Want to upgrade, what to do with old D5100?

Hi all,
thanks for the suggestions and MGR for the list!

I'm still learning photography so haven't limited myself to any-one genre. Generally I do everything from macro to landscape and everything in between.

After a quick look, the Nikon 16-85mm looks perfect to replace my kit lens. In fact, on Amazon, Nikon are offering £50 cashback :bounce:

I'm still hesistant though, will I come to regret not upgrading the body though?

Cheers Jack
 
After a quick look, the Nikon 16-85mm looks perfect to replace my kit lens. In fact, on Amazon, Nikon are offering £50 cashback :bounce:

What do you have right now? 18-55mm?

If so, 16-85 is better, but it still not a large aperture lens. Even if the quality of the lens seems better, if you really want to see a difference, in your budget range, go for a prime lens like f/1.8 aperture.
 
Which kit lens do you have? I would be more inclined to keep it if it is the 18-55 vr and add a fast prime to the mix. If you take a lot of people portraiture shots you could add a 50mm f1.8 g for less than half the price of replacing your kit lens. This should show you your cameras ability in low light and give you much better control over depth of field than the kit replacement. Most will that a 50mm is a great lens to have on a crop sensor dslr. The kit could be upgraded later. A good flash unit would also be a great investment. Just a thought
 
After a quick look, the Nikon 16-85mm looks perfect to replace my kit lens. In fact, on Amazon, Nikon are offering £50 cashback :bounce:

What do you have right now? 18-55mm?

If so, 16-85 is better, but it still not a large aperture lens. Even if the quality of the lens seems better, if you really want to see a difference, in your budget range, go for a prime lens like f/1.8 aperture.

Hi, yeah I have the 18-55mm.

I haven't had a whole lot to do with prime lenses, although undoubtedly useful in certain situations I find it quite hard to justify getting a lens without any zoom and therefore having to be close to my subject.

I probably do portraits as much as any other genre so having a great depth of field isn't of huge importance when compared with versatility..
 
I would keep the D5100 as a backup/second camera body.

It is often very helpful to have 2 (or more) camera bodies so you can have 2 (or more) lenses mounted and ready to go.
When I shot action field sports photography I often used 3 camera and lenses - 1 for long range shots (150-500 mm), 1 for medium range 80-200 mm), and one for when the action was close (24-85 mm).
 
I haven't had a whole lot to do with prime lenses, although undoubtedly useful in certain situations I find it quite hard to justify getting a lens without any zoom and therefore having to be close to my subject.

I think you mix zoom and focal length. A prime lens can have a long focal length to take pictures from a distance. The zoom is the ability to change de focal length on one same lens.

A the same price, you can expect a much better image quality from a prime than from a zoom.

In my opinion, a prime lens is a good way to "force" you to learn to do good composition, force you to move around your subject to get the right view. Zoom is easy, but it is indeed much more versatile. As long as you understand these concepts and know your needs you'll be able to make the best choice. Good luck!
 
Thanks for your help!

I think it would be useful to have a prime lens but it would mean not having a lens for anything closer (except my kit lens), at least until I could afford to buy something..

KmH, I think I will keep the D5100. It is still a good camera and nice and light, although I do still have the urge to buy the D300s!

Maybe I just want a new toy!
 
Hi Guys.
I've started to really get into photography since I bought my D5100 last June (2013) and will soon be enrolling in some courses to better understand photography. I've found a used D300s for £450 with a few thousand shutter actuations and was considering upgrading.

This prevents a couple of problems though:
-The price is for the body only so would probably need to keep the kit lens from the D5100
-What to do with the D5100?

So far I've only got 2783 shutter actuations and the camera is in very good condition.

What are my options here, and what would you do?

Cheers

Jack

Jack,

Read through the thread here, and while the D300 is a nice camera I don't think it's really required for you at least not for the reasons stated. On the D5100 there is a manual mode that allows you to control all three settings, ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed. If you go into the D5100's menu system and select the icon that looks like a pencil, that will open the custom setting menu. Scroll down to controls and hit the ok button, then scroll down to assign FN Button and set it to ISO.

Now whenever you want to change your ISO, you can press and hold the function button (it's right below the flash pop up button on the left hand side of the camera next to where the lens mounts) and then use the scroll wheel to quickly change your ISO up or down. When your in Manual mode the scroll wheel normally changes the shutter speed. Once you set your function button for ISO, press and hold it and when you move the scroll wheel it will change your ISO. Now for the third option, right next to your shutter button on the top right hand side of the camera is a little button with +/- symbol on it. In manual mode if you press and hold this button and use the scroll wheel, you can change your aperture on the fly as well.

If you don't want the camera to automatically select an ISO for you, you can shut that off in the menu by going to the camera icon, which pulls up the shooting menu, then go into the menu option ISO sensitivity settings and from there you can select whether or not the camera should automatically select an ISO, and if so what the maximum ISO it should use will be - this should give you pretty much all the manual control you need.

Now if your looking at the D300 because you want a weather sealed body, or the internal focus motor, or something that shoots at higher frames per second then it might be worth considering. But if all you need is more manual control you can achieve that with the D5100 you already have.
 
Hi Robbins,
thanks for the reply!
Although the weather sealing is one of the reasons I am looking at the 300s, it isn't important enough to spend £450+. It's more important for me to have a camera that can 'keep-up' with my lessons when I start my course...
Having said that, it seems from your post that the D5100 is more than adequate?
 
Hi Robbins,
thanks for the reply!
Although the weather sealing is one of the reasons I am looking at the 300s, it isn't important enough to spend £450+. It's more important for me to have a camera that can 'keep-up' with my lessons when I start my course...
Having said that, it seems from your post that the D5100 is more than adequate?

Oh yes, you'll be able to control all three aspects of the exposure triangle quickly and on the fly with just a bit of practice, and it shows you all of the settings plus your exposure right there in the viewfinder so once you get the hang of it you won't even have to take the camera down or access any of the menus, you'll be able to adjust as needed for the correct exposure.

The upside to the D5100 is the better picture quality and the better low light performance - for the D300 it's the higher quality construction, the internal focus motor and the higher shooting speed - so if you don't really need those I'd look at maybe putting some money into some good lenses.

As for me I shoot a D5100 and I love it. I will probably upgrade to a D7100 this year, but when I do it will be because I want to, not really because I need too :)
 
Hi Robbins,

You make a good argument!

Thanks everyone, i'm convinced!

Will spend the money on glass, perhaps the 16-85mm and the 50mm prime, can always throw them on my next camera :)

I love this forum!
 
Hi Robbins,

You make a good argument!

Thanks everyone, i'm convinced!

Will spend the money on glass, perhaps the 16-85mm and the 50mm prime, can always throw them on my next camera :)

I love this forum!

No problem Jack - Us D5100 guys have to stick together afterall.. lol
 
Maybe I just want a new toy!

Nothing wrong with that.

Having said that, it seems from your post that the D5100 is more than adequate?

The D5xxx is definitely more than adequate. A lot of higher end bridge/p&s cameras would be more than adequate.

Will spend the money on glass, perhaps the 16-85mm and the 50mm prime, can always throw them on my next camera :)

It's definitely a more functional use of the money and you'll get more out of the lenses than you will the body. Save up and get the D7200 when it comes out. Maybe a D400 will be in existence by the time you really start to outgrow your D5100 :D
 
You have a d5100 with a kit lens and you want to "upgrade" the body already? Get new glass.
 

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