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Thread: Camera help - Nikon

  1. #1

    Camera help - Nikon

    Hi
    My wife has a Nikon D5000 and has been thinking of up grading to new new camera.
    She has her eye on either a Nikon D500 or a D780 (new model)
    She enjoys landscape photography and I understand the D780 is full landscape.
    This is all alien to me but would be grateful for any advice from the camera specialists here
    Thanks
    Andy

  2. #2
    Master
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    Between the two quoted,

    The first decision will be the lenses that she will want to buy in the future, depending on the type of photography that she is interested in - good lenses, glass, are expensive and should take a bigger part of the overall £ budget than the body

    Then the size of the Nikon Sensor, Full Frame, (FF), which is approximately the size of the old film 35mm negative

    or a cropped sensor, known as DX in Nikon terms - the sensor is smaller than FF

    Specific lenses for the DX sensor are very good but cheaper than lenses that can be used on a FF Body

    The D500 is DX and the D780, which replaced the D750 is FF, (Full Frame)

    FF bodies are more expensive than DX Bodies

    "She enjoys landscape photography and I understand the D780 is full landscape" - the size of the "Landscape" is determined by the "size" of the lens, (angle of view, if you like), plus of course your distance from the subject

    35mm on an FF body is 35mm but on a DX body in angle of view terms it is 35mm x 1.5 = 52mm "ish" - so with the same lens a FF Body would be better for Landscape, i.e. give a wider angle of view

    all the above comments are in "general" terms
    Last edited by BillN; 2nd August 2020 at 14:08.

  3. #3
    Thank you for the detailed reply, that really helps
    Thanks
    Andy

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by awright101 View Post
    Thank you for the detailed reply, that really helps
    Thanks
    Andy
    If your wife takes landscape most of the time, I'd therefore look at the "Landscape" lenses that are available - say 28mm and even smaller, (in mm number), - because close up depth of field, (DoF), is relatively unimportant in Landscapes, auto focus is not really a problem as most shots will be taken at infinity, (i.e. beyond the need for close focus), - I have an old 28mm nikon manual focus lens which I use sometimes for landscape - I generally set it at f8 and of course infinity. Older Nikon MF lenses are really good and relatively inexpensive. They will fit the modern FF Nikon DSLR's with a little fine tuning in the menu.

    But of course your wife will not only take landscapes, so if money is not a problem I would get a FF Body, 750, 780, 810, or D850 plus the Nikon 50mm f1.8G and the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f4G zoom, plus a "portrait" lens ......... maybe your wife already has the 50mm - but it is important to remember that any Nikon lens marked DX, (your wife may have such a lens), although it will "work" on an FF Body, if will not use the full FF sensor and consequently will have a black border around most of the images.
    Last edited by BillN; 2nd August 2020 at 15:15.

  5. #5
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    For landscape photography, I would recommend going full frame. This is because the full frame sensor has greater dynamic range and will pick up the detail that a DX sensor crops out. And with landscape, you will benefit from the wider lens angles that a DX sensor otherwise multiplies.

  6. #6
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    If it’s landscape - go FF as others have said (but if she puts on any DX lenses on the FF body effectively the camera runs in DX mode which only used the DX part of the sensor - else severe distortion around the edges - best move to using FF lenses - the 50 1.8mm is awesum value for money and gives the same FOV as the human eye, some cost far more than the cost of a new camera - depends how big your pockets are. Buy a few primes for optimal image quality.

  7. #7
    Thank you so much for your responses... really helpful. She has decided to go with your recommendations and is ordering the full frame D780 and has just hit pay!! She has the 50mm lens funnily enough but isn’t DX so will be fully compatible with the FF body. All comments were very much appreciated.

  8. #8
    It's probably too late now to advise since your wife has already bought the camera and I only saw the post just now but personally I think the D780 is overkill if your wife will mainly use it for landscapes. When I was shooting Nikon a few years ago I had a D600 and its sensor was great - same as in the D750. I would have recommended a used D750 from a reputable dealer such as MPB or Wex or Park Cameras. You don't really need all the bells and whistles of a new model to take great images, especially for landscapes. The D500 is more geared towards sports and wildlife, having a great autofocus system (something you wouldn't need with landscapes).

    Probably the most important thing now is to think about lenses (not just wide angle but telephoto are good for landscapes) and a good tripod!

    Quote Originally Posted by awright101 View Post
    Thank you so much for your responses... really helpful. She has decided to go with your recommendations and is ordering the full frame D780 and has just hit pay!! She has the 50mm lens funnily enough but isn’t DX so will be fully compatible with the FF body. All comments were very much appreciated.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shane View Post
    It's probably too late now to advise since your wife has already bought the camera and I only saw the post just now but personally I think the D780 is overkill if your wife will mainly use it for landscapes. When I was shooting Nikon a few years ago I had a D600 and its sensor was great - same as in the D750. I would have recommended a used D750 from a reputable dealer such as MPB or Wex or Park Cameras. You don't really need all the bells and whistles of a new model to take great images, especially for landscapes. The D500 is more geared towards sports and wildlife, having a great autofocus system (something you wouldn't need with landscapes).

    Probably the most important thing now is to think about lenses (not just wide angle but telephoto are good for landscapes) and a good tripod!
    Nothing beats buying a camera that you know can exceed your capabilities. It motivates you try harder on composition and those tricky lighting shots . Definitely look at a good tripod , that will ensure pin sharp images and enable her to capture some great sunsets/ sunrises. Get the car fuelled up, you are going to travelling a lot to try out the beast.

  10. #10
    Grand Master learningtofly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by higham5 View Post
    Nothing beats buying a camera that you know can exceed your capabilities. It motivates you try harder on composition and those tricky lighting shots . Definitely look at a good tripod , that will ensure pin sharp images and enable her to capture some great sunsets/ sunrises. Get the car fuelled up, you are going to travelling a lot to try out the beast.
    I don’t mean to contradict you but I don’t think having the latest bells and whistles pushes you to take better photos. Perhaps a good analogy is motorbikes, where you can jump on one with all the rider aids after you pass your test and... well, you know the rest. It’ll make you think you’re a better rider than you actually are, and the actual learning process will probably be a slower one.

    Anyway, we digress and I’d have actually said “buy a Sony”

  11. #11
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    Any half decent camera can take decent landscapes. I have a full frame Sony but many of my best photos were taken olympus M43rds. Firstly a EPL2 and them Em10mk1.
    Unless you are printing A3 or bigger you won’t seen much difference between M43, APSC and full frame. If you are really serious about landscapes maybe larger format is preferable especially if you are printing large pictures. For web publishing and viewing on flickr etc then most people won’t see any difference.
    A bigger difference will be made from the skill of the photographer and possibly the skill of post processing.

  12. #12
    Too late, I was going to say a used D800 / D810 for landscape photography. And a tripod if you dont have one already, a must for landscapes

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