Nikon DSLR advice

Jens

Jens

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Dear photographers of Final Gear,

I'm looking for a new DSLR (well new or used), and because I have no first hand experience with any of the following cameras I could use some advice.
First of, my previous camera was a D5000. With this purchase I would like to up the game a bit so this means I would rather get away from the entry level stuff (I'm still going to list them anyway for comparison and opinions).

Budget for the body: around ?650,00 is the maximum I would want spend (give or take a couple of tenners)

What I'm considering at the moment:

- Nikon D3100, ?459,00 new: money to spare, better than my D5000 on paper
- Nikon D5100, ?559,00 new: still quite entry levelish, not sure if worth premium over D3100
- Nikon D7000, used prices seem to vary wildly as does availability but I'm aiming at ?650 - ?700 for one in good condition.
- Nikon D90 - ?639,00 new but it is a bit dated so buying used seems like a better option, found one for around ?450

I have watched a fair bit of reviews of all these devices and the D7000 is obviously the best, but I still have some questions:

- How does the (slightly dated?) D90 compare to it's successor, the D7000 and the entry level models (which do have a higher MP count, although that is not that important nowadays)? I'm thinking noise performance, general image quality,...


Thanks in advance guys
 
Cough up some extra money and pre order the D800 awww yeahhh
 
Pininfarina_ said:
Cough up a fuckton of extra money and pre order the D800 awww shite
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FTFY

I'd go for the D7000, in fact I did go for the D7000 last year, in a pretty similar situation. I don't have all the numbers in my head but the D3100 and D5100 probably won't be worth the money and the D90 is getting on now, it lacks features that made me wait to pay extra for a new D7000, plus the better sensor, better noise performance, etc.

That's just my opinion, I personally love the D7000 even though I really don't use it as much as I would like to.
 
The 5- and 3- series lack the built-in focus motor (among other handy features) that the D90 and D7000 have for non AF-S/AF-I lenses, which may keep you away from some nice lenses.

- How does the (slightly dated?) D90 compare to it's successor, the D7000 and the entry level models (which do have a higher MP count, although that is not that important nowadays)? I'm thinking noise performance, general image quality,...
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The quality and noise performance of the D7000 is excellent -- so is the D90's. I've had both and I haven't noticed an appreciable practical difference.

I would buy a new D90, it's still a very good camera.
 
Matt2000 said:
FTFY
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Lol what's a couple thousand between cameras?

I know a lot of people (5 to be exact) that have D90's and I haven't heard a complaint from them. I'm not the best to ask but it's quite a popular camera.
 
I shoot the D7000 and I have to say I am blown away. I have shot everything in Nikons lineup and the bang for your buck ratio on the D7000 is fantastic. The quality to price ratio is so good I ended up buying a fleet of them for work! The only issues I have with the camera is the small buffer, I tend to hit it on podium celebrations a lot, and the size... its tiny in your hands. Sure the noise quality will never match a full frame, but for a crop sensor its quite good. Couple this camera with noise ninja and some quick glass and I am sure you will be fine.
 
I've owned and shot w a D90 about 2 years before I sold it and upgraded to the D7000. My reasons for upgrading:

1. Noise/high ISO performance is staggering in the D7000 vs the D90 which was very good but not in the same league, D90 had useable shots requiring no NR up to 1600, but the D7000 had fairly clean shots up to 3200.

2. faster fps burst speed, while the D90s 4.2 fps isn't bad, the D7000s 6fps made a big difference in action/sports/wildlife/street photo where candid moments

3. Far superior AF system, 39 selectable pts on the D7000 vs 11 on the D90, when you start shooting w fast primes with shallow DOF, this becomes very important

4. better dynamic range in photos, better light metering system

5. Superior video shooting capabilities if you're into that sort of thing (I'm not)

note that increase MP count does not list among my reasons for upgrading
 
Alright, thanks for the information guys, much appreciated!
The D3100 and D5100 are clearly out of the running.

So this leaves the D90 and the D7000, as edkwon pointed out the D7000 has a far superior AF system which is a major incentive to go with that one (the reviews I've watched and read were all very positive about that), I don't care for video capabilities so that doesn't really matter and as I thought nor does MP count.

Guess it's up to me now to decide wether or not the D7000 is worth the 400 euro premium over the D90 (vs. about 250 used). If I'd be forced to buy new (due to no used ones available) I would most probably go with the D90 as epp_b suggested because it offers a great performance/price ratio. But if a used D7000 shows up for a fair price in the next few days I won't hesitate a second.
 
