Question, is the Nikon D5300 best dslr to buy for around £500 or less?

Caporegime
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You can get a used Nikon D7200 used for around £500, it's a significantly better camera.

Twice the battery life, vastly better viewfinder, better AF system, greater lens compatibility, 2 card slots, weather sealed, faster shooting speed with quadruple the buffer size, and much better ergonomics with an extra dial, plus some extra features like AF fine tuning.
 
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Soldato
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Hi All,

Sorry to bump this old thread but it seemed better than starting a new one.
I'm looking for my first DSLR to play around with and recently a used D7000 (<20000 shutter activiations) came up for sale for £370 (includes 1 lens and some other minor things). Would i better of getting a D7000 or waiting for a D5300 to go on sale and picking that up?
 
Soldato
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I'll keep an eye out and see if i can get it at the right price. Thanks
I have one, brilliant camera. Have you thought about lenses? I suspect if you buy used it might come with a kit lens, but if you ever find yourself buying just a body, consider the 35mm f1.8 DX prime lens for your first purchase (it's a 50mm equivalent if you're talking 35mm), cracking lens and super sharp for less than 150 quid new.
 
Caporegime
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Also, don’t forget the 7 series have the LCD on top for viewing settings quickly. I used to think this wasn’t that important, but I find it invaluable now on my 7200 and will never buy another DSLR without one.

One thing to note is that if you wanted to have a go at Sports or fast action photography, then the 7200 is a far better option as it has a much larger continuous shooting RAW buffer. The 7100 takes around 3 images before the buffer fills. It then goes to 1 image a second. The 7200 will rattle off around 18 14-bit RAW images in a row, more if you choose the 1.3x crop option. Much better for action photography.
 
Caporegime
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Also, don’t forget the 7 series have the LCD on top for viewing settings quickly. I used to think this wasn’t that important, but I find it invaluable now on my 7200 and will never buy another DSLR without one.

One thing to note is that if you wanted to have a go at Sports or fast action photography, then the 7200 is a far better option as it has a much larger continuous shooting RAW buffer. The 7100 takes around 3 images before the buffer fills. It then goes to 1 image a second. The 7200 will rattle off around 18 14-bit RAW images in a row, more if you choose the 1.3x crop option. Much better for action photography.

It's not quite that bad. :p The buffer of the D7000 holds 12 raw images and the D7100 8, D7200 is 26.

Is MBP a good place to pick up a camera (£404 -449)? Are there any alternative places?

Ebay.
 
Caporegime
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Soldato
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Ok, so when I’m shooting in continuous, why do I only get 18 images before buffer fills?

Oh, and check this for 14 bit lossless shooting https://cdn-4.nikon-cdn.com/e/Q5NM9...A8w==/PDF/D7200-D7100_Comparison_Sheet_en.pdf
While more would be nice, its a bit out of my price range. Also you can kind of "compensate" by getting a UHS class 3 card.

Talking about SDcards. I'm assuming that a micro sdcard with an adaptor should work just as well as a full sized sd card?
Just checking because i can't shake the bad feeling that there might be something i've overlooked.
 
Caporegime
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Not at lossless 14 bit shooting. Trust me, I’ve got a D7200. It’s around 18 raw images.


Don't shoot 14bit for action, and lossless also pointless.

14bit lossless only makes sense when you take the time to use a tripod,remote shutter,expose to right,etc. TTo maximize image quality when you do significant amounts of post processing in photoshop.

For anything hand held quickly processed in lightroom makes no difference
 
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