ole sarg Loc: south florida

There are those who like DSLRs and those who don't! Are you sure you want a DSLR? They are heavy and complex.

Have you looked at say a Sony a6000 or a Fujifilm Xe2 or that favorite of many hogs the Canon XS50?

Before spending those hard earned retirement dollars go to a big box store or if you have one a good camera store - as rare as hens teeth these days - and hold some cameras.

Everyone here has a favorite brand and will swear by it. But, the question you have to answer is what do you want to shoot and will your investment in camera justify the time spent actually shooting?

Lastly, the only advice I can give is make sure the camera you purchase has a view finder. If you don't have one you will complain about pics being out of focus!

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

Welcome to retirement. It's a wonderful stage of life.

As for the camera, it's good to think about what kind of photography will fit into your life -as you apparently have done.

Do you want to shoot birds and other wildlife? Then you will want a telephoto lens and a good one will run into a lot of money. Being able to use older lenses should help with this; for me this was my principle reason for upgrading from a Nikon J2 to a Sony A6000. Sony goes out of their way to make it easy to use other brands of lenses while Nikon seems to go out of their way to make it difficult.

You say you want to take pictures of grandchildren and the like. That might lead you to needing a flash unit. TTL makes a flash easy to use but it may limit your options to the manufacturer of the camera so you might want to take a look at what your options are in this regard before buying the camera.

But you also want to travel with your camera. That probably makes small and light equipment a priority for you and you probably want to investigate the mirror-less alternatives to a DSLR.

Probably not (it would put you well above the $1000 class), but you may want to make large prints to hang in a museum or publish commercially. That would put a priority on getting a full-frame camera and the very highest quality lenses.

A full-frame camera is one with the largest practical sensor. While that is probably not what you want, the size of your sensor should be something you are aware of when buying a camera. A bigger sensor means less overall noise and that means better pictures in poorly lit scenes but large sensors are expensive and that makes the camera more expensive. And a large sensor means that future lens purchases will be more expensive - likely much more expensive.

But a warning here. The sensor size is not information that is always so easy to find. You will have to do some research on the topic; camera reviews often disclose it when manufacturer specifications do not.

Edmund Dworakowski

I would buy one of Nikon's entry level D3000 series cameras body with a 35mm f1.8 lens. It is economical, user friendly, easy to use and is capable of producing professional image quality. The 35mm f1.8 is fast, sharp and using a prime will teach you to become more involved with you photography. If money is an issue, I'd purchase a refurbished camera and lens, online directly from Nikon via their Nikon USA store. This will give you High Quality, Professional Results and the Most Bang for your hard earned Buck ! You're learning, don't get caught up in the BS that says you need to buy all the bells and whistles, all at once because most of it is unnecessary BS.
Take it from a retired guy who knows...BTW I've moved up to a D800 and the Nikon Trinity, but only after making mistakes and LEARNING the ropes...most of my gear is Refurb.

Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

Congratulations and welcome to the ranks of the formerly employed now enjoying life.
I'm a Nikon person but I like Canon P&S's. As the first responder to your post pointed out, neither brand is the be all, end all.

Although I'm not looking to upgrade my Nikon to the D5500, I did read a comparison of this to some of its predecessors in this series.
The main feature is that the D5500 is lighter that the older D5XXX's. There are other pluses but in my mind that's the main one.
I think you can get a package with the Nikkor 17-140mm lens (a very nice lens) from one of the REPUTABLE dealers mentioned here, for around $1000.

When you decide to buy, and before you choose a dealer, ask members of the UHH if that particular dealer is reputable. There are a lot of GREY MARKET sales out there and you equipment will not be serviceable by the manufacturer if you live in the U.S.

Welcome to the Hog. You'll love it here.

Indi Loc: L. I., NY, Palm Beach Cty when it's cold.

Right! I agree with you Duke. When I retired from teaching my wife was still teaching. She'd give me the HoneyDo list and I was able to pick and choose what I wanted to do. Now that she's retired, she's always around to enforce the list.

