TMcL

Canon.

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

Or to make it more complicated: Or Pentax or Sony or Fuji All three are respectable options. CaNik is not the only game in town.

markjay

Dont be a fool.
Neither is the right choice.
Get something where the companies dont rip you off for buying grey market products.

Boris Ekner Loc: From Sweden, living in Guatemala

This is not the kind of question one can answer to your satisfaction in a 140 character tweet... 😉

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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.

Here’s the compressed and abridged version:
Canon - Good for video.
Nikon - Lots of 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.

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 bought a 55-200mm, a 35mm, a 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, 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. 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/

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With courtesy of Jim Stascavage, member of another 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.

alggomas Loc: Wales, United Kingdom.

As suggested go and feel even hire a camera for the day to make sure you like their feel.
No need to spend all on one camera.
A camera with many features may look attractive but how many features will you really use?
Pick a camera, Canon or Nikon which has good reviews , does not have to be top end because you will need lenses.
A good say 17-50mm and a telephoto say 70-200/300mm.
Then practice using this equipment.
Worry about " the best " after you have mastered your kit.

afharris777

Thank you, and I do have a Best Buy near by, I will do exactly that, make sense to me. Will let you know.

afharris777

Thank you, I'm leaning toward the Nikon D7200, and two lenses, 18-55mm and a 70-300mm, getting a good deal for the whole package.

alggomas Loc: Wales, United Kingdom.

Great!
Have fun.
Sometimes I have more fun taking photographs and learning about the subject than the result!

Marionsho Loc: Kansas

Boris Ekner Loc: From Sweden, living in Guatemala

Agreed!! Pentax makes really great cameras, all weather sealed. Budget was only reason for choosing Nikon D5300 over Pentax this time.

However, if I ever go full frame Pentax K-1 is my first choice.

Boris Ekner Loc: From Sweden, living in Guatemala

Agreed.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I'm surprised Nikon was cheaper than Pentax. When comparing comparable cameras, Pentax is usually less.

ShooterRod

I bet by a year from now, your more likely question would be, "mirrorless vs traditional?"
Since you're starting out now, I would go visit a nice camera store and look hard at mirrorless,
because there is also a size-of-camera-consideration, sharpness and color being equal.

Selene03

I believe this will be a very good choice for you and will give you lots of options!!!! Enjoy your new camera package!

JP Pixburgh Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

I just got my driver's license. Chevy or Toyota?
Only you know the answer to your question. Go try them out! I personally have Nikon because I've had one since 1983 and appreciated their progression to digital. But I purchased a Canon for my company based on ease of use for the point and shoot folks. They're both very good cameras. I wish I could say "But a Nikon" but then you'd hunt me down if you didn't like it. Eh, No you wouldn't. You'd like it!