Nikon D3300 thoughts

[Salt Creep]

As my coral grow more and more I am ready to get in the process of graduating from my cell phone pics to a real DSLR camera :) I have been doing some research and it looks like the Nikon D3300 is a great entry-level camera in the price range I want to start at (~$500 for a kit). What are people's thoughts on this camera that have them? I would be using this for mostly macro photography so if you have any pics you can share taken with this camera it would be much appreciated. Also if you could list if you used a macro lens and what lens it was, or extension tubes or any other way (reverse lens) of getting around spending a couple hundred on a dedicated lens. I am also open to suggestions of other cameras that might be better, but keep in mind the ~$500 budget. I am also saving up for a new tank and don't want to get too crazy with spending money on a camera just yet.

Thanks!

 

[ahmed.boomer]

To start, I ended up getting extremely specific about this, so if you have a question, let me know.


So there are a couple things to consider. I've beens shooting with Nikon for 3-4 years and have handle most of the Nikon macro/micro lenses aside from the crop sensor ones. I've handled most of the higher end bodies as well just from shooting events with my friends.

So the first thing is Nikon has two classes for bodies. They have general consumer bodies which are the D3x00 and D5x00 series. These bodies do not have internal focus motors, so the lens has the autofocus motor in it (this is how all Canon lenses/bodies are). The Nikon prosumer/professional grade bodies have internal focus motors. This means older autofocus lenses from the late 80's up until today can be used. They are also compatible with all Nikon lenses made since 1977 and will meter (expose) properly with manual focus Nikon lenses. The prosumer body is generally the one that's cheaper in the long run since you will have access to a much larger range of lenses at will autofocus/meter. You may have to put up some extra money to start.

So for the money I would grab a d7000. It's general goes for $350 or so used give or take depending on where you buy it. If you buy from KEH, Robert's camera ect used, you will usually get a 2-6 month warranty on the body. The d7000 is extremely well built too. You will appreciate the build quality after holding a d5x00 or d3x00. Do note this is the body will depreciate in price much faster than your lenses will. So you want the better part of the money going towards a lens if possible. You will lose some of the video quality and megapixels due to the d7000 being an older body.

For the lens, you can grab either kit lens like the 18-55mm VRII for less than $100 or even the 18-55mm and the 55-200mm for $150. Here's an imported one for $100. http://www.amazon.com/18-55mm-3-5-5...&qid=1460427765&sr=8-4&keywords=18-55mm+nikon

Note that if you get a imported body or less and a couple years down the road you find yourself needing to service it, Nikon USA will not touch the item what so ever if it was not bought through a certified US vendor. With something like the 18-55mm I wouldn't worry about it too much. They're pretty cheap and they'll cost more to fix than they are worth.

Now note the 18-55mm can only reproduce at 1:3.2 or so at closest focus (3.2 cm in real life would be 2cm on the sensor). The 55-200mm is ~1:4.5 (depends on version, but around 1:4.5). You'll need extension tubes to get better magnification. You can't get the dirt cheap ones either since these lenses don't have an aperture dial. So you're looking at $30-$50 for good extension tubes (you might find cheaper ones). If you have a lens with an aperture ring, you can basic $10 extension tubes.

Now if you just want to take photos of corals close up and perhaps later get a kit lens so you take photos of your wife and kids or vise versa, that's fine. I'd save up and get the Nikon 60mm micro AFD ($200+ used) or the Tokina 100mm 2.8($400 new). So spend roughly $450 now and save $200 or $400 to get a dedicated macro lens in a few months. Alternatively you could spend $550 now and get the 60mm Nikkor AFD lens and later sell the 60mm Nikkor and put that money towards to 100mm Tokina. The main difference between the 60mm and 100mm is reach.

Both the 60mm and 100mm will work with the D3300, but they will completely be manual focus. You will usually use manual focus when you're shooting macro or anything up close. For general purpose photos, those two lenses will only autofocus on a higher end body. The 60mm micro Nikkor is almost entirely metal and is built to last. The Tokina is built similarly and in my experience is a better lens than anything lens at around 100mm for the Nikon mount.

Adorama sells referbs for $410 with only a 90 day warranty through Nikon. (no lens)
The d3300 comes with a 1 year warranty new (I believe). (With 18-55mm VRII)


Here's my personal take on it. When I had to upgrade my dx body (had a d90 and got the d7000), I just found someone on craigslist who had bought it and rarely used it. I got the original box and accessories when I bought it, and you can often haggle the price further down. Just inspect the body to make sure it is working.

