Chrishants Loc: England

Thats certainly the case, but means lots of things tend to get overlooked and for beginners decisions get made on the basis of advertising blurb and sales features which are of little or no practical use?

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

the Z5 mirror less camera, it s light takes great pix ITS a MIL ( mirrorless interchangeable lens) . but a bit over $1000 if i remember

Canisdirus

I'd recommend either a used Canon full-frame or a used Sony full-frame.
They are the leaders in mirrorless, but you could start with a used Canon full-frame DSLR as well.
Pretty much all of the future full-frame bodies will have the capability to shoot in crop mode with a touch of a button.
Buy full-frame lenses, so you won't have to dump crop lenses later on.
Full-frame is where the market is...and is going.

ronpier Loc: Poland Ohio

Just purchase a “like new” D5600 with low shutter count. Next best to purchasing new and you’ll get what you want. Readily available with a warranty from many used vendors. I purchase my used cameras from MPB.

Mac61 Loc: Northwest Florida

Don't give up on the D5600. I purchased one in April 2020 and haven't put it down since. I would recommend printing the manual (about 400 pages ) and purchasing Nikon D5600 by David Bush. It's a very informative book that explains and tells how use and setup the great features of the D5600. One other piece of advice is to shoot with it every chance you have. Good luck.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I agree! While mirrorless are the "latest and greatest", they also tend to be more expensive. You can put together an DLSR kit of camera and a few lenses for a lot less than $.

Nikon Z50 with 16-50mm and 50-250mm lenses: $1200

Nikon D5600 with 18-55mm and 70-300mm lenses: $1050 (new), $550? (refurbished)

- Note: B&H Photo prices. They show D5600 currently out of stock, but more on the way.

D5600 is 24MP, while Z50 is 21MP.
Both cameras have shutter speed 30 sec to 1/4000.
Z50 has ISO range 100 to 51200, D5600 has ISO range 100-25600 (both are extendable).
Both cameras mechanical shutter allow 5 frames per second (fps) shooting
Z50's electronic (silent) shutter allows up to 11 fps, but "rolling shutter" distortion may occur.
D5600 has a self-cleaning sensor, the Z50 does not.
Z50's shutter doesn't close when lens is removed, so sensor is exposed to dust, accidental damage.
D5600's shutter is closed (and behind the mirror) when lens is removed.
There are only the two DX kit lens for the Z50 so far, though AF-P and AF-S F-mount lenses can be adapted.
There are some 30 or 40 DX lenses for the D5600, as well as another 50 or 60 FX lenses in F-mount.
Neither camera is able to autofocus some lenses and may not be compatible with other manual focus lenses.
- Note: Lenses that can't AF incl. current models, such as Nikkor 200mm Micro & Tokina 100mm Macro in F-mount
Both the 16-50mm and 50-250mm Nikkor lenses sold with Z50 have VR.
The 18-55mm Nikkor sold with D5600 has VR, but the 70-300mm DX in kit with it does not.
- Note: Arguably, VR is most helpful on longer telephotos. There is a 70-300mm VR, but it's not sold in kit.
Z50 uses an electronic viewfinder which can do some things optical viewfinders can't.
But electronic viewfinders also draw a lot of power, reducing the number of shots per battery charge.
Z50 is rated to give about 300 shots per charge with a smaller EN-EL25 battery.
D5600 is rated to take over 900 shots per charge with EN-EL14a battery.
Nikon doesn't offer battery grip for either camera, to increase capacity.
Third party battery grip is avail. for D5600, but it's rather limited.
Z50: 14 oz. D5600: 16 oz.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 in Z-mount: $600
Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 in F-mount: $220

Other comparable Nikkors found in both mounts tend to cost at least $200 more in Z-mount.

So while mirrorless cameras offer some neat features, there are still some advantages to DSLRs.

