Looking for Camera buying advice

Salewis555

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I am looking for a camera to buy for my wife. She is really enjoys photography and I want to get her a good SLR so she can enjoy her hobby more.

The things she would be doing with the camera is taking picture of our kids running around, she really really enjoys taking photos of the great outdoors. She is just really obsessed with taking picture of whatever we are doing and capturing those moments and keeping them forever. I would really like a camera with amazing photo quality. She will probably do a little video but I think the pictures will be the priority.

I have been doing so much research on which camera will fit her needs and be the best bang for our dollar. I have been looking it up for a couple weeks now and I still don't know which would be best that is why I am asking for your help. I was looking originally at the t6s but I think I can invest a little more money than that to get a better quality camera. I think for my budget I would like to stay around 1500 for camera and lens but can go up to 2000 if its really that much better. I also really liked the 80D which I almost bought yesterday for her but I figured I should ask y'all before buying. I saw a nikon D7200 which looks really nice to. Does anyone suggest the the 80D or D7200 over one another? Would the standard lens 18-55 STM or 18-135 STM be better? 18-135 just allows you to take pictures further away? I really want to get her all the basics then she can upgrade as she chooses.

If anyone else has any other suggestions on a camera and lens that would fit my needs better and be in my budget please let me know.

Thank you so much for your help,
Steve
 
I am looking for a camera to buy for my wife. She is really enjoys photography and I want to get her a good SLR so she can enjoy her hobby more.

The things she would be doing with the camera is taking picture of our kids running around, she really really enjoys taking photos of the great outdoors. She is just really obsessed with taking picture of whatever we are doing and capturing those moments and keeping them forever. I would really like a camera with amazing photo quality. She will probably do a little video but I think the pictures will be the priority.

I have been doing so much research on which camera will fit her needs and be the best bang for our dollar. I have been looking it up for a couple weeks now and I still don't know which would be best that is why I am asking for your help. I was looking originally at the t6s but I think I can invest a little more money than that to get a better quality camera. I think for my budget I would like to stay around 1500 for camera and lens but can go up to 2000 if its really that much better. I also really liked the 80D which I almost bought yesterday for her but I figured I should ask y'all before buying. I saw a nikon D7200 which looks really nice to. Does anyone suggest the the 80D or D7200 over one another? Would the standard lens 18-55 STM or 18-135 STM be better? 18-135 just allows you to take pictures further away? I really want to get her all the basics then she can upgrade as she chooses.

If anyone else has any other suggestions on a camera and lens that would fit my needs better and be in my budget please let me know.

Thank you so much for your help,
Steve

Steve, in the situations you describe either the D7200 or the 80D would work fine and both would give you very high quality images. My personal preference is for the Nikon, however there are plenty of people who shoot Canon and love them.

My recommendation would be to just start with the camera and the kit lens. Avoid bundle deals as they are generally filled with a lot of low end, cheap junk that you won't really need or use and will break quickly after purchase.

You also want to avoid grey market. Check to make sure that wherever your buying from that it's a camera with a US serial number. Otherwise your warranty won't be worth the paper it's printed on. If you see a deal on one that's hundreds of dollars cheaper than everywhere else, most likely it's because it is a non-US serial number camera. Nikon service centers will often refuse to even work on such models and you'll wind up having to send it back to the company you bought it from, which is an iffy proposition at best. So stick with reputable dealers like KEH, B&H, or if your buying from Ebay make sure they are selling you a camera with a US serial number before you bid.

I'd start with the camera body and a basic lens - and then stop. Let her shoot for a while and decide from there what sort of lenses she needs. No point in dumping a ton of money into lenses when your not really sure yet exactly what she'll want to shoot most in the future.
 
If your wife is the photo-fiend, then does she already have some knowledge of photographic gear?

The reason I'm asking is because she might already have a preference between the two. In that case, I would purchase a gift card for the required amount, and let her pick the one she wants.

WAY better than just taking a stab at it yourself.
 
I am looking for a camera to buy for my wife. She is really enjoys photography and I want to get her a good SLR so she can enjoy her hobby more.

The things she would be doing with the camera is taking picture of our kids running around, she really really enjoys taking photos of the great outdoors. She is just really obsessed with taking picture of whatever we are doing and capturing those moments and keeping them forever. I would really like a camera with amazing photo quality. She will probably do a little video but I think the pictures will be the priority.

I have been doing so much research on which camera will fit her needs and be the best bang for our dollar. I have been looking it up for a couple weeks now and I still don't know which would be best that is why I am asking for your help. I was looking originally at the t6s but I think I can invest a little more money than that to get a better quality camera. I think for my budget I would like to stay around 1500 for camera and lens but can go up to 2000 if its really that much better. I also really liked the 80D which I almost bought yesterday for her but I figured I should ask y'all before buying. I saw a nikon D7200 which looks really nice to. Does anyone suggest the the 80D or D7200 over one another? Would the standard lens 18-55 STM or 18-135 STM be better? 18-135 just allows you to take pictures further away? I really want to get her all the basics then she can upgrade as she chooses.

