Upgrade Advice: I am looking to upgrade my current dslr and would like a little help. I have a Nikon D70S and would like to stay with them as I have four lenses and don't want to...

Ewil

I am looking to upgrade my current dslr and would like a little help. I have a Nikon D70S and would like to stay with them as I have four lenses and don't want to change and buy a new kit. Budget is limited and I have researched the market. It looks either a D3200 or D3300 are on sale with prices within my budget. Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

MarkD Loc: NYC

Both are good cameras, but both require lenses with a built-in focus motor in order to autofocus. Many lenses, especially older lenses, do not have the motor. Depending on your lenses you may be better off with a lightly used or refurbished D7000 or D7100. They have the focus motor built into their body so they can AF with any AF Nikon lens. What lenses do you have?

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

The D3300 and D3200 are wonderful cameras for their price.
But, we cannot give you our best advice without knowing exactly which four lenses you already have.

Ewil

Mark -
Thanks for the reply. I will check my kit and get back to you. They work with my D70.

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Ewil wrote:

Mark -
Thanks for the reply. I will check my kit and get back to you. They work with my D70.

The D70 has an internal focus motor.
The D3XXX & D5XXX don't.
So there is a possibility that you have lenses that will be fully functional and will autofocus on your D70 but will not on a D3300.
Therefore you may be better off following either of two routes, getting a D3300 kit including lenses to replace the ones that won't autofocus, or stepping up to something in the D7XXX series which will have an internal focus motor.
Like we suggested though, we really need to know exactly which lenses you have before we can give full and informed advice.

CO

Amazon still has some brand new D3000, D3100, D3200, D5000, D5100, D5200, D5300, D7000, and D300s cameras at discounted prices. I bought a second D7000 from them just a couple of months ago. When you buy from them make sure that it's coming from Amazon. They're an authorized Nikon dealer and will have the items that have a US warranty. If it's a company that's selling via Amazon you can email them through the Amazon website to find out if the item is gray market or intended for the US.

Buzzo Loc: NorthGeorgia

MarkD wrote:

Both are good cameras, but both require lenses with a built-in focus motor in order to autofocus. Many lenses, especially older lenses, do not have the motor. Depending on your lenses you may be better off with a lightly used or refurbished D7000 or D7100. They have the focus motor built into their body so they can AF with any AF Nikon lens. What lenses do you have?

Focus motor built into their body?????
Don't think so.
What did you mean to say?

CO

If you go with a D7xxx series camera you not only get the internal focusing motor but a superior viewfinder as well. The D3xxx and D5xxx series cameras have a pentamirror viewfinder. The D7xxx series cameras have a pentaprism viewfinder. The glass prism in the viewfinder give a larger and brighter view.

CO

Buzzo wrote:

Focus motor built into their body?????
Don't think so.
What did you mean to say?

Most Nikon DSLR cameras have a focusing motor built into the body so they can focus lenses that aren't the AF-S type. The -S is their abbreviation for silent wave motor. It's the ring type motor built into the lens. The D3xxx and D5xxx series cameras don't have that internal motor.
If you look at the lens mount of a camera that has an internal focusing motor you'll see what looks like the tip of a small screwdriver in a hole. It engages with a slot in the lens's mount and drives the focusing.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Ewil wrote:

I am looking to upgrade my current dslr and would like a little help. I have a Nikon D70S and would like to stay with them as I have four lenses and don't want to change and buy a new kit. Budget is limited and I have researched the market. It looks either a D3200 or D3300 are on sale with prices within my budget. Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

Get a refurb, and your dollars will go farther. The D3000 series does not have a focusing motor. You'll have to go to the D7000 series for that. If all of your lenses have focusing motors, then a D3000 series would be okay.

http://www.cameta.com/index.cfm?fa=display.search&page=1&keywords=nikon%20refurb&refine=y&Category=Digital%20SLR%20Cameras

http://www.adorama.com/inkd7100r.html

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

Ewil wrote:

I am looking to upgrade my current dslr and would like a little help. I have a Nikon D70S and would like to stay with them as I have four lenses and don't want to change and buy a new kit. Budget is limited and I have researched the market. It looks either a D3200 or D3300 are on sale with prices within my budget. Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

Both the D3200 and D3300 are good cameras but if you have a D70s, be aware that if your lenses do NOT have SWM (silent wave motors) in them they will NOT auto focus on the D3200 or D3300. Those two models in addition to the D5100 and D5200 require lenses with the Silent Wave Motor built into each lens.

MarkD Loc: NYC

Buzzo wrote:

Focus motor built into their body?????
Don't think so.
What did you mean to say?

CO explains it perfectly.

Ewil

It looks as though my lenses will not work with the 3000 series bodies as none of them have the "S" designation on them. They are 85mm 1.8 AF; 135 f2 DC; 24-120 F3.5 AF and 55-300'AF-S. It looks like only the last one will work on the N300 series. Thanks for all the help you folks saved me from a mistake

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

Ewil wrote:

I am looking to upgrade my current dslr and would like a little help. I have a Nikon D70S and would like to stay with them as I have four lenses and don't want to change and buy a new kit. Budget is limited and I have researched the market. It looks either a D3200 or D3300 are on sale with prices within my budget. Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

According to my advice god, Ken Rockwell (kenrockwell.com): What's the best camera that can handle every kind of photo situation, but still lightweight and at a reasonable price?

The Nikon D3300.

You can pay a lot more, but no camera does anything significantly better than the D3300 for most people's photography.

I usually take his advice with great weight. I have gone seriously off his recommendation only one time (Bought a Nikon P7000. He recommended a Canon ??? at the time) and the Nikon was a $600 dog. (And I'm a Nikon kinda guy) I finally went out and bought a Canon G15. Had to give the P7000 away.

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

Buzzo wrote:

Focus motor built into their body?????
Don't think so.
What did you mean to say?

Exactly what he said. Older Nikon AF lenses had a worm drive that coupled to a motor IN THE BODY for autofocus. AF-S lenses have focusing motors built into the lens. Higher end Nikon cameras will accommodate either type of lens; the 3000 and 5000 series will only autofocus with AF-S lenses.