR cameras have had that feature. Its built-in flash has only one-half the power of the flash in the D3300. I would look for a new D3300. Amazon often has brand new cameras that are one or two generations behind the current model. If you get a D3400 purchase a filtered blower. I have the Koh Global Hepa Jet Air II blower. Adorama camera has it and you can purchase it directly from Koh Global.

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

Welcome to UHH... ah, I went camera hunting one time, bagged only three even though my limit was five, tough little critters.

Welcome again and happy new year

Boris Ekner Loc: From Sweden, living in Guatemala

Here's my answer to a similar question in another thread.

Here's what I did:
-Budget: no more than $500. (This was the most important criteria I had.)
-Searched for $500 DSLR's on eBay & Amazon in order to understand what I might get.
-Found some favorite models that I compared side by side at cameradecision.com. I refused to have any brand preferences.
-I read plenty of reviews on the cameras I found interesting.

Here’s the compressed and abridged version:
Canon - Good for video. User friendly interface.
Nikon - Lots of very good lenses. Great pictures.
Pentax - Weather sealed. Excellent user interface.
Fujifilm - Mirrorless with great results.
Sony - Mirrorless. Makes the sensors for Nikon.
Olympus - Good cameras.

All cameras are compromises. Some are better for this, some are better for that. Some have preferred features, other’s don’t have them. You have to figure out what features and performances you want your camera to have to fit your needs.

My priorities were; very good professional reviews, the highest pixel count possible, RAW format option, wifi, built in GPS, fair prices & f/values on future lenses.

Nikon D5300 turned out to be the final option. With my personal preferences, and budget, it was by far the best option. Price paid: $449 on eBay, including an 18-55mm lens, plus some other (now useless)-stuff in the bundle.

I've had the camera since January 2017, and I have no regrets on my purchase. On the contrary, I'm very happy with what I got for the money I spent. Just for the fun of it, I still read reviews on other cameras. Time and time again the D5300 has proven to be the right choice for my kind of photography. I.e. so far no other camera has popped up as a better option.

Later I bought a 55-200mm, a 35mm, and a Tokina 11-20mm, all used lenses. A better speedlight/iTTL flash, a good tripod, petal lens hoods, third party battery grip, extra batteries, twin charger, better/faster memory card, micro extensions, and some other stuff. All from eBay which time after time confirms to provide the best prices. Next on the wish list is the Nikkor 16-80mm to replace the 18-55mm kit lens that came with the camera.

Your best option is probably not my best, and vice versa. It is not about the camera as much as it is about the photographer. Just as a good stove isn't enough to cook you a good dinner, right?

In order to update my knowledge I started off with reading Nikon D5300 For Dummies as well as Stunning Digital Photography by Tony Northrup. The third book was Secrets To The Nikon Autofocus System by Steve Perry, which is my favorite so far. The fourth book was Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. It was all well invested pennies, and as knowledge has no weight it is easy to carry around. All books, but “Secrets to...” are available at Amazon.

https://backcountrygallery.com/secrets-nikon-autofocus-system/

Best of luck on your pursuit of your best camera. ...and don't rush it to get one. Take your time, i.e. weeks, to learn about your options and what you favor.

Examples of pictures I've shot are found under my name at 500px.com as well as at Instagram.com.

Here's a very informative D5300 Review:
https://sleeklens.com/nikon-d5300-review/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-blog&substat=blog

PS
I had the same procedure when I looked for, and bought, my sons camera. (He turned 6 at the end of July) The budget was no more than $80, had to be fully automatic, as well as having manual features to grow with as he gets older and if his photo interest persists. Best option: a used Fujifilm Finepix S8600 (it's a bridge camera), for $76 on eBay.

And there are instructive videos on his camera on YouTube for him to watch later.

PPS
Here’s a different opinion on this issue.

https://petapixel.com/2017/03/24/battle-micro-43-camera-outsold-full-frame-dslr/

---

With courtesy of Jim Stascavage, member of this forum:

"For anyone wondering how big a crop sensor image can go, here is a photo I took with a D7200 a few years ago that makes up a 12'x16' [3.6x4.9 m] wall in our office break room."

-

He shot the picture from another water vessel, while it was moving!

FYI
1. All Nikon's with cropped 24MP sensors has the same sensor as Jim's D7200.
2. A modern TV is ~2MP. A 4K TV is 8+MP.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Look at the D5xxx and D7xxx series - refurbished. Try camera comparison sites when you narrow our choices.

https://www.google.com/search?q=camra+comparison+sites&oq=camra+comparison+sites&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.4423j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

jpgto Loc: North East Tennessee

D3400 is a great starter but if you have some camera experience, which it sounds like you do, it may be less than needed.
My $0.02 if you are looking at the Nikon line, look higher in the chain, finding fantastic deals out there right now. Also, refurbs
of the higher end camera are great starter points too. Good luck.

Jim Bob

Good camera. D3300 is better. Get a refurb.

davyboy Loc: Anoka Mn.

No Panasonic?

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

You could look for a reconditioned D7000, 7100, or 7200 body from a reputable dealer and get a couple decent lenses to start with. Try not to overlap the lens choices, it's such a waste of money. With either of those cameras and some inborn artistic vision you can take great pictures for a long time without reaching their limitations.

