My 1st camera was my Dad's Leica I-G and a hand held meter. My first SLR was a Nikon FTN with a 50 mm f/1.4 and I've been a Nikon user ever since. My current camera is a D850, and it is fabulous!

i'm surprised that no one in this thread suggested what to me seems an obvious alternative. Nikon today finally introduced the new Z mount mirrorless cameras, and the Z6 would seem to be a perfect fit for your needs. Full frame with 24 mp sensor, this is the D750 update everyone has been waiting for, but in a lightweight mirrorless construction. Demand for this (and its big brother the Z7) is sure to be high, and given the bottleneck of production, who knows how quickly you could get it. Nikon is bundling the body with a 24-70 f/4 zoom for an additional $600, and since you don't have an investment in F mount lenses, using the lighter Z mount lens makes sense. If I were you, I'd put a pre-order in now, and this will get you in the queue for the Z6, still giving you time to think about the alternatives.

I love my D850, but it is a heavy beast, and has a steep learning curve. I migrated from DX to get a lot more features and control and I have no regrets.

I would side with Orrie. My entry into DSLR was with a D5100 7 years ago, with the 18-55 and 55-300. 3 years later, I bought the 18-200 which was a great single lens for trips. Had I thought more about it, I probably should have gotten an FX zoom instead. Don't get me wrong, I loved the photos I got with my 18-200. But now I've got a D850, and had to buy FX glass.

The moral of the story, buy the best glass you can get, even if you have to save up for it. If you think that you will never migrate to a full frame sensor ever, then get the best DX lenses, but the options for better glass remains with FX lenses Some time or another, you will want to trade up from your entry level body to get more features.

welcome to the Hog.

i would agree with DaveO about buying the 18-140mm instead of the 18-55mm. But, are you committed to staying with a DX sensor for the foreseeable future? If there is any chance you might be migrating to FX (and staying with Nikon), get a FX lens instead of spending more in DX format, as the FX lens will work great on your D7200, which is still a nice body. Since you've got the wide angle coverage with the Sigma 10-20, and the 55-300 for your telephoto, give some thought to buying a nice 35mm FX prime. Look at this review: https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-35mm-f1-8g-ed
Since this lens would have an effective focal distance of 52.5mm with the DX body, it would give you a nice "normal" lens that fill in the gap of your current lens set. Then, if you ever go to a FX body, you've got a nice wide-angle for landscapes.
Whatever you do, most everyone will advise you to invest in the best glass you can afford.

look at the fine print with Adorama's return policy. You have to pay for the shipping back, and they may deduct a shipping fee from your refund. Not exactly hassle-free!

Hi and welcome to the Hog. You say you have a Nikon already, but which one and what lenses do you have to go with it? Knowing that will help get you better informed advice.

Nikon is running a promotion on the D750 right now, but the value of savings are not as good as they were last November (body for $1800, or kitted with the 24-120mm f/4 lens for $2300, vs $1500 or kit $2000 last November). There is still speculation about when the replacement for the 4 year old D750 will come (if ever), or will Nikon offer a mirrorless model. No one outside of Nikon knows, and they are not talking. I wondered last November if the D750 sale was in anticipation of the release of a newer version of the mid level full frame dSLR, but with the sales of the new D850 still going strong, the release of a "D760" would cut into D850 sales.

Gee Pegasus--you totally missed the point! The main thrust of my response is use what you have to the best advantage. Sure, future considerations might apply, but get the best "bang for the buck" now. I mention my switching to FX body as a cautionary tale, not to suggest to Ralph that he needs to think to switch to FX any time soon.

Welcome to the Hog. You can ask any question you want, and you can expect answers. Be forewarned, some of the replies will be snarky, and castigate you for your lack of knowledge, but most will be happy to provide decent answers and not put you down for asking a "basic" question. Ignore the snarks!

Depending on how new you are to photography, there are lots of books out there to help. Reading the manual is fine if you understand all the terms, but can be confusing for a beginner. See what resources your local library has available, especially if it can give you access to online tutorials. There is a site, Lynda.com, that I can access free of charge through my library that has a ton of photography courses from the most basic to classes that explore the details of particular cameras and advanced techniques.

When posing a question here, give details of what brand and model of camera, and which lenses that you are using. Then, the answers will be more "focused."

Best of luck.

Ralph, the only thing you need to think about is lens quality at what price. A DX lens will work on a FX body (with the FX camera automatically switching to a DX crop mode on the sensor), and a FX lens will work on a DX body automatically. The only thing to think about is the quality of the "glass" and your future needs. If there is not a snowball's chance in hell that you would ever get a FX body, great, just buy the best DX lens you can afford (and if that is the case, then forget DX primes, just get a better DX zoom than you currently own).

