[B] Nikon D5500 (CA)
In the market for a Nikon D5500. This is not my first DSLR but I am getting more serious about shooting so I may be interested in accessories as well.
Also interested in a 18-140mm VR lens.
Open to hearing other offers in the <$700 range.
Posted Jun 4, 2017, 4:28 PM UTC
27
If you are getting more serious, raise your budget a little and start looking for a d7100 or d7200. You'd be mutch better off with one of those I think than the d5500. I got the d5300 and wish I had got one of the 7xxx cameras.
Thanks for the info. I'll have to look into the 7xxx's a little more. Would love to hear specifics as to why you'd prefer them.
One of the main reasons is they can properly use a lot more lenses than the camera lines bellow them. They have a focus motor within the body itself so they can focus with any ai-s lens, lenses the lower lines can't AF with. Another big thing is the form factor is a bit better as well as weather sealed. Also, you may not necessarily need it, but they 7100 and the 7200 have 2 sd card slots which can be pretty helpful sometimes. Also, you can get a nikon brand battery grip if you wanted rather than a third party grip.
Do you already have nikon lenses or nikon gear? Why did you decide on nikon?
Those are excellent points, thank you.
I own an old Digital Rebel xti with kit zoom lens but it's nearly dead (old and crashes regularly). I decided on Nikon because I'm actually more familiar with their gear due to many friends using them. The D5500 seems to be a great value with lots of features in my price range. It looks like I can get a used 7200 for a price comparable to a new 5500. However, I'm not entirely sold since there don't seem to be significant performance advantages.
Do you have any other suggestions/advice?
I totally get that reason for choosing nikon. I like the button layout of the nikons a lot better than canon. I get that it's hard to pick the 7200 based on the specs, but the ability to customize more of the cameras settings and lens settings from the body itself, as well as the ability to use fully older/cheaper lenses makes it worth it to go with the 7200.
However since you're already started with canon, I might reccommend you look at canon cameras as well/instead. You can get very similar cameras from canon that you can from nikon. Nikons will generally have the better sensor and menu, but canon has better lens affordability and for what it's worth, a better shutter. Plus if you go Canon, you can keep you kit lens, buy a body only and spend your extra money on a 50mm 1.8 or other decent glass.
I just remembered something else, the d7xxx cameras generally have better iso performance than the lower model cameras.