New camera opinions please and thankyou

Skalaberg · 15 Jan 2013 at 14:44

Thinking of upgrading my point and click for a better camera and I think I've narrowed it down to 2.

1. Nikon D3200
2. Canon D650

Both cameras look good but on paper the nikon seems to be better, 24mp vs 18 etc, however picture test results seem to favour the Canon in terms of sharpness.

I would probably invest in a lens that would cover most situations (18 - 100ish or thereabouts?) so cost of additional lenses is a factor.

Does anyone here have any experience with either of these cameras?

Ksanti · 15 Jan 2013 at 16:18

Nikon will beat out Canon's on a crop for sharpness simply because the sensor is marginally bigger. Low end Nikon lenses tend to beat the Canon equivalents but with a slight premium.

Don't pay any attention to megapixel counts - unless you're printing bigger than A3, anything at 12MP or above is effectively superlative.

That said, I'd still go with the Nikon at the low end as I prefer their crop cameras.

My advised setup would be:

Nikon D3200 Body Only - £330
Nikon 18-105 VR - £180
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 - £150
16Gb SD card - £15
Total: £675.

Skalaberg · 15 Jan 2013 at 16:35

That sounds like some good advise Ksanti.. thankyou.

K.C. Leblanc · 15 Jan 2013 at 16:36

What sort of stuff do you currently shoot?

Ksanti · 15 Jan 2013 at 16:38

^^ Going from Point and Shoot to DSLR I've found people tend to have very little of an idea of what they like to shoot, which means a general setup like 18-105+35mm is a good way of experimenting. Funneling down from the get go doesn't tend to work simply because without any experience with 'proper' cameras, it's hard to tell what you you want to create.

Skalaberg · 15 Jan 2013 at 16:52

just about nailed it there Ksanti. Not sure what I do want to shoot yet (the fun might be experimenting) but I do know that I want to improve my current pics which are generally appalling. I hope to be able to try a bit of everything. I'm lucky enough to live in the middle of a conservation area so woodlands/animal will probably be where I start.

Ksanti · 15 Jan 2013 at 17:17

Alright if you find yourself wanting a bit more reach for the wildlife stuff, then I'd add another £350 or so to the budget to get a decent 70-300 lens rather than one of the crummy £100 Tamron/Sigma ones (the £300 or so Tamron 70-300 VC is a fantastic lens for the price, just avoid the cheap and nasty ones).