This was way under exposed but I was on IS0 800 and afraid to go higher. This of course is the edited version with the Luminance slider in LR at 65. There's not much time for setup or practice with these kids. I have to try to think fast and sometimes that's not nearly enough. Maybe I should rent a camera and see if there's enough difference in what I'm doing to warrent and upgrade. I would like to get into more fine art photography and have so much to learn. I felt that starting with the best grade of photo would be my first step.

Suggestions, please. I am a hobbyist photographer with no plans of ever charging for my work. I have beautiful grandchildren and love dressing them up and photographing them. I have a d7100 and 5 Nikon mount lenses that will fit full frame. I also have a Sony a 6000 with 4 lenses. I shoot with natural light and am getting so much noise with both cameras, I feel it is affecting the quality of the photos and editing capabilities. I don't want to invest a huge amount of money ($1000's) but feel it's time for an upgrade. I'm considering the d750 or the d810 and would consider the used market. In my case, what would you recommend? Would you be comfortable buying from ebay? What should I look out for other than seller's history? Thanks in advance!

Suggestions, please. I am a hobbyist photographer with no plans of ever charging for my work. I have beautiful grandchildren and love dressing them up and photographing them. I have a d7100 and 5 Nikon mount lenses that will fit full frame. I also have a Sony a 6000 with 4 lenses. I shoot with natural light and am getting so much noise with both cameras, I feel it is affecting the quality of the photos and editing capabilities. I don't want to invest a huge amount of money ($1000's) but feel it's time for an upgrade. I'm considering the d750 or the d810 and would consider the used market. In my case, what would you recommend? Would you be comfortable buying from ebay? What should I look out for other than seller's history? Thanks in advance!

Sounds like experimenting with settings will be as useful as a new camera. Maybe augmenting your lighting. I will let portrait photographers help you with that.

I want respond to the issue of ebay. Most of my equipment has been purchased on ebay, and my experiences have highly positive. Yes, sellers rating is important. Personally, i only buy from 100% sellers, so I can’t really say what lower rating would be acceptable to you. I also look at the photos to assess the care taken with the item, and try to read between the lines of the description. Ebay protects buyers, and i have never had a problem with the few times i have had to return items. Most importantly, be aware of what you are willing to pay, and BE PATIENT. When you do see an item and price that meet your criteria, buy it immediately. For auctions, don’t get sucked up in bidding fever.

Specific to your interest, i recently threw in what i considered to be an unreasonably low bid on a D810 in the last minute of an auction just for kicks, certain that i would be outbid in the last 30 seconds of the auction, but I was not outbid, and scored a nicely maintained US body, with box and paperwork. Christmas present to myself.

If your needs change, you can always resell your excess gear (most of my early lenses have found new homes as i have upgraded).

Good luck and good shooting.

The D750 has nearly the same user interface as the D7100; just a few more features/controls. The D810 is one of their PRO series, so there are some differences in user interface and accessories. For what you shoot, the D750 would be fine. You don't mention what lenses you have, but an upgrade to an f/2.8 zoom might help. Faster prime lenses (if you have them) can help but can result in too shallow depth of field. The 24-70 f/2.8 is excellent, but expensive. The Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 can be purchased used for very cheap, gives a little extra reach (and you won't need wider than 28 for shooting kids).

This was way under exposed but I was on IS0 800 and afraid to go higher. This of course is the edited version with the Luminance slider in LR at 65. There's not much time for setup or practice with these kids. I have to try to think fast and sometimes that's not nearly enough. Maybe I should rent a camera and see if there's enough difference in what I'm doing to warrent and upgrade. I would like to get into more fine art photography and have so much to learn. I felt that starting with the best grade of photo would be my first step.

This was way under exposed but I was on IS0 800 and afraid to go higher. This of course is the edited version with the Luminance slider in LR at 65. There's not much time for setup or practice with these kids. I have to try to think fast and sometimes that's not nearly enough. Maybe I should rent a camera and see if there's enough difference in what I'm doing to warrent and upgrade. I would like to get into more fine art photography and have so much to learn. I felt that starting with the best grade of photo would be my first step.