Jwillislaw wrote:
Hi Mates: I finally decided to get a DSLR. Primarily to keep myself occupied while watching my high school daughter's field hockey games. Any suggestions for an entry level or midrange Nikon and more importantly the lens I will need? I can get not much closer than 50 feet from the action. Also, I have big mitts so I need a camera that is easy to grip. That's why I am avoiding the mirror less. Many thanks.
If I was in your situation I would go for a crop sensor camera with a shutter speed of 30 seconds to 1/4000 of a second. Plus a battery grip for the large hands.
Zoom lens: up to 300 to 500 mm's depending on the budget. Remember that a crop sensor camera multiply the focal length with 1.5 for Nikon and 1.6 for Canon.
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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.
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 spent.
Later I've bought a 55-200mm(used) and a 35mm(used) lenses. A better speed light/flash, a good tripod, petal lens hoods, third party battery grip, extra batteries, twin charger, better/faster memory card, and some other stuff. All from eBay who time after time confirms to have the best prices.
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 and pan 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. It was all well invested pennies. At the moment I’m reading Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. As knowledge has no weight it is easy to carry...
http://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.
500px.com/borisekner/galleries
instagram.com/borisekner
A very informative D5300 Review:
https://sleeklens.com/nikon-d5300-review/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-blog&substat=blogPS
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/