Need help choosing first camera

[TripleDigitRide]

Let me preface this post by admitting that I know almost nothing about photography. Other than simple point and shoot or cell phone cameras, I have zero experience. However, I do know I've had a passion to get into photography — at the very least — as a hobby. Until now, my hobby has been firearms. I'm hoping to somehow combine both hobbies from time to time.

I digress. I've been looking at some camera options that are within my current budget of $500-$700. For one reason or another, I've been looking at the Nikon D3200. Through Best Buy, I can get the D3200 and 18-55mm lens for $549, or the D3200 with 18-55mm Lens, Lens Cleaning Pen, Bag, 16GB Memory Card & Extra 55-200mm Lens for $749. I likely won't be making this purchase until near the end of the year, so I may be able to get a better deal with the holiday sales.

Are these good options for a beginner, or would you recommend another route.

Thank you in advance for any assistance.

 

[Derrel]

The $749 package is, IMHO, not that good a value. I think that YES, there will be some extraordinarily good deals upcoming this Holiday season. Nikon and dealers both have a generous over-abundance of cameras built up in inventory, and Nikon has been offering discounts, and there are end-of-life and no MAP (no Minimum Advertised Price) deals on the D5200 now,so...the deals will be forthcoming, you can bank on it. Black Friday, Christmas, both will have good deals aplenty.

 

[Designer]

Meanwhile, you might be able to add another couple hundred to your budget before then.

Also, HEAVILY discount those extras such as the lens pen and a bag. You might wish to purchase a lens pen someday, but IMO the dealers are pumping up the item count in their deal by throwing in some fairly inexpensive items to hook the newbie. You end up paying a premium for stuff you might never use.

For instance: The bag that was included with my kit is so darn small that not even the kit that was included will fit into the bag. I never use that one.

 

[lennon33x]

I'm going to address your first point: that you claim to know nothing about photography. I'm going to make an assumption here, and that it's that you know very little about exposure. While I'm no professional photographer, I would definitely look into something like a used Canon AE-1 and learn how to expose correctly. I did that exact same thing, which has allowed me to control the number of actuations I wasted on my digital slr. The film camera helps to do two things:

1.) learn correct exposure
2.) makes you more picky and concentrate on your lighting/composition/exposure and makes you appreciate your shot.

Just a thought. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have done it much differently (like buying a used full frame first). But the fact of the matter is that I didn't and have learned tons.

 

[goodguy]

The $749 package is, IMHO, not that good a value. I think that YES, there will be some extraordinarily good deals upcoming this Holiday season. Nikon and dealers both have a generous over-abundance of cameras built up in inventory, and Nikon has been offering discounts, and there are end-of-life and no MAP (no Minimum Advertised Price) deals on the D5200 now,so...the deals will be forthcoming, you can bank on it. Black Friday, Christmas, both will have good deals aplenty.

Exactly what I think.
First don't buy a whole package, these sellers sell you stuff you might or might not need, you be the judge of what to buy.
The Nikon D3200 is a very good camera but I think toward Christmas time for your money you will be able to get the Nikon D5200 which is a step above the D3200 and an excellent camera.
My advice is try to get the D5200 with the 18-105mm VR kit lens, its a good lens that will be good for you to start your first steps in photography, in time the more you know you will decide what more equipment and lenses you want and need.
My guess you will need the 50mm 1.8G prime lens which is great for night photography and portraits and is a very sharp lens and the best part is that it cost about 200$
You might also consider in the future a telezoom lens, stay away from the 55-200mm, its not a very sharp lens and I would recommend you to get the Nikon 70-300mm VR.
But as I said the D5200 with the 18-105mm VR kit lens will be all you need.
And if you decide to go with the D3200 then that's fine too, as I said even though the D5200 is a better camera the D3200 is very good too.

Good luck.

 

[SCraig]

I'm going to address your first point: that you claim to know nothing about photography. I'm going to make an assumption here, and that it's that you know very little about exposure. While I'm no professional photographer, I would definitely look into something like a used Canon AE-1 and learn how to expose correctly. I did that exact same thing, which has allowed me to control the number of actuations I wasted on my digital slr. The film camera helps to do two things:

1.) learn correct exposure
2.) makes you more picky and concentrate on your lighting/composition/exposure and makes you appreciate your shot.

Just a thought. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have done it much differently (like buying a used full frame first). But the fact of the matter is that I didn't and have learned tons.

I disagree. If you are going to learn exposure with a film camera then get one with no metering. If you buy a metered camera then you might just as well buy a digital camera.

Like many here I started shooting when all we had were cameras with no meter, no autofocus, no auto-anything. You either learned exposure quickly or went back to a box camera.

But this is the 21st century. Learning proper exposure is far, FAR easier with a digital camera than with a film camera. Take two shots, one in manual the way you think it should be exposed and one in automatic the way the camera thinks it should be exposed. Compare the settings for each and figure out why one was better than the other. Easiest way I know to learn exposure.

Digital is also FAR less expensive. I shot 2,000 images in one day last year, and it cost me .... nothing. Had I been shooting with film the processing and film costs would have been around $1,000. Maybe more, it's been years since I've shot any film so I don't really have a feel for the costs today.

