mineart

Go to your local camera store (not big box store). Bring a SD memory card with you. Talk to the folks working there and handle every camera you can afford (and I would seriously look at mirrorless). Shoot some with everything and they review the photos when you get home to see what you liked. between the feel of the camera and how it shoots, plus the image quality you'll end up making a great choice. And BTW, there are very very few 'bad' choices out there.

Hip Coyote

Greetings. I have canon and oly. On a recent trip to Eastern Europe (carrying only Oly set up) I took time to look at the cameras people were carrying. Canon was by far the most carried system. Perhaps 8 out of 10 people carried a canon. Nikon had perhaps 1 out of 10. I only saw on other Oly and two Fujis. It kind of gave me a complex! If I were going to buy into a system, I think it would be the one that is the most used and supported around the world. The Canon 80d is a great set up and probably had the most availability of equipment (due to people selling used lenses, etc. )

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

I believe the Nikon F did not come out until 1965. Would you have had a Nikon rangefinder perhaps?

Dennis

BebuLamar

Nikon F was introduced in 1959.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Thanks. I wasn't positive but thought early to mid 60's.

Dennis

Royce Moss Loc: Irvine, CA

Hey I agree with JC. The 7500 + 18-140. I'd take that in a heart beat. Like JC said drop the kit with all the other cheapies and get a nice prime. Get the body and build around it. I got a 7100 body 35 1.8, 18-140,75-300 looking at a 85 1.8 for portraits. What ever you get have fun.

joelcandids

I'm a Nikon shooter but that's what I started with. Both Mikon and Cannon are great cameras. I think it comes down to how the controls fit your hand. Someone suggested you try out cameras first and that's great advice. I've learned to rent cameras and lens before I spend the money. You know what you're getting and you get something you will be happy with.

johnala

I was in Korea in 1953/4, and I bought my first 35MM camera at the PX at 3rd division HQ, where I was stationed. You could buy a package of a roll of film and included in the package was the processing. The Px would ship it somewhere. I still have the Kodachrome slides in the original boxes. I rotated home with the division leaving from Inchon, and ending at New Orleans. 32 days, one and a half days of which I was seasick, with a 2 day stop at Honolulu, a transit of the Panama Canal, and a few hours stop at Columbia (did I spell that right?) to drop off the Columbia UN contingent. Imagine Waikiki Beach without huge hotels. Wow! I still do film.

shelty Loc: Medford, OR

There are all sorts of "nice" cameras out there ranging from about $100 clear on up to several thousand. It all depends on what are you going to do with the images. are you going to make large exhibition pictures or just 4x6 prints or just show them on a screen? Any cheap camera will do with the latter category. But for large exhibition pictures you will need a high end camera. The camera you mentioned will probably fill the bill for most categories. that is if you want to spend that much.

jrcarpe Loc: Jacksonville,AR

You had a great camera with the Canon. I still have mine. I would prefer to stay with Canon and buy either the Canon 24/70 lans or the canon 24/105.Both are great lens.Also the 50mm 1.4 or the 85mm prime lens.

Go full frame if you can afford. Wish I could but guess I will keep my 70D,Works great.

Good luck and enjoy your hobby.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Regarding Costco... it appears to me that they offer pretty good deals on cameras, but only very limited choice and it appears always only the cheapest possible lenses in their bundles. I have no personal experience with either the 18-55mm or 70-300mm Nikkors included in that bundle.... They're probably okay, but I wouldn't expect them to be great. They both are "AF-P" which are cheaper models that use a "stepper" autofocusing motor. Both those lenses use a plastic bayonet mount and both lenses have narrow manual focus rings. The AF-P models also don't have a switch on the lens to turn off VR (stabilization) if it's not wanted, nor do they have a switch for autofocus/manual focus. Both can be turned off in the D7500's menu, but that's not as convenient as a switch on the lens for these purposes. Neither lens has a distance scale either. As a result of that, there's also no depth of field scale, but those are only marginally useful on zooms anyway... especially on telephotos such as the 70-300mm.

Personally I'd prefer the higher performance "AF-S VR" version of the 70-300mm instead.... it's more expensive, but solves most of those shortcomings.

There's nothing to be gained and maybe even some further setbacks with the "AF-S VR" 18-55mm Nikkor, so I'd accept the AF-P if I wanted that lens.

The AF-S 18-140mm VR also solves most of the above shortcomings, but reportedly isn't as fast focusing as the AF-S 70-300mm VR.

Note that after factoring in the DX format sensor used in the D7500, an 18-140mm "acts like" 24-210mm would have on you AE-1.... In other words, this single lens actually covers greater range of focal lengths than most film camera user ever owned in their lifetime! The 18-55mm "acts like" a 24-83mm and the 70-300mm "acts like" a 105-450mm would on the film cameras.

