Hey guys for the past few years I've wanted a dslr camera but haven't had the money for one, I'm going to Colorado next month to chase elk and it would sure be nice to have a great quality camera for that trip. I have a $250 Nikon camera now and it just doesn't take as good of pics as I would like. I'm thinking about trying to sell that camera to help pay for a new one. I don't know much about dslr's or what lenses I would need but I want to keep it within a reasonable price range. I found these two Nikon's in my type of price range. What are your guy's thoughts on them? Like I said I don't know much about dslr's so I don't know what options are good/lack of them are bad ect... also would 3 weeks be enough time for me to familiarize myself with the camera so I can take great pics on CO? What I'm hoping to get is one long range lens so I can take pictures of animals a few hundred yards off and also one for normal/close ups. I've heard that self filming hunts with a dslr is pretty difficult so I might just keep my camcorder for that instead of selling it (Canon vixia) but I would also like to take videos with my dslr. http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Digital...F8&qid=1439398705&sr=1-1&keywords=nikon+d3300 http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Digital...TF8&qid=1439399494&sr=1-2&keywords=nikon+dslr Hope you guys can help me out. Thanks
I think you'll be able to get great pics with either one of those but if you can spend a little more I heard going with the d5300 is maybe a slightly better option. But you could also save that money to put forth towards the lenses you were talking about too.
I have the nikon d3200 with 18-55mm lens, it takes AMAZING videos and pictures. I am purchasing a 55-200 mm lens though. All of the footage in the video was shot with it. https://vimeo.com/133061928 Sent from my LG-D500 using Tapatalk
I would think the cameras will be fine, but if you are looking for good pictures at a couple hundred yards, you are going to want a bigger lens. I would go at least 500mm.
Lens is about 80% of your photo/video quality. Seriously, it can be the difference between a good picture and a professional picture. I have an old T1i and when I slap my 85mm on it, it takes fantastic video/photo. I'd get a good camera body, and then get a fantastic lens. Generally, the lens that comes with a DSLR isn't going to be great. Don't think you have to go with Nikon lens, there are plenty of fantastic lenses by 3rd party vendors that take fantastic photo/video and are often far cheaper then Nikon lenses. Rokinon/Samyang is a great example of this.
I've heard and read a lot of great things about the Nikon P900. While it's not a dslr, it has 83x optical zoom that's really impressive. Might be something you want to look into and its price range seems to be right for you: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-COOLPIX-Digital-Camera-Optical/dp/B00U2W4JEY/ref=sr_1_1?s=photo& Here's a link to a couple of videos that show its impressive zoom quality (towards the bottom): http://www.businessinsider.com/nikon-camera-zoom-lets-you-see-the-moon-move-across-the-sky-2015-7
The D3200 is an entry level DSLR. You will get good pictures for the price and will be able to shoot in no time with the ''Presets'', There are pre-sets for Mountains, animals portraits, portraits, sports, flowers and a few others, so it takes away the thinking and technical stuff for starters. If all you want is very good pictures without thinking about being the next cover page of National Geographic, the D3200 should keep you happy for many years. I've owned the D5100 for 6 years now and am just getting seriously enough into photography to think about changing. As far as lenses, the minimum you want to go with for any kind of wildlife photography is the 70-300mm VRII. It will give you good results with that camera and will bring you closer to big animals for a decent picture without breaking the bank. PS. make sure you go for the VR lens, as you may get tricked into buying the less expensive version without VR (Vibration Reduction) For portrait or landscape, 18-55 or 18-105mm should do the trick.