People go out and buy gear camera from Best Buy, Costco... and think that the highest priced one is the one they need and never end up using the camera that often. It sits on the shelf for a couple months. They end up selling it from half or less than what they bought it for. You come and snag it for a camera that's been lightly used for a fraction of the price and it doesn't have any issues.


My final thoughts: The D3300 is good for the price, but going to the D7000 or D7100 will save you more in the long run if you want to do macro or photography. You have a much larger choice of lenses to choose from. If you live near a large city, you can probably just go to a camera store and play with these bodies and see which you like.

 

[Salt Creep]

First of all... I really appreciate you taking the time to leave such a detailed response. I am fairly new to this stuff (always just used my phone) so some of this isn't making sense to me quite yet, but I will definitely take what you are saying into consideration as you obviously know your stuff. I just want to make sure I kind of understand for now. Are you recommending a lower MP camera because the features and lens options will more than make up for the loss in MP? The reason I didn't even consider the D7000 is because I was under the assumption that more MP is better... this is not necessarily the case though? I want pics with enough quality that I can actually see the tissue on my SPS and crop into it even more if I want and still have great quality.

Thanks!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Dont get hung up on megapixels. Its hype.
The d200 changed the photography world and Its a crop sensor, low for its time megapixels compared to the d3 etc. and "should not" have made a profound impact.
The rest of what you are paying for on a 7000 is better color, increased sensitivity to the sensor etc. Think used Porsche. So brand new Low priced Chevy or same price used Porsche.
If you have a good used camera store nearby, go there.

somewhere here I have a picture thread. I use the cameras most would not buy and lenses too. Tell me what you think.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Here it is.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/saltyfilmfolks-my-pictures-thread.232226/

 

[Sabellafella]

Here it is.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/saltyfilmfolks-my-pictures-thread.232226/

You use the d3300?!?!?!? Me too teach me

 

[Sabellafella]

Check my buuld thread, theres a couple shots i have with this camera and with the stock lense looks great

As my coral grow more and more I am ready to get in the process of graduating from my cell phone pics to a real DSLR camera :) I have been doing some research and it looks like the Nikon D3300 is a great entry-level camera in the price range I want to start at (~$500 for a kit). What are people's thoughts on this camera that have them? I would be using this for mostly macro photography so if you have any pics you can share taken with this camera it would be much appreciated. Also if you could list if you used a macro lens and what lens it was, or extension tubes or any other way (reverse lens) of getting around spending a couple hundred on a dedicated lens. I am also open to suggestions of other cameras that might be better, but keep in mind the ~$500 budget. I am also saving up for a new tank and don't want to get too crazy with spending money on a camera just yet.

Thanks!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

You use the d3300?!?!?!? Me too teach me

nope. D7000. d80. canon 80d, 40d 5d. and Lumix 4/3 and some others. mostly manual focus lenses.
the lumix btw uses 2 or 4 venus processors depending on the model. during those same years Leica was using 4 6 or 8 Venus processors.
a 4/3 camera has a 2x crop factor so your 50 macro is 100mm and most any manual focus is adaptable. Any mirror-less is the same. to kepp auto fucus the adapter price goes from $20 to $200+


and yea, agreed the 3300 is a really good camera.
but theres many ways to skin the cat

 

[Salt Creep]

@saltyfilmfolks your pictures look great! I think you have me convinced. Love the sun coral pic and that is exactly what I'm looking for is clarity. It looks like you could crop that down and still see fine detail in the tentacles. @Sabellafella I can see your pics getting better through your thread. Looks like you have a great coral collection!

Aside from getting great macros this is what I really like to do... slightly processed photos...

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/abstract-coral-do-you-see-what-i-see.236537/

I can't wait to get a decent camera that I can get some great macros even with the coral in the back of my tank. Right now I can only get good detail if it is about 2"-6" from the glass. After that the detail falls off sharply. Time to hunt for some used cameras around here. Any tips on things that typically break in the camera I should specifically look for to make sure it works? I really don't mind manual focusing because I will mostly be using this for my coral pics.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Burned pixels and shutter clicks. slow focus motor youll hear and feel it when you use it. If its a random craigslist have them send a pic from the camera. read exif data
opanda iexif reader

it will tell you A if its a pic from the camera B how many shutter clicks it has.

