Something for you to consider is going with a bridge camera instead of a DSLR.
My brother went that way. Ha has had DSLR's in the past but instead just bought a Panasonic FZ1000.
It is a 'DSLR Like' camera with a 24-400mm equivalent zoom. This is great because you have from wide to telephoto without carrying and changing lenses. It has a 1" sensor which can give great quality photos. Can shoot jpg or RAW. Was rated best in class. There are others in the same category as well like the Sony RX10 but the Panasonic is the best for the money IMO. Look at some reviews on it and decide for yourself.

If you do want to go DSLR, any of today's models will give you excellent photos. I suggest you go to a local store and try them. Which feels best too you in your hands. If you go with either Nikon or Canon, you are getting a large available system of lenses,flashes and other accessories available from cheap to expensive as well as 3rd party stuff like lenses from Sigma, Tamron or Tokina among others. Best to know what you want to take photos of and ask questions based on that as to what lens(es) to buy etc with whatever camera you choose. Any model camera can take photos of everything if you have the right lens but some camera's are better than others for certain things.
You may also consider buying your first camera used. There are a lot of people that start out and then sell and upgrade their gear so you can have a great savings starting to learn and then up can also upgrade to something higher once you know what you want/need.
Good luck with whatever you go with.

Welcome. I too came from film as did most of us 'middle aged' people.
I have done photography since the 70's but have to admit I much prefer digital. The instant gratification of being able to check your shot seeing if you got it right before you move on. Shooting, editing and printing all in the same day. So much more you can do with it than you could in a darkroom and so much easier...
Did I say I love Digital? ;)

Canon A-1 in the mid 70's. Started with making contact prints then bought an enlarger (A Zenit) that could fold into it's own case since I had no room for a perminant darkroom. Developed my own film (B&W). Have always loved Photography.

I have found that I have become very sensitive to slightly off photos... Makes me want to put the pic in Photoshop and straighten it. Starting to bug me LoL.
I quite often have to fix my photos as they are slightly off though really easy to fix in PP.
Sometimes though you do it on purpose like with this photo. I was trying more to line up the shoes than the floor lol
http://www.pbase.com/mkaplan/image/43068064.jpg

Going from one hard drive to another
Shift (Keyboard) Drag with left mouse button = move.
Drag with no key = copy.
Alt (Keyboard) Drag with left mouse button = Shortcut.

As mentioned, it is easiest to just use the right mouse button and then select what you want to do off the popup menu

I bought the D500 and the 16-80mm lens. It is a great lens.
There are a few bad copies out there it seems but you have warranty so that should not stop you. Most reviewers love the lens. I read the reviews before I bought it and some were more negative but most were positive and some extremely positive. I also checked the forums and most people seemed to love it so I took the chance.
I love that combination of camera/lens and am extremely happy I bought it. Also great that I think most places have it discounted so you get it cheaper when what I paid when it came out.

It has always been said that sharpening is the final element before saving/printing.

Very nice and interesting shot

Any modern day camera can take excellent photos. It is true when they say it is the photographer and not the equipment. As has been shown many times with videos by DigitalRevTV where they have pros come and use toy cameras or other really low end crappy cameras and yet they generally get some really great photos.

It is really the light that makes the photo. More than camera or lens. If you want to improve the quality of your portraits, learn to light the person properly. It is the thing that makes the most difference. I remember taking photos of my cat as most cat owners do but once when I was set up to do portraits of a friend using better lights, soft boxes etc, while she had gone to change outfits, my cat was lying on my couch within the lighting so I took a shot. It is my favorite of her with rich colors and the sparkle in her eye... Light is everything. Here is the link to that photo... http://www.pbase.com/mkaplan/image/129709575/original.jpg

BTW you should read articles on how to improve your portraiture by pros. There are many videos and articles written like this one for example. https://www.behindtheshutter.com/3-steps-to-perfect-headshots-with-moshe-zusman/ as just 1 example...

Now if you do want to spend the money to get better equipment that is fine but it won't give you better quality photos.
Plus remember, if you buy better equipment you won't be able to use it as an excuse anymore for a bad shot ;)

Beautiful photos.

I don't think there would be much difference if you are cropping. The little bit that might show up would be because you are using auto for NR and on the cropped picture, the program may choose different parts of the picture to analyze for noise otherwise if the same areas were chosen then no. Where you will see a difference is when you reduce the size of the photo. That hides a lot of noise whereas cropping blows it up so emphasizes the noise more.
I think it might be best to first reduce the noise (not heavily) then reduce the size of the photo then sharpen. If you are cropping, I'd crop first then reduce noise then reduce size and then sharpen.

I prefer Cats but I guess the moon is ok ;)

I have been using pbase for many years. Check them out.
My site www.pbase.com/mkaplan
They have many different presets available so you can choose how you want your site to look.
They are not a free site. Started out that may many MANY years ago but converted. $23/GB.

I bought that combo and I was one of the first to get the camera. The lens is much better than I thought it would be. I love it.
Very sharp. Focus right on without touching it. No back/front focusing issue. That is something that can happen with any lens. Best is to buy the kit from somewhere you can easily return the lens if there is something wrong with it (or the camera) or at worst, as long as you are buying from an authorized reseller, you can always send it to Nikon for repair.
Enjoy the new camera.

Same to you