First time DSLR Camera shopping

kdt7943

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I'm looking to buy my first DSLR camera. There seem to be a lot of black friday sales so I thought I'd take advantage and buy a camera this weekend. My budget is $600 or less and i want to stick with Canon or Nikon. I enjoy shooting landscape mostly with sunrise/sunset & beach scenes as well as some of friends and family. I would like something that is decent in low light because I'm interested in learning to photograph the moon and stars.
I've found the following that fit my price range:

1. Canon EOS Rebel T3i with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS and EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Lenses ($500 best buy)

2. Canon EOS Rebel T5 with 18-55mm Lens, Extra 75-300mm Lens ($450 best buy)

3. Canon EOS T5i refurbished with 18-55mm IS STM Lens Kit ($510)

4. Nikon D3300 with 18-55mm Lens ($500 target)

5. Nikon D3200 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm Lenses ($500 best buy)

6. Nikon D5200 refurbished with 18-55mm VR Kit Lens ($500)

Any suggestions would be appreciated!
 
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If you have the opportunity to buy used, you will likely get far more bang for the buck. Right now you can get a used D7000 or a D90 with a nifty fifty if you look hard enough. That way you have a great entry level body with an internal focus motor which opens up the ability to use the vast majority of Nikon lenses made in the last 30 years.

Why is this a big deal? Well, in addition to a whole host of other pros with the body (more storage, better battery life, metal body construction, etc etc etc) Lenses are expensive. Newer lenses with internal focus motors are REALLY expensive. having the ability to get a used fast pro lens for about the same money as a new slow kit lens is a really big deal.

Do some homework on them, then scour craigslist.

My .02
 
I will charge $0.02 for this as well:

I'd get the Nikon D5200 refurbished deal. And since you have budgeted $600, save the extra $100 toward something else. You'd be halfway to a used Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm 1:1.8 G.
 
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Go to the stores and try the cameras out.. Hold them, look through their menus, press all the buttons, etc. If the cameras don't have power, make them power the camera up.

Get the one that feels the best in your hand and easiest to use.

Then, take the extra money and put it towards a memory card and tripod.
 
Thanks for the replies. The D7000 seems out of my price range for what I was able to find.

The D5200, D3300, or t3i are what I'm leaning towards but I'm somewhat weary of getting one that's refurbished. Any good or bad experiences with refurbished cameras?

I'm definitely going to go to a store and get a feel for each of them before I make up my mind.
 
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4. Nikon D3300 with 18-55mm Lens ($500 target) that would be my recommendation. The 3300 shoots FASTER, and has the highest-magnification viewfinder of any of the entry-level Nikons AND it is a current model.
 
Personally, after my own experience, I'd go for the refurbished deal....assuming it's from a reputable source. I bought my d5000 recently for £219, and traded in my d50 for £50.....I got an upgrade to my lens, since the d5000 came with a more modern 18-55mm lens. All in all a very satisfactory transaction. I have of course spent any money saved on other gear....but that's hobbies for you! I fact, I did what designer said.....I've bought the Nikon 50mm prime lens (f1.8g), which I also got refurbished, even if it came in a proper box and packaging, and has no obvious signs of use. Anyway £120 for that was a steal IMO.
 
4. Nikon D3300 with 18-55mm Lens ($500 target) that would be my recommendation. The 3300 shoots FASTER, and has the highest-magnification viewfinder of any of the entry-level Nikons AND it is a current model.
and image quality comparable to the best of the nikon DX lineup. If it's only for portraits and landscapes, I'd definitely get d3300 over any other DX if I had to go cheap. Be that aware you won't be able to use older lenses unless you upgrade to the D7X lineup.
To get any better low light performance than this however, you'd have to go full frame (ideal for astro work). The cheapest options would be about 1600$ body only.
 
I went to best buy and played around with the cameras to get a feel for each. I liked the Nikon d3300 a lot but I found that my favorite camera to handle is the Sony A6000 mirrorless for its small size. Will anyone tell me your experience with or advice on cameras similar to this?
 
The A6000 is a nice, small mirrorless camera, and it does have a smallish, but very enthusiastic and loyal following. It has received a lot of good press on-line. I did a Google search and this comparison was way up at the top. Sensor performance tests out almost identically!

Sony A6000 versus Nikon D3300 - Side by side camera comparison - DxOMark

A SMALL, compact, easy-to-carry camera with a good sensor makes for a good camera. One you will actually carry with you more often than leave behind

This article was published just TODAY-Nov. 26, 2014:Best lenses for the Sony A6000: Primes and Zooms - DxOMark

As you can see, the A6000 has a new, high-tech, very wide-area AF system with like 179 AF points covering 90% of the frame, 11 frame per second max shooting speed, focus zebras, and so on. The drawback IMHO is that "the good lenses" for the A6000 are very expensive in prime lenses AND in zooms. Looking at the P-MPix, or "Perceptual Megapixel" resolution from the Sony zooms, the camera goes from 11, to 8, to 7,8,7,6,6,5,4 P-MPix (ALL are sony lenses, except the last, a Tamron 18-200mm).

In a word...these zoome lenses are WEAK performers; a 24-Megapixel sensor that can only manage 11 to on average, 6.5 Perceptual MP of resolution??? THat's called "bad zooms". ANd there are simply NOT many lenses to choose for the A6000. Compare the D3300 zoom offerings: MUICH higher P-MPix scores, in lenses made by Nikon, Tamron, Tokina, and Sigma.

If I were gonna be shooting shots of the Milky Way, etc, I would spring for an **expensive**, well-corrected lens for my camera, whatever brand/model I had. Photography of the stars is one area where the high-performance lenses have actual benefit. General, daylight family photos don't typically require high-performance lenses, and the smaller, "convenience" zooms Sony has are adequate-yet still, I think UNDER-performers considering how low the P-Mpix numbers are when used on a 24-MP sensor. This P-Mpix score is similar to the SQF, or ACTUAL PRINT-evaluated, Subjective Quality Factor that Popular Photography and Imaging magazine has been using for over 25 years now. It's a way to evaluate a set of different image quality characteristics, like resolving ability; contrast; center vs zonal vs corner performance; microcontrast.
 
Thanks for all the help guys!
 
I will butt in and say thank you as well. I won't repeat the question since everything I was wondering about (and more) has been answered here. However I am more inclined towards Nikon D3300 it has that particular feel :)
 

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