If anyone else has any other suggestions on a camera and lens that would fit my needs better and be in my budget please let me know.

Thank you so much for your help,
Steve

Steve, in the situations you describe either the D7200 or the 80D would work fine and both would give you very high quality images. My personal preference is for the Nikon, however there are plenty of people who shoot Canon and love them.

My recommendation would be to just start with the camera and the kit lens. Avoid bundle deals as they are generally filled with a lot of low end, cheap junk that you won't really need or use and will break quickly after purchase.

You also want to avoid grey market. Check to make sure that wherever your buying from that it's a camera with a US serial number. Otherwise your warranty won't be worth the paper it's printed on. If you see a deal on one that's hundreds of dollars cheaper than everywhere else, most likely it's because it is a non-US serial number camera. Nikon service centers will often refuse to even work on such models and you'll wind up having to send it back to the company you bought it from, which is an iffy proposition at best. So stick with reputable dealers like KEH, B&H, or if your buying from Ebay make sure they are selling you a camera with a US serial number before you bid.

I'd start with the camera body and a basic lens - and then stop. Let her shoot for a while and decide from there what sort of lenses she needs. No point in dumping a ton of money into lenses when your not really sure yet exactly what she'll want to shoot most in the future.

Thanks for the advise I never knew about this grey market but I will surely stay away from it. I think just the body and lens will be the best and then let her upgrade from there like you said and i will stay away from bundles. The kit is offered with the 18-55 STM or 18-135 STM the only difference is the distance it can shoot correct? No quality difference?
 
Thanks for the advise I never knew about this grey market but I will surely stay away from it. I think just the body and lens will be the best and then let her upgrade from there like you said and i will stay away from bundles. The kit is offered with the 18-55 STM or 18-135 STM the only difference is the distance it can shoot correct? No quality difference?

Well I don't shoot Canon so I've never actually used either myself, so that's probably a question best directed to a Canon shooter.
 
I am a canon shooter and I will quote part of Designer's post above, "I would purchase a gift card for the required amount, and let her pick the one she wants."

I don't buy my wife's underwear, makeup or cars for her and I don't buy her cameras. I let her pick what she wants and I just pay the tab.
 
Both Canon 80D and Nikon D7200 will do the work nicely and both can do photography and videography.
The 80D is slightly directed more at video with its auto focus which is excellent for video.
The Nikon D7200 is slightly more focused at photography, has better low light performance, better dynamic range and due to the removal of the Anti Aliasing filter has potentially the ability to produce sharper images.

I would say if your wife is directed more at photography the Nikon D7200 is a bit better for that and that's the camera I would recommend for her.
But as I said both are good camera and you cant go wrong with either.
 
The kit is offered with the 18-55 STM or 18-135 STM the only difference is the distance it can shoot correct? No quality difference?
The BUILD quality will be the same in both, but there may be subtle differences in the image quality (IQ) between the two lenses. This difference (if any) will be so small as to be unnoticeable to the casual user, but the lenz-boiz will write reams on those tiny differences.

In reality, you're correct; the main difference between the two lenses is the range of focal length. So it boils down to more practical differences; such as; do you really use the entire range, vs. the slightly larger and heavier longer zoom. It's going to be mostly a personal choice based on subjective parameters. Some people like a "superzoom", and others might prefer using only primes (lenses of a fixed focal length). This is why I recommended that you let your wife pick her gift.
 
The 18-135 stm seems like a nicer lens to me. Could be the extra weight and larger size I suppose? Whatever it is, I like it significantly better than the 18-55 stm.
 
I am a canon shooter and I will quote part of Designer's post above, "I would purchase a gift card for the required amount, and let her pick the one she wants."

I don't buy my wife's underwear, makeup or cars for her and I don't buy her cameras. I let her pick what she wants and I just pay the tab.

Agree times 1000!
 
. . . due to the removal of the Anti Aliasing filter has potentially the ability to produce sharper images. . .
While being more susceptible to making images that have moiré.
Never had any moire issues on either my D3300 and D7100 which I have been using extensively for more then 3 years combined.
 
. . . due to the removal of the Anti Aliasing filter has potentially the ability to produce sharper images. . .
While being more susceptible to making images that have moiré.
Never had any moire issues on either my D3300 and D7100 which I have been using extensively for more then 3 years combined.
The anti-aliasing filter has been removed from both those units?
Yeap, Nikon started to remove AA filter on D7100 and D3300
Older models D3200, D5200 and D7000 still had this filter.
Today all DX camera has no AA filter.
In FX D810 removed the AA filter and I believe the D5 too.
My D750 and the D610 still has it
 
The 18-55 lens (on Nikon) is MUCH lighter and smaller than the 18-140 I test drove. I really liked the 18-140 (which is newer than the 18-135) but it's a real commitment to carry around. I was going to buy it for my daughter to take on travels, but she wasn't willing to carry that much size/weight.
 

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