cheapest nikon body

J

jagnje

New member
hello, I have been a long time canon user. I`ve been waiting for a good asp-c mirrorles for a year now to replace my camera, but I am tired of waiting, as everything available produces video that I don`t like.
I have always liked nikon, I have used a friends d5300 for a few days before and was impressed by the image it produces. The only thing holding me back was, that I had no nikon lenses and will have to replace all my lenses! So I went and bought a tokina 28-70 2.8 in nikon mount, and now I need a body. I want the cheapest body I can find, that shares the d5300/d5500 video quality. Is the d3300 same as 5300? The arcticulating screen is not a big deal to me, I have an external monitor and an externa EVF. All I need is nikon quality in an image and 60fps 1080p.
I want it as cheap as possible, because I hope the next gen will be better and I can spend more money on lenses now.
Regards.
 
The D7000 and 7100 are pretty cameras, but 60p is only 720, so those are out.

I'd guess the 5300 is your best bet. No wired remote jack (handy for cranes and oddball shot rigs) but a beautiful image, I've intercut it with the 7100 just fine.

No aperture control in live view though, but I prefer using older Nikkors with aperture rings so this hasn't been an issue for me.

Good glass for a low budget - the 100mm 2.8 Series E if you need a tele; any flavor of the 85mm 1.8 (I have the pre "D" AF and it's gorgeous). You've got 28-70 covered (though that Tokina may be soft wide open, I don't know). A 50mm 1.8 is cheap if you find the zoom has distortion or is soft.

Wider than 28mm, I'd look at Samyang/Rokinon vs. Nikkors. The Nikkor 20's are mostly so-so, and the consumer-price wide zooms are distorted.

The Sigma 18-35 is a killer lens but somewhat pricey, and no aperture ring.

I'd also take a good look at the Samsung NX1 and see what else is out there from Sony, etc - EOSHD has lots and lots of reviews of current cameras for video. But nothing will be cheaper than even a new 5300, and I imagine there are used and refurbs if you search a bit.
 
I have used the a6000 for a few days, and although the image is a tad sharper...well, there is just something wrong with it. DR is decent, I can get the colors to look ok, but the whole image is like it`s in a plastic wraper. It drove me nuts because I just couldn`t get it the way I wanted. The nikon was good right away. Again, is the d3300 the same in image quality? There are some crazy deals on them right now...like 350€ :)
NX1 looks good, but it`s out of my budget and my computer is not 4K ready, and I don`t have any use for 4k at the moment.
 
jagnje said:
The nikon was good right away. Again, is the d3300 the same in image quality? .
Click to expand...
No, no, no for the D3300. D5200 is the same quality but with FPN issue.
EDIT : Sorry I mistook D3300 for D3200. I don't know if D3300 has the same image quality.
 
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The 3200 was pretty well hated for video. I imagine some google searches will tell you more vs. 3300.

The 3500 has a similar look to the 7100, but supposedly a different sensor, so comparing sensors isn't the only issue… it's also codec, processing and user controls.

The 3500 is a pretty good camera though - it doesn't have the AF drive screw, so no AF from older screw-drive glass.
 
In terms of the video files, in order from worst to best

D90 = D300s = D5000

D3100 = D3200 = D5100 = D7000

D5200 = none

D3300 = D5300 = D5500 = D7100 = D7200


-D3300 is the cheapest Nikon body and still has its best IQ.

-D5300 adds you an articulating screen, a bit nicer-to-hold ergonomics, and the liveview Mag. button is on the right side of the body.

-D5500 adds you Nikon FLAT picture profile,

-D7100 takes away the articulating LCD + FLAT + 60p but adds a headphone jack, much stronger body, manual WB Kelvin control.

-D7200 adds FLAT, 60p (only in a 1.3x crop mode but better quality than the previous ones)


These are the robot facts. Personally, I'd get the D5300 as the flip out LCD and magnify on right side are worth he difference, personally.

Anyhow buya D3300/5300 body and with it the 50mm f/1.8D,coupled with the 28-70mm you're good to go.

If you like going wider than 28mm just get one with 18-55mm VR to cover 18-30mm range.
 
Ebrahim Saadawi said:
In terms of the video files, in order from worst to best

D90 = D300s = D5000

D3100 = D3200 = D5100 = D7000

D5200 = none

D3300 = D5300 = D5500 = D7100 = D7200


-D3300 is the cheapest Nikon body and still has its best IQ.

-D5300 adds you an articulating screen, a bit nicer-to-hold ergonomics, and the liveview Mag. button is on the right side of the body.

-D5500 adds you Nikon FLAT picture profile,

-D7100 takes away the articulating LCD + FLAT + 60p but adds a headphone jack, much stronger body, manual WB Kelvin control.

-D7200 adds FLAT, 60p (only in a 1.3x crop mode but better quality than the previous ones)


These are the robot facts. Personally, I'd get the D5300 as the flip out LCD and magnify on right side are worth he difference, personally.

Anyhow buya D3300/5300 body and with it the 50mm f/1.8D,coupled with the 28-70mm you're good to go.

If you like going wider than 28mm just get one with 18-55mm VR to cover 18-30mm range.
Click to expand...

Couple things to add - some of the "semi-pro" bodies (7000, 7100, 7200 at least) have the AF drive screw for older screw-drive lenses. Many of those are stellar lenses, have aperture rings, and are very affordable used. The AF is pretty useless in video, but can be crazy-useful for initial focus on a shot, especially for cranes, steadicams, fig rigs, etc, where you might not pull focus during the shot or where it's hard to see the LCD.

Screw-drive lenses are great for stills use, and again, you can get a kit of great glass for less $$ than the newer lenses if you split between stills and video.

Also, some of those bodies have the wired remote jack which is really, really priceless in those situations, especially when you're on a jib. The remote is about nine bucks and you can slice in an extension, so when you have the camera bolted to the ceiling for a straight-down shot or way up on a crane, you can set the initial focus point (half-press)and then trigger the clip (full press) and monitor via HDMI. That combo alone has allowed me to get all sorts of shots that would have been difficult or impossible without initial AF and remote triggering.

The D7100 has manual white balance with a button-push, based on where a center square lies on the LCD - this is a way faster way to set WB with a card than, say, the D7000, where you have to take a photo with the entire frame on a card, and then choose that photo as your WB source. I don't know which other bodies have that, but I'd guess bodies without kelvin control don't. And manual WB goes beyond color temp, it also adjusts the tint. You can save custom WB settings and name them, so if you have, say, a flo that's too yellow, you can keep a setting for it.
 
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