Nikon D5X00

doodah · 13 May 2014 at 10:33

Me and girlfriend have decided we can't go on our first proper holiday without a camera and we can't get a camera without going on a holiday, win win

.

I have been meaning to buy an SLR for a while now but this time I have a little more financial flexibility. The budget is up to £500 but I think I can probably get away with £400-450 after a quick Google.

After playing with a friend's D5200, I immediately fell in love with. Easy to use straight away and it looked like it had plenty of bells and whistles to grasp once I start learning to use manual. Essentially that's what we are after; a camera takes decent pictures in auto but allows good scope for the more advanced. We are both beginners, though I have used enough SLRs to know my way round and my girlfriend has quite a keen eye for decent photos. For now I would imagine the kit 18-55mm will do.

Until yesterday I had my eye on the D5200 but have just seen the D5300 can be had for ~£450 (body and lens). Quite often the D5200 isn't *that* much cheaper. I really doubt I would use GPS but what can you do with WiFi on a camera? Has anyone used both cameras?

Where is the best place to buy cameras? I remember reading something on here a while back about an online store that offers good prices through importing?

So is the D5X00 a worthy choice? Or is there a competitor worth consideration? Thanks

EDIT

I have found a D5300 for £465 with a kit lens or a D5200 with the following:

1) Nikon D5200 Digital SLR Camera Body
2) Nikon 18-55mm VR (Vibration Reduction) Lens
3) Wide Angle Lens
4) 2X Telephoto Lens
5) 3 Piece Filter Kit
6)Flower Lens Hood
7) 32GB Memory Card
8) High Speed Memory Card Reader
9) Slave Flash
10)Carrying Case

For £400 :eek:

. Surely not!!!?

doodah · 13 May 2014 at 11:55

Are we allowed to discuss camera retailers?

doodah · 13 May 2014 at 11:58

Thanks for the link DP. Assume SanDisk Class 10 is a decent memory card suggestion?

EDIT

Perhaps the prices in my OP were a little naive. The site I used for those are way off the prices camerapricebuster.co.uk are showing.

EDIT 2

Searched the forum and have seen others mention camera retailers. SLRHut was the store I got the OP prices from but it seems to get mixed reviews. digitalrev appears to get a better rep, any one confirm? The D5300 can be had for £509 and a SanDisk Extreme 64GB SDXC for £40.

EDIT 3

HDEW do the D500 with a kit lens for £550 but it comes with a 3 year warranty and by the looks of it everything is dealt with in the UK.

doodah · 13 May 2014 at 14:57

Useful to know - thanks. My bank provides gadget insurance with a relatively low excess:

Protection for up to £750 in total against theft, breakdown, accidental and malicious damage.

Would this not suffice?

doodah · 13 May 2014 at 15:39

Gadgets up to a combined original retail value of £750 including VAT. Each gadget must have a minimum original retail value of £50 including VAT, and must be no more than two years old (from original purchase date of the device when new) at the point of registration and no more than five years old at any point during the period of cover. The gadget(s) must be owned by you or be your responsibility.

Replacing or repairing your gadget in the event of:

− theft
− damage
− breakdown (including faults)

If your gadget is damaged or breaks down we will either:

(1) repair the gadget (where possible) or
(2) replace it with a gadget of the same make and model. If we cannot do this you will be given a choice of models with an equivalent specification.

They do mention "this policy is provided in addition to any manufacturer’s warranty" but only for mobile phones. This aspect is not mentioned in the gadget section. I'll do a little more digging otherwise get it through a UK retailer.

doodah · 16 May 2014 at 09:46

Emailed the insurers, they said I should contact customer services. Helpful.

The pragmatist in me wants to get the D5200 but the tech geek wants the D5300 (1080p video, lighter, WiFi which I think I would use for remote shots)

The D5300 doesn't have a low pass filter (not going to pretend I know what this means but I do know it's something to do with ailising). Is the image quality noticeably sharper without it?

doodah · 21 May 2014 at 14:59

Just seen a D5200 for £379 (after £50 cash back) with the 18-55mm lens, two year guarantee, an additional battery and wireless remote. This was on a high street store :eek:

, think I'm going to have to bite the bullet.

doodah · 21 May 2014 at 20:49

Bough it

Worst shopping experience though; it took 5 different people and 45 minutes to purchase it. I even had time to pop over to the laptops and decide what I should have for dinner and help an old woman with her mobile phone. It came in handy with some leaving drinks at work but I don't know how to use most of its functions, very excited to learn

.

doodah · 23 May 2014 at 16:31

Your price with the cash back included? Not sure if I am allowed to say but a big high street chain (computers), it was marked as 'clearance'. For £70 more you got the VR2 kit lens but didn't I needed it or could be bothered spending another £70.

doodah · 24 May 2014 at 13:10

That might be because there was a version with the VR II kit lens tthat came in at just under £500. Can't comment on the big standard kit lens yet, I hope it's not awful.

doodah · 27 May 2014 at 12:44

I've had a play and I am inclined to agree about the kit lens. Some shots can look great but I get the impression many could come out a lot better, it's hard to tell as I am a complete novice so some must be down to that.

After some research - the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G Lens seems to be a great first (non kit) lens for typical day to day use. Any comments?