Upgrade Advice

[DianeD]

Hello to all

After many years I find myself in the wonderful position where I can upgrade my camera body and acquire a new lens. I currently have a Nikon d3100 which I love, so my new body will be Nikon. I have decided it is time for full frame and of course have been looking into the new d850 but this choice would result in looking at probably Tamron lenses rather than Nikon. I discussed this with a salesman who was very helpful, and said while yes the d850 has it all, I might be better served to go with the d750 body and get better glass nikkor 24-70 f2.8 ed vr. I have done a fair bit of research but I wanted to find out if anyone has hands on experience with this combination or experience with d750 and lens separately and hear some thoughts.

Thanks for any input.
Diane

[Shadowman]

Hello to all

After many years I find myself in the wonderful position where I can upgrade my camera body and acquire a new lens. I currently have a Nikon d3100 which I love, so my new body will be Nikon. I have decided it is time for full frame and of course have been looking into the new d850 but this choice would result in looking at probably Tamron lenses rather than Nikon. I discussed this with a salesman who was very helpful, and said while yes the d850 has it all, I might be better served to go with the d750 body and get better glass nikkor 24-70 f2.8 ed vr. I have done a fair bit of research but I wanted to find out if anyone has hands on experience with this combination or experience with d750 and lens separately and hear some thoughts.

Thanks for any input.
Diane

Hi Diane,

I have the D750 and 24-70 nikkor, best I can say is the D750 is a very good camera but coupled with the 24-70 you'll appreciate a good monopod/tripod as the lens is very heavy. The image quality is great but this is not a camera/lens combo you want to handhold for a long time. If I were you and you decide to go with either FX camera also consider picking up the 50mm AF 1.8D, it is an inexpensive lens and will cover most of your close-up needs. Keep in mind that the AF lens won't autofocus on most DX cameras so don't select that lens for your current D3100. Regarding your upgrade process, any reason DX doesn't do it for you?

[DianeD]

Hi John - thanks for the feedback. I did notice the weight of the combination as I did hold it in the store for quite a while and you are right a 50 mm is something that is on my mind I have a DX version for the d3100. I do plan on keeping my current equipment which is one reason for going with FX. Diane

[Manfred M]

Diane - I tend to agree with the salesman. I would put lens quality ahead of the camera body (although I would not hesitate to upgrade to the D850, but my D810 is only a few months old). Lenses will outlast your camera, so they are a wiser investment than the body in some ways. I suspect that your 50mm is FX not DX, as I don't think Nikon makes a 50mm DX lens. I use the f/2.8 24-70mm Nikkor a lot; probably 60% of my images are made with that lens. My next most used lens is the f/2.8 70-200mm lens that I use for most of my people shots.

As for using the D3100 after you get used to the full frame body, I suspect that is going to happen very rarely. I thought the same thing when I bought the D800, but frankly I almost never touched the D90. The image quality was so much better from the newer camera.

[Polar01]

Diane to start off, what lens do you already own, forget the DX but do you have any FX lens. Myself for years used a D90 than a D7000 however I did use some FF lens on those bodies, 70-300mm 4.5-6.3G ED VR which is a steal for the price.
As to camera bodies if going with FF, what about a used D810 still probably Nikon's best all around offering, it is a work horse and we do not yet know how well the D850 will do as Nikon has in the past had quality problems.
Another thing to know is what is it that you enjoy taking pictures of people, landscapes, birds, sports that has a lot of bearing on the tool (camera) that you will use.

Cheers: Allan

[Erik T]

Hi Diana,
I do not know what your subjects are for photographing, but why not choosing the D610 ?
This one is way cheaper, and still a big leap when upgrading from your D3100.
It means there is even more room to buy good glass!
Erik

[billtils]

Hi Diane,

I have the D750 and 24-70 nikkor, best I can say is the D750 is a very good camera but coupled with the 24-70 you'll appreciate a good monopod/tripod as the lens is very heavy. The image quality is great but this is not a camera/lens combo you want to handhold for a long time. If I were you and you decide to go with either FX camera also consider picking up the 50mm AF 1.8D, it is an inexpensive lens and will cover most of your close-up needs. Keep in mind that the AF lens won't autofocus on most DX cameras so don't select that lens for your current D3100. Regarding your upgrade process, any reason DX doesn't do it for you?