Again if theres is a good old school camera store go there and buy used. the extra $$ can be worth the hassle. And rich people throw away the best stuff.
Im looking at a D200 right now for $250 with 16,000 clicks. Nikon says 60k before service. you can check thier website.
avoid zooms with macro focusing. the 55 micro from nikon is amazing f3.5. the 90mm tamron macro is around $250 and a 2.8 I belive

 

[Salt Creep]

Burned pixels and shutter clicks. slow focus motor youll hear and feel it when you use it. If its a random craigslist have them send a pic from the camera. read exif data
opanda iexif reader

it will tell you A if its a pic from the camera B how many shutter clicks it has.

Again if theres is a good old school camera store go there and buy used. the extra $$ can be worth the hassle. And rich people throw away the best stuff.
Im looking at a D200 right now for $250 with 16,000 clicks. Nikon says 60k before service. you can check thier website.
avoid zooms with macro focusing. the 55 micro from nikon is amazing f3.5. the 90mm tamron macro is around $250 and a 2.8 I belive

Very helpful, thanks again.

 

[ahmed.boomer]

Yup! Megapixels are not everything that makes a camera. Remember when Apple released the iPhone 5/5S and most other manufacturers were marketing 12+ megapixel sensors? Yet the 8MP iPhone camera usually outperformed the 12+ MP sensors or was still toe-to-toe. Digital cameras are the same. Things like firmware, noise processing, lens choice, pixel size, and color rendition are things that will not show up on a specification sheet, but are as important as what is stated on a sheet.

The D5, Nikon's best body is $4000 and only 20 MP.

Also build quality and what components are used are other huge factor. The D3 was Nikon's premier body in 2007. It sold for about $3500. It's still used! A used D3 (though I think it's over priced) is $900. That's for a camera made based on the technology of 2007. That's also a 12 megapixel camera.

So what are megapixels really good for? They give better detail at lower ISO values. ISO is like sensitivity although it's really the applied gain. However, higher megapixel bodies tend to do worse in dim lighting since sensor absorbs less light.

Sometimes some lenses cannot provide enough resolution to use the megapixels. However, with modern lenses you won't run into this issue too often. With some older film lenses you might run into this.

Crop sensors like the D3x00, D5x00 and D7x00 are better for macro than a full frame camera because they have higher pixel densities and are cropped. Usually macro is done with a light source or is controlled like your aquarium. Wildlife photographer generally do not use full frame bodies (some do). Instead they use telephoto lenses that give them zoom in extremely close. That along with a crop body allows them to get close and get lots of detail. The high pixel density also allows them to crop more.

The D200 is good, but I think you might find the D300/D300s or D90 in the $250 price range. The latter are more modern bodies. The other thing to consider if you ever want to shoot video, the D200/D300 do not have it.

How wide is your tank? A lens like a 60mm or 55mm might not be enough to get good reach for the corals at the back.

 

[Salty1962]

I have a D3200 and love it. It has the remote shutter trigger so I don't get shake the camera pushing the trigger. I also bought some cheapo tubes for the camera and they really make a difference with macro shots. I can also shoot HD videos with it. Didn't want to invest allot of $$ for something I use every once in a while:)

 

[Salt Creep]

You are being a wealth of knowledge to me! So sounds like I want to look for a crop sensor/body (this I did not know). I don't mind too much about video, I have a decent video camera and my phone records 4k video so that is not really a requirement as of now, or in the near future. Right now I just have a 40 breeder SPS tank (36" x 18" x 17") and a 29 gallon softie tank (standard size.. idk, 30" x 12" x something). I will be upgrading the 40 very soon to either a 120 or 150, both will have a 4' x 2' footprint, just different heights.

 

[Salt Creep]

I have a D3200 and love it. It has the remote shutter trigger so I don't get shake the camera pushing the trigger. I also bought some cheapo tubes for the camera and they really make a difference with macro shots. I can also shoot HD videos with it. Didn't want to invest allot of $$ for something I use every once in a while:)

Ah, just looked through your threads for pics... remember seeing them before. I love your fish selection! I unfortunately lost my flame wrasse after 2 days in the tank :( such a beautiful fish. No matter the camera I go with I will be using either a remote, or a delayed option so I don't get the shake from me pressing the button... and a tripod, of course.

 

[Slickrick]

I bought a D3300 off my local craigslist not even 2 weeks ago for $280 with the 18-55 lens, battery, cables, card.
It only had 500 captures.
Now I am just searching for the right macro. A lot of it is preference.
Take your time and search, let the rich guy pay top dollar.

 

[shred5]

I picked up the d3200, there is not much difference between the 3200 and 3300 except the 3200 can be bought much cheaper because it is the last model.
The Tamron SP AF Di 90mm f/2.8 Macro Lens can be found pretty cheap on ebay especially if you do not want AF.