mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA

Don't listen to the naysayers and get a D500. I have both and shoot much of what you do, primarily grandkids. The frames per second, buffer capacity and focus modes alone leave you current camera in th dust.
I use the D750 sometimes for family portraits, but mostly night sky photography.
P.S. all your DX lenses will work on the D500 and any FX you may add.

Low Budget Dave

The camera you have is a good camera. Before I looked into newer cameras, I would first look at other lenses. If you are shooting with just the "kit lens", then that will usually the limiting factor in many (if not most) of your photos.

Start with a 50mm prime (or a 35 mm prime) and practice with that. There are good fast primes available for the D3200 that are much cheaper than a new camera. Once you get the feel for exactly what type of lens you want to use most often, that will direct your choice of next camera.

For example, if you really want to shoot in low light with low noise, then either of the cameras you mentioned will let you shoot in lower light with lower noise. But they will not make as much of a difference as you will get from shooting at F1.8 instead of F3.4.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The D500 has been discontinued, if that matters to you.

The D750 is a great camera. Be good to yourself and buy one. Get the excellent video from CreativeLive to learn how to use it.
https://www.creativelive.com/courses/fast-start-nikon-d750-john-greengo

Also -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmYJuCZiJWE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpzvfvroCgA
http://photoinduced.com/13037/nikon-d750-a-lot-to-love-in-a-smaller-package/
https://www.creativelive.com/catalog/photography?via=photography_search&q=d750
https://photographylife.com/recommended-nikon-d750-settings

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

The D500 is a current production model and far from discontinued.
The D750 went out of production in April 2019 and will likely see a replacement model announced at Photokina in September.

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

AMEN BROTHER

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Why are you "thinking I need to upgrade"? What are you not getting from your current set up? Some short comings are solved by upgrading the camera, some by a lens and most by developing skill.

Determine what your problem is before you seek a solution.

BuckeyeBilly Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

First, you really need to respond to some of the questions being asked of you; for example, how much money can you spend as well as what lenses you currently have. Second, I think you would be better off putting your money in better, faster lenses. The D3200 is a very fine camera so just upgrade your lenses. Believe me, you'll notice the difference right away.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

For sports and wildlife and fast changing action, there is nothing more responsive in a Nikon DX body than the D500. I would not use a D750 for that, if I could choose anything. The 750 is better for slower moving subjects. And it needs full frame lenses for best results.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

First, unless you plan to make really large prints or do a lot of available light, low light shooting, I'd recommend you stick with a DX camera. To "step up" to an FX camera, like the D750, and get the best out of the camera you will also need to replace any and all DX lenses. FX lenses will necessarily be bigger, heavier and more expensive too. This will be especially noticeable for wildlife photography. If you use a 300mm lens on your D3200 for wildlife now... with D750 you'll need a 450mm or longer telephoto to be able to frame subjects the same way. If you use a 400mm lens now on your D3200, you'll need a 600mm on the D750. Any shorter focal length DX lenses you use now also would need to be replaced with full frame-capable FX lenses. So if you decide to buy into "full frame" FX, be sure to allow plenty of budget to buy lenses too. And plan to have a much bigger and heavier kit of gear to haul around.

For the above reasons, I'd recommend you stick with a DX camera. That leaves the D500 and other as possibilities.

The D500 is a very nice camera, but even on sale right now for $1500 it's one of the most expensive cameras of it's type. It's highly capable, but is geared more toward pro shooters and quite likely "more camera than you need". More pro oriented cameras tend to be more complex and have less automation to assist less experienced users.

Less expensive and a notch below the D500, but still very significant steps up from D3200, are the D7200 and D7500.

For general use, the D7200 is an excellent choice that has recently been offered at very significant discounts... that's both good and bad. It's sold out many places now... and might not ever be restocked. If you cant find new, but do find one used or refurbished, I'd recommend you grab it! It's selling for around $700.... less than half the price of the D500.

Compare D7200 with your D3200: https://cameradecision.com/compare/Nikon-D3200-vs-Nikon-D7200

D7200 is an upgrade over D3200 in almost every possible way, even though it's only a little over 2 years newer. Most notably, for sports the AF system is much higher performance. It's also got faster frame rate and a higher specification shutter. The D7200 would be a great general purpose camera and better at sports/action/wildlife than your current camera. It's also got the top rated image sensor of any recent Nikon DX camera... with the widest dynamic range, excellent low light capabilities and 24MP resolution.