Diane

I've been down that track and would absolutely say D750 body. I'd agree with the 50mm AF 1.8D to as it's a cracking lens for the money.

I'm not so sure about the 24-70 zoom, I have the 24-85, like it, and don't find it at all heavy (it is nicely balanced with the D750 body). I use it as my 'walk about' but have other lenses that I prefer for special subjects (including the aforementioned 50mm).

[DianeD]

Wow thanks Erik, Allan and Manfred - I currently have my d3100, Nikkor 12-105 mm kit lens, Tamron 70-200mm 2.8, 50mm 1.8G, 35mm 1.8 G, 40mm DX micro 2.8 (this was an impulse buy haven't really used it). I shoot mostly sports, taekwondo my son is a high performance athlete, I usually can get access to competition area so have found the crop frame somewhat limiting. I have recently for work found myself photographing allegedly haunted locations and doing ghost walks, so architecture and lowlight conditions, I use the pictures in a talk that I give. I love hiking and my camera is always with me, lastly retirement is looming and I want to renew my interest in photographing wildlife. Erik I was considering 610 but 750 has a few more features I wanted. Diane

[Manfred M]

The D810 and D850 are not really action cameras. They are primarily aimed at the portraiture and landscape community. The downside of the high resolution that these cameras deliver is that that they have decent, but not great low light performance. These cameras are used by a lot of wedding photographers. Higher resolution means smaller pixels which means lower light gathering performance. I don't know either the D610 or the D750, so cannot comment on either. I believe both are 24MP cameras which suggests better low light performance.

If seems to me you already own two full-frame lenses. The 70-200mm Tamron and 50mm G Nikkor. The others are DX lenses.

[Polar01]

Now that you have stated what you like to shoot, I am going to throw a spanner in the mix, as you shoot sports why not stay with the Crop sensor and go with the D500, shoots 10fps as compared to 6.5fps with the D750 in sports that is important. Do not forget that the D750 is getting a little long in the tooth, the D500 newer sensor, auto focus system, newer processor, all for almost the same price. Maybe match it up to the Nikkor 28-300mm VR which would give you the field of view as if you were using 36-450 on a FF camera.
Just thinking, remember with sports well as least me I want the shot to look like I am in there myself.

Cheers: Allan

[DianeD]

Thanks Manfred, that is exactly what my salesman was saying after discussing what I have been shooting. I did see some pictures he had taken of Gord Downie in concert and I was really impressed. The size and weight of the 810, and 850 was another reason for ruling them out. I did have one more question what are general feelings about extended warranties? I am dealing with Henrys, I don't want to jinx myself but it is really expensive and I have never had any issues with my d3100 or my Tamron.

[Manfred M]

I am dealing with Henrys, I don't want to jinx myself but it is really expensive and I have never had any issues with my d3100 or my Tamron.

Extended warranties are almost pure profit for the retailer. In general camera (and lens) faults will turn up almost immediately while the manufacturer's warranty still covers the item. If you have some parts that wear out, for instance the focus and zoom rings or body coverings on the camera, these may be covered, but in general these parts are very inexpensive to replace. Drop the camera and lens and the warranty (extended or otherwise) will not cover the damage.

Stay away from them, they (in most cases) are a complete waste of money.

[Polar01]

Diane about warranties Nikons' for the most part I have found almost useless (proud owner of a D600) now a almost worthless body. Some others I know purchased a Henry's they took it back and exchanged it with a D6100 as the camera was purchased for them. I purchased a 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR and took their warranty which was $200.00 good for 8 years, if something happens to the lens they will take back and fix or replace. Looking at if I get another body it will be from them.

Cheers: Allan

[AlwaysOnAuto]

When I read your initial post I thought, wow, that's good advice the salesman gave.
I'd go D750 myself (I have a D7000), but right now I'm satisfied with my Sony A7ii using all my old Nikkor lenses and others.
Good luck in your decision making, it can be daunting to say the least.