BUT, if you are not wedded to staying forever with DX, save money and wait to buy a lens with less compromises in photo quality. I don't regret spending the money to get my 18-200mm DX lens, as it was a great "walk-around" lens for trips, and I left my 18-55mm and 55-300mm lenses at home. But with my D850, these lenses fall short. Luckily, I got an excellent 24-120mm f/4 FX lens, and I've a bunch of excellent glass in primes from the days of using my film cameras (since they all have the Aperature Index ring (AI) modification, they work on the D850 in manual mode). In the future, I'll get more AF-S lenses, but right now I'm having fun and being blow away with the image qualities of the photos I'm taking. Sure, the D850 cost a bundle, but I waited until I got the camera body and features I wanted. Have fun with what you've got now, and learn to explore the D3300's capacities first, then think about what's next!

Good luck,
Steve

If you are interested in portrait lenses, forget the lenses you mentioned. You need a mild telephoto lens to collapse the perspective and move your camera out of your subject's face. For FX format, that means between 85 and 105 mm. Now putting an FX lens on your D3300 would mean a considerable jump in expense, but you might not want to stay with an entry level dSLR forever. The only nikkor DX lens in the portrait range would be the 85mm micro Nikkor f/3.5G at $559.95 whereas you can get a 85mm f/1.8G FX Nikkor for $479.95 (which would be the equivalent of a 125mm lens with your DX crop). Save up the money to buy better glass for the future of your learning to appreciate the difference. You are already behind the technology curve with a 4 year old camera body. Even a 50mm nikkor AF-S f/1.8G FX would cost only $219.95 and give a mild tele effect (75mm equivalent) with the DX crop.

I have a D5100 that I got in 2011. I was amazed with the picture quality of a camera one step up from entry level dSLR, but it could never compare to the level of an FX sensor then, and certainly not now, with the D850 sensor providing picture taking that one year or so ago was only obtainable in super-expensive medium format. I'm not trying to suggest that you HAVE to move to an FX, there is plenty of room for sophisticated bodies in a DX sensor body like the D7500 and D500. You will be able to see the difference better lenses make with your 24 mp sensor now, and getting better quality lenses makes sense for the future.

I use SnapBridge with my iPhone and my D850. At first, I had difficulty with connecting the two but now I know the tricks. Once you download the app, attivate the smart device connection within the camera menu. It will recognize your camera with the serial number and ask you to pair. Once this is done, you don’t have to “connect to smart device “ again which would cause problems. Once the phone and camera link up, it will geotag any photos you take and you can use your phone as a shutter release if you wish.

No, you are misinterpreting the whole point of this question and the thread. I don't want cheap glass, I want what will give me both the best results AND the best "bang for the buck." My old micro 55 nikkor is great glass, and since I have the AI ring on it, I can use it with on the D850 (I'm very facile at manual focus after all these years). I am looking to get some AF-S lens in a prime to be able to get quick shots when I need them, that are excellent without the set up time required with my older AI glass. I'm trying to canvass the real world experience of fellow Hogs, and not just read reviews and tests.

I appreciate the response from everyone. Let me be a little more specific. I intentionally did not buy the 24-70mm f2.8 and opted for the 24-120mm to save weight to use it as a single "walk-around" lens for a coming trip (saving money didn't hurt either). Luckily, I got an excellent 24-120.

On the same token, I don't want to drop $2200 on the great nikkor 105mm f1.4 either. For landscapes and building interiors, a normal or mild wide angle perspective lens would be of more use. From all the responses and some of my reading, the major contenders are the Tamron 45mm f1.8 and the Sigma art 50mm f 1.4. The new Tokina opera 1.4 50 mm might be a possibility as well.

I can’t give a comparison to the D810, but I can say the D850 is absolutely incredible. My shots with the 24-120 are stunning (apparently I’ve got a really good 24/120), and the resolution at high ISO without a lot of noise is nearly unbelievable. We’re going in a Baltic Cruise this summer and I can’t wait to see the pictures I will take and be able to develop into big enlargement. That is one of the reasons I’m looking at fast and very sharp primes to take along on the trip.
I wonder how the new tokina opera series lens will be.

The question is how much to spend and how fast a lens. I have a 24-120mm f4 VR, and old AI Nikkors (24mm f2.8, 55mm f3.5 macro, 135mm f2.8) primes. I think a fast f2.0 or better prime in 35mm or 50mm is probably my best bet, but I'm very interested in everyone's experience. I would consider 3rd party companies as well as Nikkors. I don't want to spend the $2000 for the 24mm f1.4 or the $1700 for the 35mm f1.4. I would like to go as cheap as possible but still get good glass and auto focus. Am I asking for too much if I don't want to pay for it?