Need dSLR Advice

Hey guys,

As some of you may know, I own a Nikon D3100 dSLR camera that I use to take laser photography. There are, however, a number of aspects of my camera which disappoint me. I am a big believer in selling what I don't care for to afford what I want, so I will likely end up selling that camera(and possibly the lenses) to fund a better camera.

I am looking for advice on what camera I should aim for. I mainly take laser photography, but I also love taking nature shots and as such will be looking for an affordable zoom lens as well. I do take some photos of people, and usually longer focal length lenses help there as well since they dont always know they are being photographed.

My current Setup:

• Nikon D3100 dSLR
• 18-55mm VR Kit Lens
• 35mm f/1.8 Prime Lens
• Bags
• Tripods
• etc

My options are as follows:

• Go for a Nikon dSLR at a higher Tier that will hopefully satisfy my desires of better image quality and versatility. This will allow me to keep my current lenses and simply sell my D3100 body and buy a new body.
• Go for a Canon dSLR at the tier I want. I am hesitant to jump ship from Nikon simply because I like my Nikkor Glass and Nikkor's Budget Lenses appear to be of higher calibre than Canon's Budget Glass.

Things I dislike about my camera:

• Low Resolution Screen - I hate how terrible my pictures look when I am reviewing them in camera.
• Low FPS - Action shots could be better with a faster camera
• ISO performance is unimpressive, although I rarely go above ISO 800.
• Detail - I want more details out of my photos. On my 24" monitor I want to be able to see crisp details even when I zoom in on a photo. Maybe that is unrealistic, but at the very least my 14 MP sensor is not doing it for me.

hopefully some of you pro's can help a brother out here. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Right now I am eyeing the D5200, as I can get the camera for about 500 dollars(I think that is a good deal?) but I am not sure if it is the best option and if it will satisfy my cravings for higher image quality.

Also, the 500 dollar D5200 would most likely be used, so I also need to decide if a used camera is still worth its salt. I tried to find out shutter count on the camera but no luck so far.

Thanks for any advice given in advance!
Isaac

Although I'm not a pro, as an owner of Nikon D5200 "entry-mid-enthusiast" camera, I couldn't recommend it more. However, there are so many variables involved when it comes to a personal taste of the user. Based on your expectations stated above it seems you'd like to stick with Nikon after all, but in the end it all depends on your budget. I have no experience with Canon brand at all (wish I had, though!), Bruce(mir) might have a better idea. Very generally speaking, the IQ (image quality) of D5200/D5300 is one of the best in its class (24mpix).

More information about the shutter count:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/nikon_d5200/discuss/72157633385244174/

Note: I happen to own 2 telephoto lenses for DX format: 55-200mm and 55-300mm. Since I don't have much use for them, I'm thinking of letting one or even both of them go for a decent price, both are in pristine condition...

Best of luck to you when picking up your next DSLR:beer:

Although Canon and Nikon are the "main players", and Canon certainly has the largest collection of lenses, don't automatically count out others, like Sony for instance. Sony recently moved away from the Alpha mount so all their older cameras and the lenses that go with them have recently taken a drop in price. An A-mount Sony will also use lenses from the 35mm Minolta era.

I recently used an SLT-A35 which you can fetch for under £200 or $335. It had an EVF, which was odd at first but I got over it quickly. High ISO performance is great, video is full HD and as they use on-sensor stabilisation, ANY lens you bolt on the front is stabilised.

I have been out of the camera scene for so long now that I honestly don't know what money will buy you, but for what they cost I was really surprised at the Sony's performance.

My recent pics thread in multimedia was done with it: http://laserpointerforums.com/f48/latest-batch-pics-89233.html

As was my video: LPS SOX street lamps in Glasgow - May 2014 - YouTube

Regardless of the subject matter give it a shot, I have pretty shaky hands, was a bit windy and I was turning the focus ring. For most shots they were stabilised very well even at full zoom.

I'll be of not much help because I've shot Canon film and digital bodies for over 30 years, but should you find yourself leaning into my camp, I'd be happy to answer any questions I can. Both companies are great camera manufacturers with terrific glass options. I have a personal preference, but I couldn't honestly tell you at this point if it is sentimental, technical, or otherwise justified.

Good luck buddy!

/c

Not many dSLR users would be willing to acknowledge that their preference could be founded on nothing but the fact that they own one or the other. I'd rep ya if I could, but I can't.

Before I purchased my Nikon d5200, the last three camera's I had were Canons, one of which was a DSLR. All three of the cameras did everything I wanted them to. I now carry around my Canon SX40 as an all purpose camera when I need one. That camera did a great job in photographing lasers. All of my laser shots taken before January 2014 were taken with that camera. My wife has worked at Canon USA for the past 16 years so I was (and still can) able to shop at their company store and get nice discounts. I liked all of my Canon camera's but I have never owned a Nikon camera so I did some research (and picked Gismo's brains about certain features, which he was nice enough to enlighten me on) and decided to try the Nikon d5200, which I am very happy with. When I am out photographing normal subjects and events where professional photographers attend, I do notice more of them using of them are using Canon DSLR's than Nikons. As KapHn8d pointed out, they are both very good camera manufacturers who make quality cameras and optics. I know what I want in a digital camera (the d5200 is my eight digital camera since 1998) and the 5200 does everything I want it to.