RKL349 Loc: Connecticut

Whatever you choose, consider a factory refurbished unit. If you go to the Nikon USA site, they are having a sale right now, through Saturday, I believe. Also, Cameta Camera usually has a good stock of refurbished bodies and lenses on hand and they extend the warranty 9 months beyond Nikon’s warranty. Make sure you purchase from a reputable dealer so you have a USA warranty model for future repairs, if ever needed.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

If you are going to be leaning towards landscapes, I'd suggest a full frame camera. If you kept your old lenses, some of them might still work well.
--Bob

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

D3400 is a nice camera... But the previous model D3300 might be even better. A lot of people think the newer model is a downgrade... D3300 has a more powerful built in flash and it has a self-cleaning sensor, which the D3400 lacks.

As far as I can tell, the more recent D3000-series models are only available with kit lenses (not sold as body only, to let you choose your own lens)... The primary kit lens is usually an AF-P (or AF-S) 18-55mm DX VR. Often a two lens kit is offered where the second lens is either an AF-P 70-300mm DX or an AF-S 55-200mm VR. Personally I'd prefer the AF-S lenses with their "silent wave" focus drive, which may be faster than the AF-P "stepper motor" type focus drive. Also note that the AF-P 70-300 DX doesn't have image stabilization (VR).... IMO that's a big mistake. Stabilization is more useful on longer focal length lenses, less necessary on shorter ones.

D5000/7000-series models are also available with kit lenses (some of which are "upgrades" from the 18-55mm)... or can be bought without lens so you can choose something different, if you wish.

Be aware that the D3000 and D5000-series Nikons all use a pentamirror instead of a true pentaprism, such as your only Nikkormat used. This makes for a smaller and less bright viewfinder. These more entry-level models also have lower specification shutter mechanism, with a top speed of 1/4000, flash sync of 1/200 and a durability rating of around 100,000 shutter cycles. (Stepping up to a D7000 series gets you a true pentaprism for a bigger, brighter viewfinder,

D3000-series models have the most simplistic autofocus systems too... 11-point with one higher performance "cross-type" point at the center. D5000-series models typically have 39 AF points, 9 of which are cross type, while D7000-series use an even more advanced AF system, typically 51-point with 15 cross type. Now, you may only use one AF point at a time for a lot of subjects, but having more to choose among and a greater portion of the image area covered by points allows more flexibility of composition and precise focus control. The higher performance cross-type points can be particularly important to be able to quickly acquire and better track moving subjects.... sports, wildlife, etc.

All D3000/5000/7000-series models use "APS-C" size image sensors (DX), which are smaller than "film/full frame" (FX). The result is that lens focal lengths on these crop sensor models "behave" differently than they did on your Nikkormat. For example, the 18-55mm DX kit lens on many of these models will "act like" a 27-82mm lens would on your film camera. DX cameras such as these can use both DX and FX lenses.... while FX cameras (D750, D850, etc.) essentially need FX lenses. While it's generally possible to use DX lenses on them, it just isn't very practical.... sort of defeats the whole purpose of spending extra to buy an FX camera. Focal lengths don't change... 50mm is still 50mm. They just "behave" differently. Another example, that 50mm "normal" lens on your film camera could now serve as a neat "short telephoto/portrait" lens on any of these DX cameras.

All relatively recent models of D3000/5000/7000 use a similar 24MP sensor (except the D7500), but the D3000-series models are 12-bit cameras, while the D5000/7000 are 14-bit. The slightly greater color depth also means a little wider dynamic range.

Also be aware that D3000/5000-series cameras are not able to autofocus some Nikkor lenses and may have metering issues with some as well. This is because some Nikkor lenses do not have an autofocus motor in the lens itself, but rely upon a motor that's built into the camera body. Only D7000-series and higher models have the in-camera focus drive motor. Consult the online Nikon camera and lens charts to be certain of compatibility:

https://www.nikonians.org/reviews/nikon-slr-camera-and-lens-compatibility
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm#afp
https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/which-nikkor-lens-type-is-right-for-your-dslr.html
https://www.nikonusa.com/Images/Learn-Explore/Photography-Techniques/2011/Which-Nikkor-is-Right-for-You/Media/NIKKOR-lens-compatibility-chart.pdf

Basically, D3000/5000 models can autofocus AF-S. The most recent models also can use AF-P lenses. Some slightly earlier models may be able to use AF-P, too... after a firmware update is done on the camera (firmware updates are free to download and relatively easily installed by the user).

I recommend you go to a store and play around with some of the cameras you're considering. See how they "feel", if the ergonomics are comfortable for you, and be sure to turn the camera on and explore the menus and study the controls to see if they seem intuitive. No doubt you can learn to use any camera on the market, but some will just be easier than others... and possibly more fun to use. Today's Nikon DSLRs are a far cry from your Nikkormat!

Overall, the Nikon DSLR system is excellent... very broad and comprehensive.... with everything from entry level to very advanced, high end pro-oriented gear. Only the Canon system is similarly extensive. Sony and Pentax are making great cameras and lenses too, but don't offer near the selection that Nikon and Canon do. Olympus is making some fine cameras and lenses, too, in cooperation with Panasonic... but has concentrated on compact models that utilize a smaller micro Four/Thirds sensor. All Oly and most Sony models are now "mirrorless", too. Fujifilm is making some excellent mirrorless too... both APS-C size and, most recently, the first (I think) medium format mirrorless model.