D3200 to D750

LukeSalter · Jul 6, 2016

Hi Guys,
It's my First post here... I think im making the right descision but it's always good to take a second/third/100th opinion

I Currently have a

Nikon D3200 with Kit lense(18-55mm)
Nikon 35mm F/1.8
Nikon 70-200mm F/2.8

although im still learning, i do alot of volunteer photography for my local animal shelter and eventually will move into professional dog photography. Im starting to feel a bit limited in what the D3200 has to offer, (Seems like slow AF/focus tracking, no bracketing, lower quality images)

Would you guys say moving to FX now would be a good move? Specifically a D750? from what i read the 35mm is still useable on the D750 and i expect i would also get a Nikon 16-35mm f/4G lense to cover the wider angle. (I have some intrest in landscape aswell)

jcdeboever · Jul 6, 2016

Big jump but if your going pro, it's a good investment. I think the DX glass will work in DX mode but at a lower MP if I recall correctly.

Braineack · Jul 6, 2016

It works on an FX frame, just vignettes heavily, but the image circle does fill the sensor.

robbins.photo · Jul 6, 2016

You can still use DX lenses on an FX camera. As mentioned if you shoot in FX mode the corners will be heavily vignetted as the glass isn't designed to cover the full frame of an FX camera. You can also shoot in DX mode, which for a 24 mp sensor would reduce the overall image size to something like 15 mp as I recall. You'd get the same FOV as a DX camera, but no vignetting

You can get some pretty good glass for FX cheap though, I shoot a Tamron 28-75mm 2.8, absolutely love that lens. As for your 70-200mm, if it's the VR2 model it will work fine on an FX camera, if it's the VRI model you will probably see some vignetting at the corners but not as much as you would from a true "DX" lens. The VRI versions are not truly DX lenses, they were designed before the digital age, however they are not quite wide enough to cover the full FX sensor frame according to what I've read so you do still see some vignetting.

LukeSalter · Jul 6, 2016

Yes the 70-200mm is F/2.8 ED VRII (not worried about this just listing the glass i have)

I had already read an artical for the 35mm ; Using Nikon DX Lenses on FX Cameras and yes i expect the vignetting but it looks like it's still workable with good results.

astroNikon · Jul 6, 2016

Keep in mind when you move up to better bodies of the d7x00 series DX And d6x0 and d7x0 and higher you do not have to get the latest , greatest and most expensive lenses. All these bodies have a "focus motor" in the body which uses a screw type drive that mechanically focuses the lens. So you can buy older professional lenses too and save a lot of money. Then later upgrade.

The d750 is a better "wedding" camera than the d6x0 (I have both) as the d750 is better at contrast detection for focusing and better at low light which is common in churches and other gatherings.

For me the d750 and d6x0 are both great cameras. Can't go wrong with either.

robbins.photo · Jul 6, 2016

LukeSalter said:
Yes the 70-200mm is F/2.8 ED VRII (not worried about this just listing the glass i have)

I had already read an artical for the 35mm ; Using Nikon DX Lenses on FX Cameras and yes i expect the vignetting but it looks like it's still workable with good results.

I shot the Tamron 17-50 2.8 which was a DX lens on my D600 for a while, I could either shoot in FX mode and crop out the corners or shoot in DX mode and both worked fine. I usually ended up shooting in DX mode just so I didn't have to deal with the cropping later and I could get a better idea as to the images final framing in the viewfinder. Worked fine until I could upgrade to the Tamron 28-75 2.8 which is an FX lens, been extremely happy with it.

I can say I didn't see a huge difference in IQ between the APS-C sensor and the full frame sensor in normal lighting conditions. I did see some differences, the FX shots looked "cleaner" for lack of a better term, less jaggedness in the background for one.

The big difference of course is when your shooting in lower light conditions, I shoot a lot indoors where a flash isn't an option - and boy the FX made a world of difference there.

If you are looking at going pro now might be a really good time to consider going FX, odds are good you'll probably want to eventually anyway, and at the moment you've really only got one lens that is DX only. The D750 will have the focus motor built into the body which does increase your choices for lenses pretty significantly, you can get some really fantastic lenses without the built in focus motors pretty cheap used.