I'm not picky. Nor do I have any concerns over the number of actuations on any of my camera bodies. When I'm shooting birds or motorsports or anything moving I shoot in bursts. Sometimes long bursts. When I get home I pick the best of the bunch. If I shoot 5 frames or 500 frames it makes no difference to me.

 

[djacobox372]

Learning exposure with film is hard as by the time u get the film back you've forgotten what settings u used. Film is a good learning tool for the well versed digital shooter to slow down and concentrate on composition, but beginners need to start with digital. Digital slrs can be had for less than 200 used, so entry cost is no longer an argument for film.

And this is from a primarily Film shooter

 

[robbins.photo]

Let me preface this post by admitting that I know almost nothing about photography. Other than simple point and shoot or cell phone cameras, I have zero experience. However, I do know I've had a passion to get into photography — at the very least — as a hobby. Until now, my hobby has been firearms. I'm hoping to somehow combine both hobbies from time to time.

I digress. I've been looking at some camera options that are within my current budget of $500-$700. For one reason or another, I've been looking at the Nikon D3200. Through Best Buy, I can get the D3200 and 18-55mm lens for $549, or the D3200 with 18-55mm Lens, Lens Cleaning Pen, Bag, 16GB Memory Card & Extra 55-200mm Lens for $749. I likely won't be making this purchase until near the end of the year, so I may be able to get a better deal with the holiday sales.

Are these good options for a beginner, or would you recommend another route.

Thank you in advance for any assistance.

Ok, well in order to properly answer your question, first I need to ask a few questions, then I can give you a proper answer. The first thing you need to ask yourself, and the question I will ask, is what will you be using the camera for? Ok, taking pictures right.. duh.. lol - but seriously, what kind of pictures will you be taking? Will the camera be used mostly indoors, mostly outdoors - are you looking at taking pictures at sporting events, wanting to do landscapes, wildlife pictures, etc

These are important questions to ask, because you need to get an idea as to what sort of capabilities your looking for, for example, do you need telephoto, if so, how much. Once we get a better idea what sort of pictures your taking, the next question is, what will you be doing with them and how will you be viewing them? Are you going to be looking at these on a computer monitor, or making prints - and if your making prints, what sized prints do you think you'll make most often? Again this will help us determine the sort of image quality you'll want and help us make a more informed decision as to what type of camera will best suit your needs.

 

[PhotographersSource]

The $749 package is, IMHO, not that good a value. I think that YES, there will be some extraordinarily good deals upcoming this Holiday season. Nikon and dealers both have a generous over-abundance of cameras built up in inventory, and Nikon has been offering discounts, and there are end-of-life and no MAP (no Minimum Advertised Price) deals on the D5200 now,so...the deals will be forthcoming, you can bank on it. Black Friday, Christmas, both will have good deals aplenty.

Exactly what I think.
First don't buy a whole package, these sellers sell you stuff you might or might not need, you be the judge of what to buy.
The Nikon D3200 is a very good camera but I think toward Christmas time for your money you will be able to get the Nikon D5200 which is a step above the D3200 and an excellent camera.
My advice is try to get the D5200 with the 18-105mm VR kit lens, its a good lens that will be good for you to start your first steps in photography, in time the more you know you will decide what more equipment and lenses you want and need.
My guess you will need the 50mm 1.8G prime lens which is great for night photography and portraits and is a very sharp lens and the best part is that it cost about 200$
You might also consider in the future a telezoom lens, stay away from the 55-200mm, its not a very sharp lens and I would recommend you to get the Nikon 70-300mm VR.
But as I said the D5200 with the 18-105mm VR kit lens will be all you need.
And if you decide to go with the D3200 then that's fine too, as I said even though the D5200 is a better camera the D3200 is very good too.

Good luck.

Hi goodguy,


Do you think this pack is good for around $740 or it's too much for it?
- Nikon D5200 with 18-55mm VR Lens kit
- Nikon AF-S 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6G IF-ED DX VR
- DigitalRev DSLR Camera Gifts Package

 

[robbins.photo]

Let me preface this post by admitting that I know almost nothing about photography. Other than simple point and shoot or cell phone cameras, I have zero experience. However, I do know I've had a passion to get into photography — at the very least — as a hobby. Until now, my hobby has been firearms. I'm hoping to somehow combine both hobbies from time to time.

I digress. I've been looking at some camera options that are within my current budget of $500-$700. For one reason or another, I've been looking at the Nikon D3200. Through Best Buy, I can get the D3200 and 18-55mm lens for $549, or the D3200 with 18-55mm Lens, Lens Cleaning Pen, Bag, 16GB Memory Card & Extra 55-200mm Lens for $749. I likely won't be making this purchase until near the end of the year, so I may be able to get a better deal with the holiday sales.

Are these good options for a beginner, or would you recommend another route.

Thank you in advance for any assistance.

The camera itself, the D3200 - is a good selection. It will be easy to use and it takes outstanding photos, has a guide mode that will help you get started and still has a lot of options you can use later when you get more comfortable with the camera and start exploring some of the more manual options available.

As Derrel mentioned though you can probably get a much, much better deal on this exact same camera online at the moment, and probably even more so if you can wait until right after christmas, which really is the best time to find deals on most anything.