Advice please? Looking for a camera for family pictures, bird pictures & landscapes?

[Watchful]

A Nikon Coolpix P900 will give greater range than the Canon with 83 vs 65 x zoom and a better sensor, however both will prevent the use of interchangeable lenses. That's a huge drawback as you advance.
I'd stay in the DSLR camera market.
If you are forced into a point and shoot, the Nikon will be nicer than the Canon.

 

[jcdeboever]

A Nikon Coolpix P900 will give greater range than the Canon with 83 vs 65 x zoom and a better sensor, however both will prevent the use of interchangeable lenses. That's a huge drawback as you advance.
I'd stay in the DSLR camera market.
If you are forced into a point and shoot, the Nikon will be nicer than the Canon.

I don't know about that.... I prefer to leave my DSLR behind when I travel on vacation. I think the images I have seen with the SX60HS are better than the P900 and most of the review comparisons kind of say the same.

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[rainytown]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post a reply! I really appreciate it!

 

[rainytown]

Refurbished Nikon D3300.Refurbished by Nikon usually like brand new with low clicks.It has a excellent sensor and image quality and very user friendly.The starting kit lens 18-55VRII is very sharp as well with nice color. I bought mine refurbished with only 35 clicks and looked and function as new but at a much cheaper price.Nikon D3300

Thank you DarkShadow, this is what I ended up going with. I'm so excited! And now I'm going to pour through all the info I can find about using this camera well! Thank you again.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

+1 for a refurb D3300 (what I use) with the kit lens for most things. Hunt around and you can find an older 300MM AI-s Nikkor lens for under 150$ (I paid 75$ a year ago at an antique store). There is also the Pre AI 300mm that seems to be floating around on the bay for in the 60$ range. I have never used the Pre-AI version so I wont comment on its quality but the AI-S version takes great bird photos. You will need to get the hang of the manual functions as well as the manual focus and learn to anticipate what the birds are going to do. Here are some birding shots from my D3300 paired with the AI-s 300mm Nikkor

 

[DarkShadow]

Congrats Rainy,I am pretty sure your going to be happy with it. Its a great camera to grow with and like I said the sensors that nikon used for the D3300 is a lot better then it should be. My local camera shop had a stack of them with the kit lenses stacked pretty high from the floor,they are flying out the door with a low return rate if any at all.

 

[JoeW]

Given what you want to shoot (landscapes, family portraits, and birds), you're really talking about lens.

For landscape, you want a wide angle lens plus a circular polarizing filter (to reduce glare and add pop to the clouds).

For family portraits, you want faster glass (like f2.8 or faster) b/c much of what you shoot will be indoors and you probably won't have strobes or speed lights.

For birds, you want a zoom lens. Depending on the birds, anywhere from 200mm to 400mm.

So your challenge is less about the camera and more about the len(s) that you have.

 

[chuasam]

What's it with the people with completely unrealistic budgets here? OK a Lumix FZ200 if you can find one.

 

[astroNikon]

What's it with the people with completely unrealistic budgets here? OK a Lumix FZ200 if you can find one.

OP already bought a Refurb D3300.

 

[jcdeboever]

What's it with the people with completely unrealistic budgets here? OK a Lumix FZ200 if you can find one.

We covered the super zooms as a way of balancing options. If you read the whole thread, he was offered some very flexible options and made a wise choice based on his wants and needs. So he is running with a D3300 and he can add to this as times goes by and his finances warrant different glass /accessories.

 

[jcdeboever]

+1 for a refurb D3300 (what I use) with the kit lens for most things. Hunt around and you can find an older 300MM AI-s Nikkor lens for under 150$ (I paid 75$ a year ago at an antique store). There is also the Pre AI 300mm that seems to be floating around on the bay for in the 60$ range. I have never used the Pre-AI version so I wont comment on its quality but the AI-S version takes great bird photos. You will need to get the hang of the manual functions as well as the manual focus and learn to anticipate what the birds are going to do. Here are some birding shots from my D3300 paired with the AI-s 300mm Nikkor

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Nice glass but he should know that the lens your suggesting does not meter on the D3300 body and has to be used in manual, plus manual focus. He would need a light meter or follow the sunny 16 rule.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

Nice glass but he should know that the lens your suggesting does not meter on the D3300 body and has to be used in manual, plus manual focus. He would need a light meter or follow the sunny 16 rule.

Yes! I should have made a point of pointing this out (I only referenced using manual mode) you are very correct that the lens will not meter in the D3300. I generally use an external light meter as well as checking the LCD every few shots to see how they look.

Regards
Dave

 

[jcdeboever]

Nice glass but he should know that the lens your suggesting does not meter on the D3300 body and has to be used in manual, plus manual focus. He would need a light meter or follow the sunny 16 rule.

Yes! I should have made a point of pointing this out (I only referenced using manual mode) you are very correct that the lens will not meter in the D3300. I generally use an external light meter as well as checking the LCD every few shots to see how they look.

Regards
Dave

Yup, He needs to manually set his ISO, aperture on the lens, and change his flash to manual. You are right though, good way to get some decent glass if he takes the time to look around for it. I have a Pre-AI 50mm 1.4 that renders a real nice image but it is usually on my Nikon F.

Here is a quick and dirty compatibility chart.
Nikon Lens Compatibility

 

[Dave Colangelo]

Yup, He needs to manually set his ISO, aperture on the lens, and change his flash to manual. You are right though, good way to get some decent glass if he takes the time to look around for it. I have a Pre-AI 50mm 1.4 that renders a real nice image but it is usually on my Nikon F.

Here is a quick and dirty compatibility chart.
Nikon Lens Compatibility

I don't think the flash will work with the manual lenses on the 3300 (at least it does not on mine but there may be a setting I don't know about). however I have never needed it when taking bird photos (I typically go out during the day). If I really need a flash (although its only good under 1/125) I have an old Sunpak I found at a flea market, for $5 it does a bang up job when I need it to. I am a big fan of using the older glass on the newer cameras when it comes to being on a budget. Along with the 300mm I found a 50mm 1.2 AI-S at the same antique store for quite a deal...

 

[jcdeboever]

Yup, He needs to manually set his ISO, aperture on the lens, and change his flash to manual. You are right though, good way to get some decent glass if he takes the time to look around for it. I have a Pre-AI 50mm 1.4 that renders a real nice image but it is usually on my Nikon F.

Here is a quick and dirty compatibility chart.
Nikon Lens Compatibility

I don't think the flash will work with the manual lenses on the 3300 (at least it does not on mine but there may be a setting I don't know about). however I have never needed it when taking bird photos (I typically go out during the day). If I really need a flash (although its only good under 1/125) I have an old Sunpak I found at a flea market, for $5 it does a bang up job when I need it to. I am a big fan of using the older glass on the newer cameras when it comes to being on a budget. Along with the 300mm I found a 50mm 1.2 AI-S at the same antique store for quite a deal...

It does. Go into menu and you will see TTL, change it to manual and select the power. I use on my onboard flash this way outside a lot, even with CPU lens. Great for flash fill. @Derrel posted a link some time ago to using your onboard flash, works great in certain situations.

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