yorkshire

I am looking to upgrade my Nikon camera or buy new lenses not sure which will serve me better?the lenses I have are 18-56mm 3.5-5.6 and a 70-300mm 4-5.6 Nikon
I want to stay with Nikon but I would like to get sharper images?

JohnR Loc: The Gates of Hell

Your D3300 is quite old now but upgrading the body to a later model will not give sharper images. Improved technique can give sharper images. New lenses may or may not give sharper images - depends on the lens. Primes are usually sharper but you need more of them to cover the range you have now. I have Nikons 18-300mm which I find adequately sharp through most of its range.

yorkshire

Thank you for your reply
By the way you live in a fantastic part it the world

CO

Your D3300 is 24 megapixels and Nikon eliminated the anti-aliasing in that camera for slightly sharper images.
Have you checked your camera and lenses for front or back focusing tendencies? That can make a difference. You can do a test that will show if your camera is not focusing accurately. Take photos using both the viewfinder (phase detection autofocus) and live view mode (contrast detection autofocus). There are no focusing errors when using contrast detection autofocus. Phase detection autofocus is error prone.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You should be getting sharp images today with both your lenses and your D3300. Before spending any more money, you should consider posting and storing some original JPEGs showing your current results. You may find you just need to helpful ideas rather than new equipment.

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

I agree that there may be things you can do other than (or in addition to) getting more gear. Steve Perry last week put out a video, « 8 Secrets for Sharper Wildlife Photos, » which has some tips that could apply to other types of photography as well.

Your D3300 is a solid camera as long as you are comfortable with using menus to control the camera functions. The one possible drawback is that may not be able to use some of Nikon’s more recent lenses.

Good luck!

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

In general sharpness depends more on us than on the gear we are using.

Bayou

There's nothing of consequence about the D3300 that's old. Its guts are current and as good as Nikon gets with its APS-C cameras. It lacks only in control features and buttons, not in sensor/image quality.

The lenses you have are quite sharp as well, though not state of the art. Truth is, Nikon doesn't make much better in DX as far as sharpness goes. Improving technique, focusing skills, exposure selection, steady hands...these are the things that will give you sharper photos. If you're not already using back button focus with a single focus point, you may want to explore that. I find it makes for sharper photos by giving you better control on what part of the image the camera actually focuses on. With shutter button focus, the camera decides, with back button used properly, you decide.

Bayou

The D3300 does work correctly with current AF-P lenses if the camera has the current firmware installed. Those lenses are a marvel...fast, accurate, and silent focusing, lightweight and inexpensive.

John Maher Loc: Northern Virginia

I upgraded from the D3000 to the D5600.
Reason #1 Sensor. However, except for the D3000, I believe the D3XXX and D5XXX use the same sensor.
Reason #2 Live View. Not on the D3000. See #3.
Reason #3 Articulated screen. I use eye viewer most of the time, but articulated screen is great for "down to earth" shots such as mushrooms. This was the tiebreaker with the D3500 which was just coming out.
Reason #4 was the newer lens issue cited above, but D3500 or D5600 both solved that.

Later discovered D5600 also has intervalometer if you are interested in time lapse.

I did consider the D7XXX family (new and refurbished), but the D5600 had what I was looking for -- especially that fully articulated screen.

I saw comments that some tempered glass screen protectors would not allow the live view to close (face in). They overlap onto the frame. I finally selected the debous GL9HSS which works fine.

I believe Nikon has announced that the D5600 is the end of the D5000 line. I believe this is just cutting back on the number of models due to smaller market as cell phone cameras have become very good and convenient and DSLRs have become so good that it is hard to add features worth upgrading for. It will be interesting to see what the D3600 looks like -- and how long the D5600 stays in production.

I am happy with the cropped format.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

The never ending quest for better pictures... Start shooting at different things with a more positive attitude, experimenting with different lenses isn't going to make a world of difference.

tdozier3 Loc: Northern Illinois

Good glass makes a world of difference

Pistnbroke Loc: UK

You main problem is your camera does no have fine focus adjust so I would be surprised if all your images dont show front or back focus. Get as a minimum a D7100 and a Nikon 200-500.Have you checked in picture control if you have the sharpness at +9 ?? Anything less looks soft.

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

Many factors affect sharpness - shutter speed, how you hold the camera, subject motion, aperture (DOF), VR mode on/off - better to leave off for faster shutter speeds, etc. I can tell you it's probably not the D3300 or your lenses per se (unless they are out of calibration). I have that model which is going on 5+ years but it's still a very capable 24mp camera - small and light for travel and family pics - it's also the last model in the 3xxx series that has a sensor cleaner mode. There may be a firmware upgrade for that model - check to see if you have the latest >> https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/21/D3300.html

ELNikkor

The 18-55 is a very sharp, close-focusing lens. I have 3 of them, and they are awesome performers on my D5100, D200, and D40. If sharpness is a problem, it is not because of your lenses, nor your sensor! Save your money and look for other reasons than lenses and sensor. If you do want a faster lens, get the reasonably priced, fantastic DX 35 1.8.