Costco only offers the D7500 in kit with the two AF-P lenses. There are more and IMO better choices at other sellers...

B&H Photo and Adorama in NY bundles the D7500 with Nikkor AF-S 18-140mm VR DX lens for $1547 (free shipping and no sales tax most places outside NY).

Maybe you'll want to shoot scenic landscapes and will want to purchase the new, $306 Nikkor AF-P 10-20mm VR DX separately.

Later, if you want to shoot wildlife or sports, add a Nikkor AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6 VR DX for $1397.

Or, if you prefer a more compact yet powerful telephoto zoom, maybe the new Sigma 100-400mm for $800.

Or, perhaps you'll enjoy shooting macro and will want a lens to do that. Or maybe portraits or low light, and one or two large aperture primes such as 50mm f/1.4 would be ideal.

No need to "do it all" in a single purchase. In fact, it might be best to start with just the D7500 and the 18-140mm lens... then gradually add lenses in the future, if and when needs arise.

Just a thought, you also might want to consider the somewhat lower cost D7200... With 24MP it actually has higher resolution sensor than D7500 (21MP). But the trade-off is that it has a slower 6 frames per second continuous shooting rate (D7500 can do 8 fps). See a more detailed comparison here: http://cameradecision.com/compare/Nikon-D7500-vs-Nikon-D7200 and Google for reviews of each camera. At about $250 less with the same AF-S 18-140mm VR lens, the D7200 might leave some funds for an additional lens or accessory you want right away, such as a flash or a tripod. I often think people spend too much on the camera and then short-change themselves on the lenses to use with it... as well as other essential accessories.

I'm just not a fan of letting Costco pick my gear... I prefer to pick things for myself.

I agree with some other responses that suggest you go to a store and handle various brands and models of cameras. Try to use the menus and even take a few shots, if the store will let you. While you can undoubtedly learn to use any of them well.... one or another just might seem easier.

You should also be prepared to spend some additional for other things that may or may not be included. For example, you'll need memory cards and maybe a spare battery. Lenses may or may not come with a matching lens hood, which i recommend always using because they help protect the lens from bumps. You also may need software, computer upgrades (RAM and HD storage space... possibly a graphics accelerator card). If you plan to do much printing... in addition to a photo quality printer, you might want to consider calibrating your computer monitor. A calibration device basically pays for itself over time, in savings of wasted ink and paper. And there are always other helpful accessories including tripods, flashes, and something to carry your kit in. I'd also highly recommend getting a guide book specific to whatever camera you buy, to help you get up to speed using it as quickly and painlessly as possible. Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" is also a very good read... an overview of how modern DSLRs work and tricks to get the best out of them. Even with your previous experience, you would probably find it valuable.

Have fun shopping!

ABJanes Loc: Jersey Boy now Virginia

Very well stated! Thank You! I call it crawl, walk, run, sprint ..... you can't learn all of this at the same time. A D7200 with an 18-140MM is an excellent place to start, combined with Darrel Young's Book "Mastering the Nikon D7200" is equipment he can grow into and maybe just stick with it. I love my D7100!

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Those low priced lenses are perfectly suitable and acceptable to probably 98% of photographers out there.

Dennis

IBM

It's amaiizzing the amount of people going against the pro,s who don't recommend this camera , but would chose the d7200 over it .
Granted it will work and take good pic , but the pros , would not buy it over the d7200 because what your getting doesn't add up to
What you get over the d7200 is not that meaning full , but you lose more of what is meaning full by buying the d7500 for much more $$$$
Than need be for no gain , basically that is what it amounts to , you can buy good lens with your savings of maybe two

RCJets Loc: Virginia

I will add my "Thanks for your service" to those who have already done so. I bought a great camera in Vietnam in 1967. It is the Topcon RE Super. It has a 55mm 1.4 lens and took great photos It cost $400.00 from the PX THEN! Time has had it sitting in it's case on a book shelf for many years now.

About five years ago, I got my first good Digital Camera, a Nikon D5000. It was not a high end by any means, but it took decent pictures. I thought I knew something about photography from my previous experience, but boy, did I have a lot to learn. The digitals (except for the point and shoot) have a lot of options and features that will take you time in the manual to learn. I was introduced to a local photography club and that was a real blessing. We meet every week, and it's like taking a complete course on everything related to digital photography and processing your shots. I was lucky enough to be at a meeting when a member offered his Nikon D7100 with two lenses for sale for $550.00. I jumped on it and haven't looked back.

I really think you'll like almost any newer digital camera you buy but expect there to be a steep learning curve at first. And by all means learn to shoot in manual mode and get a good processing program. My club president ( and primary teacher) pushed Adobe Lightroom. It's a good program, but it takes time to learn it. I started with Photoshop Express, and it does a good job to get you started.

Whatever you end up with, enjoy!