LukeSalter · Jul 6, 2016

Thats fine, i will more than likely trade-in the D3200 & Kit Lens Anyway. quite happy with the responses. so the new kit will look like this;

D750
Nikon 16-35mm F/4
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 (DX)
Nikon 70-200mm F/28 VRII

Then i guess ill look into that Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 to plug the gaps

PaulWog · Jul 6, 2016

LukeSalter said:
Thats fine, i will more than likely trade-in the D3200 & Kit Lens Anyway. quite happy with the responses. so the new kit will look like this;

D750
Nikon 16-35mm F/4
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 (DX)
Nikon 70-200mm F/28 VRII

Then i guess ill look into that Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 to plug the gaps

Just be aware of the sharpness performance of the lens (less than 3 perceptual megapixels at f2.8 throughout the range): Tamron SP AF 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical [IF] Nikon mounted on Nikon D750 : Measurements | DxOMark

Center sharpness is alright (definitely higher than 3 perceptual megapixels), but mid-frame and corner sharpness is bad: Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD Lens Image Quality

From f2.8 to f4 the lens is subpar (where cost savings comes into play), and from 5.6 and up it's fairly good.

robbins.photo · Jul 6, 2016

If your going to trade in the D3300 you might want to consider trading in the 35mm as well, and replacing it with a 50mm 1.8 AF D lens. You can get them really cheap, it would give you the same FOV the 35mm gave you on the D3300 and that way you wouldn't have do deal with shooting in crop mode.

Nikon 50mm F/1.8

I actually prefer the zoom to the prime, I don't shoot a lot of stuff at those focal lengths but I like the versatility of the zoom. If I shot more stuff like portraits I'd probably get a 50mm prime though, so might be worth a look.

robbins.photo · Jul 6, 2016

PaulWog said:
LukeSalter said:

Thats fine, i will more than likely trade-in the D3200 & Kit Lens Anyway. quite happy with the responses. so the new kit will look like this;

D750
Nikon 16-35mm F/4
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 (DX)
Nikon 70-200mm F/28 VRII

Then i guess ill look into that Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 to plug the gaps

Click to expand...

Just be aware of the sharpness performance of the lens (less than 3 perceptual megapixels at f2.8 throughout the range): Tamron SP AF 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical [IF] Nikon mounted on Nikon D750 : Measurements | DxOMark

Center sharpness is alright (definitely higher than 3 perceptual megapixels), but mid-frame and corner sharpness is bad: Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di LD Lens Image Quality

From f2.8 to f4 the lens is subpar (where cost savings comes into play), and from 5.6 and up it's fairly good.

Guess it depends on your expectations - for a lens I paid a little over $140 for, I've been very happy with it.

20160521 1050 by Todd Robbins, on Flickr

Sure, I could probably get slightly better performance out of a $1000 plus lens, but since I don't pixel peep and I don't shoot at these focal lengths all that often, this has been a pretty good lens for me. YMMV of course.

LukeSalter · Jul 6, 2016

i think ill keep the 35mm DX, i think it's still going to be more useful without the 1.5x crop factor, i think it's going to be a more useful lens on the FX if anything i would replace it with the 35mm FX version.

like i said ill look into the Tamron, if i dont think it's going to perform well for me ill look into something else, to be fair i dont really feel the need for something between 35mm and 70mm at the moment with the dog's it's either really close up portraits or distance, the crop factor seems like a hinderance to me at the moment!

robbins.photo · Jul 6, 2016

LukeSalter said:
like i said ill look into the Tamron, if i dont think it's going to perform well for me ill look into something else, to be fair i dont really feel the need for something between 35mm and 70mm at the moment with the dog's it's either really close up portraits or distance, the crop factor seems like a hinderance to me at the moment!

Lol...I know what you mean. 28-75 wouldn't have been a great focal length on the crop sensor, but it works fantastic for me on full frame. I'd say the vast majority of the shooting I do is either with a Sigma 70-200mm 2.8 or a Tamron 70-300mm 4.5/5.6.

But key of course is to find what works best for you and your shooting style/needs. I do a lot of shooting at the zoo, both indoors and outdoors and indoors the lighting is atrocious, it's often a mixture of fluorescent or sometimes tungsten and sunlight.

So far at least I've managed to get results I'm happy with out of the Sigma 70-200mm 2.8 indoors, the 28-75 I usually use when I head over to the aquarium where the 70-200mm is a bit long even on full frame.

BananaRepublic · Jul 6, 2016

robbins.photo said:
You can still use DX lenses on an FX camera. As mentioned if you shoot in FX mode the corners will be heavily vignetted as the glass isn't designed to cover the full frame of an FX camera. You can also shoot in DX mode, which for a 24 mp sensor would reduce the overall image size to something like 15 mp as I recall. You'd get the same FOV as a DX camera, but no vignetting

You can get some pretty good glass for FX cheap though, I shoot a Tamron 28-75mm 2.8, absolutely love that lens. As for your 70-200mm, if it's the VR2 model it will work fine on an FX camera, if it's the VRI model you will probably see some vignetting at the corners but not as much as you would from a true "DX" lens. The VRI versions are not truly DX lenses, they were designed before the digital age, however they are not quite wide enough to cover the full FX sensor frame according to what I've read so you do still see some vignetting.

The 750 does go into auto DX mode when you attach such a sense.

PS: According the documentary series planet of the Apes gorillas can't swim, Did those bastards in Hollywood lie to us again.