I suppose the question is what do you want out of the replacement camera? While the D90 will give you features like the AF motor, the top LCD, etc. the sensor is the same as the one in the D5000 so noise performance and the like will all be the same. The D5000 is also a couple of years newer than the D90 so the software on the cameras will be fairly evenly matched.

Out of interest have you sold the D5000 or is that the plan when buying a replacement? How much are you looking to get for it?
 
Unfortunately my D5000 got stolen last week, and I didn't know the D90 had the same sensor as the D5000, thanks for that.

Since I am forced to buy a new DSLR I figured I might as well spend a bit more money and get something that is not an entry level model like the D3100 and D5100 are.
If I didn't lose my D5000 I'd have probably kept it for at least another year (these things ain't cheap :p) although I have bumped into the limitations of my camera in some situations, especially in low light conditions and when shooting moving cars.
 
Jens said:
Unfortunately my D5000 got stolen last week
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Oh shit, didn't realise that. Fucking scumbags. :(

In that case a D90 could be the answer, it will have everything your D5000 had plus a bit more. It's worth looking up the comparisons between the D5000/D90 and D90/D7000. :)
 
If you're budget limited and can't find a D7000 used for a good price, then definitely get a secondhand D90, like he said, its the same sensor and imaging hardware but none of the limitations of the D5000. Plus you'll love having that top LCD info display like a pro camera. The used market should be flooded with them since many owners upgraded to the D7K like me.
 
So this leaves the D90 and the D7000, as edkwon pointed out the D7000 has a far superior AF system which is a major incentive to go with that one (the reviews I've watched and read were all very positive about that), I don't care for video capabilities so that doesn't really matter and as I thought nor does MP count.
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If I'm totally honest, I actually preferred the D90's AF system. The points are bigger and easier to use manually. The D7000's is excellent, of course, just a bit too fiddly for my taste.
 
I'm running into an other inconvenience now, none of the shops I checked (all of the local ones plus a lot of online stores) have the D90 or D7000 in stock. A new shipment of D7000s is planned for late April - early May and the D90 will be out of stock forever (due to it being a bit old now). The second hand market for them is nonexistent, apparantly no one is willing to sell theirs :p which presumably is a good thing, because they're so good they want to keep them.

epp_b said:
If I'm totally honest, I actually preferred the D90's AF system. The points are bigger and easier to use manually. The D7000's is excellent, of course, just a bit too fiddly for my taste.
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Interesting, I was kind of already aiming for a D90 because of the very attractive pricing.

Edit: found a local store that sells a D90, but unfortunately only the kit version with the 18-105mm lens, and it costs ?949,00 (versus ?649,00 for the body). Too bad this lens will be of no use to me so I'll have to pass up.
 
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I have actually, they're around ?700 used but they're also about 5 years old by now so didn't really look any further into it.

However I could use some more advice like right now, I finally found someone willing to sell me a D90 body (the ad was posted an hour ago or so).. Asking price is ?850 but this is with a lens, extra battery, backpack and all kinds of other stuff I don't want to buy. So I would like to know what a fair price would be for the body? It's purchased in December 2009 and has < 10k clicks.

Many thanks for the help already!
 
donthomaso said:
have you checked on a used D300 ?
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D300 uses only CF I believe, The D300S introduced dual slots that use both CF and SD. I assume the OP wants to retain using SD cards and also probably has a convinient SD card reader slot built into his laptop whereas he'd need an external card reader as well as buy new CF cards for a used D300.
 
Jens said:
I have actually, they're around ?700 used but they're also about 5 years old by now so didn't really look any further into it.

However I could use some more advice like right now, I finally found someone willing to sell me a D90 body (the ad was posted an hour ago or so).. Asking price is ?850 but this is with a lens, extra battery, backpack and all kinds of other stuff I don't want to buy. So I would like to know what a fair price would be for the body? It's purchased in December 2009 and has < 10k clicks.

Many thanks for the help already!
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I can easily find used D90 bodies in good condition and relatively low shutter count in the $500-600 range USD. However I won't pretend to know what the fair used market price is in europe.
 
Looking at new prices a direct USD to EUR conversions works well, so I think that's a good starting point for an offer :), thanks!

Edit:

Made the seller an honest offer but she still wants ?500 for the body, so I bit the bullet and bought one new for just a bit more.
 
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