Personally if I were shopping for a Nikon APS-C ("DX") DSLR, the discontinued D7200 would probably still be my choice. I like it better than the current D7500, though the D7200 is just about impossible to find new now, but refurbished show up fairly often for under $700 (both only). The D7200 has a more advanced AF system than the D5600. Some other advantages of this model include: dual memory card slots, ability to autofocus a lot more lenses than either D5600 or Z50, has a larger/higher magnification optical viewfinder than D5600, and the Nikon MB-D15 battery grip is available for D7200 (but not D7500). That grip may not be necessary, though, since the D7200 uses a slightly larger EN-EL15 battery to get rated for 1100+ shots per charge. It has a slightly higher frame rate (6 fps), faster shutter speed 1/8000 and higher durability rated shutter (150,000 actuations).

D7200 does not have an articulated rear LCD screen (it's fixed) and it's not a Touch Screen. Both these might be nice to have in some instances, but also may make a camera less durable. And, yes, at about 24 oz. the D7200 is roughly half a lb. heavier than the above models. It's a more full featured, robust camera that's better sealed for weather and dust resistance.

All three cameras... Z50, D5600 and D7200... have Flicker Reduction. This is a great feature for anyone who ever has to shoot under fluorescent lighting, which makes for under-exposure problems with many cameras. Flicker Reduction detects the cycling of the lighting (also occurs with some other types of lights, such as sodium vapor), and "times" the shutter release to the peak output of the lights. I use Canon cameras with similar feature and it really works well... With it I see almost no under-exposed images, where I used to have to take lots of extra shots because without Anti-Flicker about half the shots taken "under the lights" would be under-exposed... a lot of them unrecoverable.

You appear to have your heart set on a Nikon... and that's fine. They offer some excellent cameras. But if you are ever going to switch brands, now's the time... before you get a lot "invested" in any particular system. You might want to consider DSLRs from Canon and Pentax or mirrorless from Sony or Fujifilm. The most compact mirrorless of all are from Olympus and Panasonic, who share the same Micro 4/3 mount for their lenses and use a slightly smaller M4/3 sensor that allows their cameras to be a bit smaller and lighter. That carries over into the lenses for them, too. Canon will probably scale back the number of different DSLR models they offer sometime in the future, too... since they have a hefty commitment to "going mirrorless". But as of now they still have a fairly extensive selection of models, including the smallest/lightest DLSR (SL3 or EOS 250D) and the highest resolution APS-C model (EOS 90D, 32.5MP), as well as various models in between. Like Nikon, they have a very extensive selection of lenses available for them, too. But unlike Nikon, every Canon EF and EF-S lens ever made is fully compatible with today's APS-C DSLRs. Canon DSLRs and lenses "in kit" do typically cost a bit more than the most comparable Nikon, but after the initial purchase Canon accessories and add'l lenses tend to cost a little to a lot less. Pentax has stated they will stick with DSLRs and not try to convert to mirrorless, the way all the other manufacturers are doing. Both Fujifilm and Sony a6000-series/APS-C are mirrorless, but they have been producing them a lot longer than Nikon, so have a lot more complete system of lenses available.

Best thing you could do is go to an actual store and handle as many different brands and models of camera as you can, see if one or another "feels" more comfortable to you and seems more intuitive to use. Set a budget for the initial purchase, but also plan any possible future additions you may want and make sure the system you choose offers them. It really depends upon what you want to shoot, the gear... mostly lenses... you'll need. Also don't forget the "other stuff" you might want or need, such as memory cards, spare batteries, flashes, classes or books, maybe image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop Elements, and possibly computer upgrades (for example, establish a solid backup plan right now and it will be much easier in the long run).

Have fun shopping!

wetreed

You make some very good points. I concur with your points.

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

If you have no legacy lenses, I would consider going mirrorless. They are the wave of the future. They are the reason that Nikon is stopping the 3xxx and 5xxx series, they are going to push their mirrorless cameras. Get in with the new technology while it is starting.
The downside is that there is not a big pool of used equipment available for the mirrorless unless to go with the converters by Nikon and Canon.
I have Nikons, but I also have a few Sony. If I was just starting out, I would certainly go with Sony.

John Hicks Loc: Sible Hedinham North Essex England

Why not get the camera of your choice and get a converter to use your existing lenses, would save a lot of money rather than buy new lenses