If your priority were sports/action photography, the D7500 is sort of a "D500 Lite" and is selling for about $900 right now.

Compare with your D3200: https://cameradecision.com/compare/Nikon-D3200-vs-Nikon-D7500

At first glance the D7500's AF system appears to be the same as the D7200's, but is actually a newer version with a few improvements. The D7500 also has faster frame rate than the D7200. And it's also got an articulated LCD Touch Screen, which the D7200 lacks. But the D7200 has dual memory card slots, which the D7500 lacks... And the D7500 uses a lower resolution 21MP sensor that doesn't have quite the dynamic range or low light capability as the D7200.

The D7500 is sort of a replacement for the D7200.... but it's not quite. If it were me, I'd pick the D7500 if sports/action were my emphasis. Sure, the D7200 can shoot sports too... As can your D3200. But the D7500 would be better at it. For more general use, the D7200 is very capable, with higher resolution and slightly better images qualities. D7200 would be a significant step up from your D3200 for sports/action... just not quite as much as the D7500 (or, even further, the D500).

Compare D7200 ($700) versus D7500 ($900) in more detail: https://cameradecision.com/compare/Nikon-D7200-vs-Nikon-D7500

Compare D7200 to D500 ($1500): https://cameradecision.com/compare/Nikon-D500-vs-Nikon-D7200

Compare D7500 to D500: https://cameradecision.com/compare/Nikon-D500-vs-Nikon-D7500

Unless you really, really need the speed of the D7500.... or, for that matter, the D500.... to me the D7200 is the best value! Rather than spending $1500 on a D500 (or $1500 for a D750, plus any lenses that makes necessary)... $700 for a D7200 would be a big upgrade that leaves you with $800 or more in your pocket to spend going places to take shots or on other gear you may need. (Lens upgrades or additions often have much greater effect on one's photography, than a camera upgrade does. Got a good tripod? Got a good flash?)

EDIT:



Huh? Where did you see that? I know the D7200 is a discontinued model (supposedly, but IMO not really superseded by D7500). I have heard the FX D750 is also now discontinued, though I don't know if this is "official" yet. AFAIK, both D500 and D7500 are still in production.

Not that it matters very much, unless you need to have repairs done some years from now. There is no guarantee, but a camera still in production today is likely to still be serviced and repairable for longer than a camera that's been discontinued. A lot depends upon the stock of replacement parts, though. Thanks to adequate supply versus demand, I've seen some lenses and cameras remain repairable for a decade or more after being discontinued. But I've also seen some instances where spare parts ran out quickly and a lens or camera was no longer considered serviceable by the rhe manufacturer just a couple years after it was discontinued. Even then, it might be possible to have repair work done on the item at an independent shop.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

The 7 year old D3200 has as much or more pixels than any professional Nikon DSLR with the exeption of the D8xx series. The only difference is, the mid and pro range models may make it easier to take pictures. But if money was on object, I'd go for the D500.

mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA

Thank you!
Too many people on this board quote nikonrumors.com, as fact. There is a reason the site is called "rumors!"

dick ranez

You'll get a better return on your money by buying a telephoto lens for your sports and wildlife photos. All the Nikon crop bodies have basically same sensor, and the more expensive ones only give you ruggedness, speed on multiple exposures and more expense. If you "have" to upgrade your body, get the best one you can afford.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Don't forget the crucial "click to clunk" time — the time it takes to get from a shutter button press to an open shutter. It is significantly faster on newer and higher end models. That's irrelevant for landscapes, but important for sports, birds in flight, playing children... other fast-moving events.

The D500 was designed from the start to be a sports, wildlife, and photojournalist photographer's camera.

The viewfinders of Nikon's lesser grade models are pentamirror, not pentaprism designs. Pentamirror viewfinders are significantly darker than pentaprisms. If you have any issues with low light vision, the D500 will help minimize them.

There are other significant differences, but these might matter to someone like the OP.

toxdoc42

I have never heard/seen anyone make your statement that you can spot a photo made with a crop sensor camera before. Where did that come from? It doesn't make sense scientifically.

toxdoc42

I believe in the USA, there is a federal law requiring manufacturer support for a certain number of years after a model is discontinued. Nikon cameras come with, I believe, a 5 year warrantee, and if you use some credit cards, they allegedly add on another year. My hunch is that a camera which is not abused, should last much longer than that. When I traded my F2 in, it was still a very functional camera after over 45 years of use.