First dslr

[BrandenPearson]

Looking to get into photography but not sure where to start. Hoping to get some help on where to start as far as a entry level camera. I will be shooting wildlife, nature, aquarium fish and coral. Thanks

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[BrickHouse]

I bought my first dslr, the Nikon D3200, about 1.5yrs ago and I love it. It has some limitations though so if I could do it again, I'd have gone right to a D5200 or D7100. Not sure what your budget is.

 

[ronlane]

Welcome Branden. What is your budget for this camera? That will help us to make suggestions.

 

[lambertpix]

You may have heard this already, but remember that buying your first DSLR is sort of like buying a subscription to spend more money on stuff for your DSLR -- not that we don't all love it. ;-)

With this in mind, you'll want to give a little thought to the whole "system" you're shopping for -- not just the camera body. Over the years, you'll very likely wind up upgrading your camera body, and probably even some of the lenses you buy initially, but hopefully you'll stay in the same brand / system so these investments are incremental. You're quite likely to wind up shopping for bags, tripods, flashes, and other accessories over the next few years, too, though at least some of these accessories are brand-agnostic.

Also high on my list of recommendation for prospective DSLR buyers: get to a store and hold a few cameras. Play with the controls. See if one brand feels more natural to you than another. This is something you really can't get a sense for by reading online reviews, and this preference can be different for different people.

For what it's worth, when I bought my first DSRL, I opted for a used Canon 30D vs. a new Rebel -- in part because it felt quite a bit more solid and I loved the fact that the 30D had controls for all the stuff I'd need to change while shooting, vs. needing to navigate into a menu to make the same changes. You'd be surprised how important ergonomics are when you're shooting.

 

[ecphoto]

Looking to get into photography but not sure where to start. Hoping to get some help on where to start as far as a entry level camera. I will be shooting wildlife, nature, aquarium fish and coral. Thanks

Sent from Samsung Note 3

In would go with a refurbished Nikon D3200. Its going for $379 on Adorama with a kit lens. If you have a bigger budget that would leave room to buy another lens or a speedlite.

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[BrandenPearson]

Not sure about budget yet depends on my new rent cost

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[Derrel]

You may have heard this already, but remember that buying your first DSLR is sort of like buying a subscription to spend more money on stuff for your DSLR -- not that we don't all love it. ;-)

OMG, how true is THAT!!! Love it!!

 

[BrickHouse]

The refurbished D3200 above with a used prime lens like the 35 or 50mm f/1.8 would be an outstanding place to start.

 

[goodguy]

Not sure about budget yet depends on my new rent cost

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So from your reply I can guess you will not be buying the Nikon D4S, not sure how I know but that's just a hunch.
If you are strapped for rent then I will assume you can afford a really expensive camera then I will recommend either Nikon D3200 or if you have a slightly bigger budget then the Nikon D5200
Get the camera with either the Nikon 18-55mm VR or the Nikon kit 18-105mm VR lenses.
The Nikon 18-105mm VR is the better lens but of course it will cost more so for starters the 18-55mm VR will do just fine.

Get the camera and learn the basics like Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed and then come back to us so we can advise you what other lenses to buy, Tripod, Flash...etc or basically how to continue spending your money.
You see buying a DSLR with one lens is like buying a car with one pedal, you will want for at least 2 to move it and preferably 3 to really have fun...............ok using a car as an example here isnt exactly perfect but I am sure you got the general idea.

Good luck.

 

[TheNevadanStig]

Another vote for D3200. I love mine.

 

[robbins.photo]

Ok, well I agree with some of the earlier sentiments by other posters in that you need to consider more than just the camera your buying when you start but rather to think of this in terms of buying into a system. So I usually recommend you look at the cameras that are in your budget, and then look at the cameras you'll most likely be looking to upgrade too in the future.

Given the types of pictures you'd like to be taking, my recommendation would be that you take a look at Nikon. The reason for this is one of your stated intrests, aquarium photos, generally require a camera with good lowlight capabilities and in this regard especially for affordable crop sensor bodies Nikon has a decided edge over it's competition.

Since lowlight is often important for aquarium shooting, as someone else mentioned either a 35 mm f/1.8 AF-S G or 50 mm f/1.8 AF-S G lens would be a good start, they generally run around $200. For the camera body I'd probablly look at something in the 5x series especially if your shooting your aquarium at home, so either a 5100 or 5200 would both be good places to start. The reason I'd go with the 5x over the 3x would be the articulating screen, it can be a big advantage when shooting home aquariums depending on your placement.

For wildlife unless you've got a really big budget to work with I'd look about adding a 70-300 mm AF-S G VR to your list, the generally run around $300 used. They have great image quality and it really is a tough lens to beat for the price.

 

[JerryLove]

If he's on a budget: I'm wondering if he needs to consider that buying the 3200 will give him a camera without the AF motor. Not a problem with the current crop of Nikon lenses, but if he starts buying lenses from, say, 10 years ago: might he get stuck with manual-focus? (a problem avoided with the main rival: Canon)

It definitely is the whole eco-system one needs to consider.

 

[ecphoto]

If he's on a budget: I'm wondering if he needs to consider that buying the 3200 will give him a camera without the AF motor. Not a problem with the current crop of Nikon lenses, but if he starts buying lenses from, say, 10 years ago: might he get stuck with manual-focus? (a problem avoided with the main rival: Canon)

It definitely is the whole eco-system one needs to consider.

Its sounds like he's on a budget and most budget lenses are DX lenses anyway. There are a lot of AF and AFD lenses floating around, but to be honest they focus slower than AFI/AFS lenses, its cool to have the lens drive built in; but I doubt he would use it enough to make it worth the cost IMO.

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[kasunlahiru]

nikon d5200 is best for nature and wildlife photography. I bought it when i was beginner and i still have this, but its easy for us if you tell us about your budget after paying your rent, it could be easy to suggest.

 

[robbins.photo]

If he's on a budget: I'm wondering if he needs to consider that buying the 3200 will give him a camera without the AF motor. Not a problem with the current crop of Nikon lenses, but if he starts buying lenses from, say, 10 years ago: might he get stuck with manual-focus? (a problem avoided with the main rival: Canon)

It definitely is the whole eco-system one needs to consider.

Well if he were just shooting wildlife in good lighting I probably would recommend canon for that reason. The problem will be the aquarium shooting, canons current lineup of crop sensor cameras just don't compare well with their various competitors at all when it comes to lowlight performance.

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