Apiture

Personally I would probably stick with Nikon. Not because the others are not good as well -- but because he can keep the lenses he already has. Why start off all new, when you can just up the body and keep all those wonderful Nikors?

dragon64 Loc: Stewartstown PA

I have a D50 and still use it frequently when I don't feel like dragging out one of my other bigger and heavier Nikons. I also use it as a second body. If I were you I would keep the D50 unless it is broken and also move up to one of the higher level Nikon like a 3300, 5300 or the 7100 and keep your current lens inventory. If you have to have full frame than get a D610 or a D750 and you can still use your existing lenses in a slightly limited capacity until you can swing getting a few FX lenses.

Of course you could sell all of your gear and take a loss and then start over with a different brand, but I have never been one to change horses in the middle of a stream unless the horse was dead.

Impressionist

Take a few blank memory cards to Best Buy or favorite camera store and do your own comparison test. Pick the camera that feels like you.

bersharbp Loc: Texas

1. Keep you D50 for a backup. (I still have my D40)
2. Your lenses should be good on your next Nikon.
3. Without a clue of your budget or the sorts of pictures you take, I would guess that the 3300 or 5300 would be good choices though when I upgraded, I chose the 7100.

h1h1d4mje

What is your budget?

OviedoPhotos

I have a d800 and with the 24-120 or 28-300 lens its heavy. I also have a few dc lenses left over.

KEH has a deal for 449$ for a d3300 refurb with a 18-155 lens. Its lightweight and has enough features. I had a nikon 18 to 200 lens that my son had but doesn't use. The setup is very light and smaller, my shoulder is grateful.


https://www.keh.com/363067/nikon-d3300-black-with-18-55mm-f-3-5-5-6-g-vr-ii-digital-camera-24-2-m-p

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

The D50 when reviewed by DP Review in 2005 had excellent markings. The guys at DP Reviewed stated that the pictures were crisp but those of the D70 were better. Honestly, I did not see the difference.
By all modern standards the D50 is an ancient camera. It was one of the first cameras by Nikon to explore better low light performance. Its 6.1 megapixels were very capable.
You did not talk about the type of photography you do, not everybody needs 36 megapixels and I am one of them. I would say that for portraits and landscapes as well as for a walk around camera the D50 should do very well if you are not planning on making murals out of each of your files.
The D7100 is a more modern and more competent camera with plenty of pixels and perhaps that is exactly what you are looking for.

Apiture

Perhaps a slight digression from topic, but this and a few other threads have caused me to think about equipment. Also remembering how Ansel Adams did a spread with a Kodak Bownie, and seeing work done by Peter Gowland with a Vest Pocket Kodak, I have re-examined my approach.

Part of this is because I also like to cook. What does that have to do with this? Well, if you follow cooking, you probably have bumped into Alton Brown, and his original show, 'Good Eats.' Quite often he would absolutely destroy some expensive cooking device, and manufacture something vastly superior out of $10 worth of parts from the hardware store. He did this because he knew the food science of how the process worked.

My point is that with knowledge of what I am doing and why – leads me more down the road in an Alton Brown fashion. For example, I knew the feel of what I wanted to achieve, before I shot this more 'vintage' portion of the Daytona Beach Boardwalk – trying to get that nostalgic feeling of a boardwalk before they tear it all down. My answer was to use EXPIRED color slide film. It worked. I definitely got that early '60s slightly washed out old, Kodacolor print stored in a shoebox look. And for this subject, it was exactly what made the photos work.

In short I beginning to look at the whole process, backwards from the end more than I have. And I have begun to manufacture more things from what I have to save my budget with petty good success. Example: rather than buy a lightbox for $$$ – I used two $10 used 1970's Vivitar flashes that I bought for another reason, an old white sheet and a large cardboard box I was going to throw out. In this case, perhaps not better than the $$$ light box – but certainly (judging from the the outcome) just as good. And I don't use a light box very often – so my budget thanks me.

You get the idea.

Apiture

Don't have a studio and need that shopping mall quasi-professional portraiture look? No problem. Go to the bathroom where there is probably a shower curtain rod, semi reflective walls and stuff. Take with you a stool, an old blanket and two 120 watt light bulbs...

Canon 20D 8MP crop sensor w/ 85 2.8

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

If your not wanting limitations then Sony is the wrong path. Limited lenses and and electronic viewfinder that can't keep up with what is happening. They have improved but as of yesterday when I tried several they just blurred out and lagged way behind a real optical viewfinder.
Try a system with lots of options and optical viewfinders if you want to not be limited. If you want limits then there are many options including Olympus, Fuji and Sigma among others.

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Nikon - lower budget - D3300, mid-range- D750, top end-D810.
Canon - skip low end, mid-range-70D especially for video, high end of mid-range- 5D MKIII
Best value with all bells, whistles, everything but a chauffer - Pentax K-3, or maybe older K5-IIs.Deep discounts, especially for refurbs.
Best rated aps-c - Nikon 7100. Some think this is the perfect crop sensor camera.
Not familiar with mirrorless.

Nikon_DonB Loc: Chicago

You can't go wrong with these two choices. Get the 55-300mmVRg Zoom to.

Apiture

wanna-be: "For variouz reasons have decided not to keep the D50...don't want to waste.time on outdated.stuff with limited abilities.

So search is on again for.camera.that has enough pixels toots whistles to do nice large framable peints and stock photos without selling the farm. Suggestions.please"

Well, I guess my previous two posts failed to make my point. I see everyone seems to still be stuck on what the 'best' equipment is. I am not knocking anyone's choice there, but it is never the equipment.

I still would advise wanna-be to:

1) Stay with Nikon. It's not as bad a tool as he might think; and, he gets to keep the lenses.

2) Buy used if he can find what he wants in good condition, and save the money in the budget for lenses, a decent tripod and stuff. The lens will make more difference than the sensor in most cases.

3) Be realistic. If he can't get a decent image with a D50, he isn't going to get a decent image with a $66,000 Hasselblad H5D-60.

picturesofdogs Loc: Dallas, Texas.

Which ones did you try. Not seeing that with my a6000, and there are a lot of pros who have gone from Nikon and Cannon to Sony.

Bret Loc: Dayton Ohio

I did a brief search at B&H "camera with pixels toots whistles"...and it came back..."Sorry your search found no matching results, please continue practicing using what you have now".....LMAO!!!!