Morry Loc: Palm Springs, CA

Welcome to Ugly Hedgehog and congratulations on your retirement. Retirement is great after 16 years of it and I would recommend it to anyone who wants it. All the advice everyone has given you looks good to me and you can't go wrong taking any of it that I read. As for me I recently (3 months ago) bought a new Sony a6000, downsizing from a lifetime of using larger equipment ranging from medium format to 35mm. At my current age (81) I find it easier to haul around on trips without straining myself because of weight and yet still maintaining quality that I want. I am also not hung up on particular brand names. I think you have been correctly advised that in your price range "just about everything" on the market will serve you well.
All the best.

davyboy Loc: Anoka Mn.

I like my camera! Get it?

daddybear Loc: Brunswick, NY

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

Welcome to the Hog Chuck.

INshooter Loc: Indiana

If I were starting over now I would take a close look at the mirrorless cameras. My wife has a Sony A6000 that is highly regarded. Mirrorless cameras produce great pictures and are much smaller and lighter than DSLR's and still offer interchangeable lenses. I've seen a number of folks on this forum who have sold their DSLR's and went the mirrorless route because they felt the need for a lighter camera/lens.
Take a look: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1029860-REG/sony_ilce6000l_b_alpha_a6000_mirrorless_digital.html

Mickey Mantle Loc: New York City

Mirror less is the way to go. Sold all my Nikon full frames and lenses. Love the Sony mirror less

19104 Loc: Philadelphia

In olden times I managed a camera store, and I totally agree that there are really no bad cameras in your price range. What I always suggested to my friend was to find a camera that feels good to you. Something that you see yourself carrying all the time. The best camera is the one you have with you. IF you are fortunate enough to have a real camera store close it you, or maybe a BestBuy, go in and fondle all the different models. Your friends and acquaintances that own different cameras ask for a chance to handle there models. Be careful of salesmen because most of them are commission driven and will try to sell you a camera with the biggest spiff.
And even though I know all of this I recently bought a camera on reviews only and I hate it.

Good luck and many6 happy snaps

Shutter Bugger

In that price range, smaller
non slr cameras will produce
photos of the "same" quality,
and are less conspicuous, which
is great shooting people as they dont feel
as self conscious as they do when
confronted with a professional
looking camera.

There are superlative small cameras out there.

The largest sensor (that fits
your price range) in a small body
would be primary concerns if I was in your
shoes.

Also, if image quality is important to
you, avoid cameras with a lot of zoom range... 24mm-1000mm for example.

24mm-70mm zoom range is very modest
but versatile enough, and one of
those produced by Zeiss is a gem.

The Sony RX100 III just happens to be
an inconspicuous little unit
equipped with a 24-70 Zeiss... well
worth a look. :thumbup:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/0445208298/dpreview-recommends-best-compact-cameras-for-enthusiasts?utm_campaign=internal-link&utm_source=mainmenu&utm_medium=text&ref=mainmenu

One last thing: Sensor size is more important than pixel count
imho. So the Fujifilm X30 is also worth a look

Welcome to the Hog.

ssymeono Loc: St. Louis, Missouri

Happy retirement! Take your time to decide, visit a real camera store and rent equipment. Keep reading UHH and also subscribe to a magazine. All this will get you involved. Popular Photography is a good place to start, they have lots of useful reviews and an interesting feature each month called WE WANT THIS, usually a new and exciting camera or lens. This month's it's the Nikon D7200, a truly fabulous camera that does everything by itself bu also willing to submit to sophisticated instruction.
Above all enjoy retirement and photography!

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

You'll get lots of recommendations, most based on personal preference. My recommendation would be either the Canon t3i, which I own and is pretty reasonable these days or perhaps the t5i. Both are Canon Rebel models, both are easy to learn and both allow you to grow with different lenses and as your skills increase they both allow for full manual operation and, should you want it, both offer full 1080 video.