[DanK]

Extended warranties are almost pure profit for the retailer.

Necessarily. They take the expected value of the warranty and add profit. A simple way to get an extended warranty at zero cost is to buy the camera with a credit card that offers an additional year of warranty for free. I am in the process of filing a claim for my Lumix LX-100, which stopped working after about 8 months after the manufacturer's warranty expired.

To add to Manfred's comments about pixel size: you didn't say how you are displaying your photos. If you are displaying online and not cropping severely, a high pixel count is of little value; the image has to be downsized to display anyway. If you are printing really large or printing after cropping severely, that's another matter. My best camera is a Canon 5D Mark III, which is about 22 megapixels, and printing as I do--generally not larger than 13 x 19 (A4+?), I don't see a need for more. Add that to your interest in sports, and I would personally not pay for a high-density sensor.

Re lens quality: while I agree that lens quality usually matters more than the body, I don't agree that OEM lenses are always better than second brands. It's often the case, but not always. I don't know the Nikon lens line-up, but this is the case with Canon. Both Tamron and Sigma are upping their games these days. It's worth looking at reviews of individual lenses, particularly the newest offerings.

[rpcrowe]

I am really not familiar with the various Nikon cameras and lenses but, I can make one generalized statement...

Despite many comments to the negative, the crop sensor is really quite adequate for most portrait work unless you are considering making very-very large prints as a matter of course. I say this but, still use a full frame camera (5D2 in my case) for portrait work. You can also do a quite decent job at landscape with a crop camera given the above caveat.

I would, however, use a full frame camera whenever possible for wedding use but, wouldn't shy away from an occasional wedding if all I had was a couple of decent quality crop bodies and appropriate lenses.

But, I digress...

For sports photography I would look at frame rate and especially auto focus capabilities as primary parameters and also stick in low-light performance as an additional factor. The capability of the camera/lens to achieve quick and accurate autofocus under all sorts of conditions as well as the capability to shoot wide open and achieve decent IQ would also be factors in choosing one camera/lens over others.

The auto focus capabilities of the Canon 7D2 as well as the more recent 1D series of cameras are mind boggling. it is not just the ability to focus quickly but, how the camera focuses in different fast moving situations. The 7D2 has a level of customization of auto focus which has never been available on a crop sensor camera. I understand that the Nikon D500 is right in there or perhaps somewhat superior to the Canon cameras.

Frame rate and auto focus capabilities are self explanatory and low light performance will save your bacon if you are attempting to shoot sports indoors or at night games.

I use a 70-200mm f/4L IS and a 100-400mm f/4.5L IS II as my long lenses. If I were to be shooting sports at a significant portion of my work, I would probably switch to a 70-200mm f/2.8L (series lens) as the shorter of my two telephoto lenses. This would be for the additional light gathering power, minutely faster AF in low-light and the slightly better ability to isolate a player with selective focus.

My selection of a longer lens would be determined by whether I made money on my shooting, An f/2.8 lens longer than 200mm is pretty costly. Since I never got paid for sports work I did not pay for or carry an expensive large and heavy f/2.8 longer telephoto. I had pretty good success using the 300mm f/4L IS lens on a 7D2 crop camera for sports and shooting wide open...

[Arjung]

If you find the FF body on the heavy side, I would highly recommend the D500. This has excellent low light capabilities and would be ideal for sports photography.

I have the D800 and enjoy my wildlife photography. I was considering adding/changing to the D500 for its low light capabilities and its excellent frame rate. Unfortunately I dropped my camera and repairs cost. Also I did not want to switch from a FF to a cropped sensor.

I have the 28-300 3.5-5.6G ED VR. It may not be the sharpest lens around or be super fast, but its range far outweighs these negatives. This is my all purpose lens. For my wildlife, I have the 80-400G ED VR 4.5-5.6 which I use for my wildlife photography and a 35mm 1.8 for portraits.

[pnodrog]

..........

I have the 28-300 3.5-5.6G ED VR. It may not be the sharpest lens around or be super fast, but its range far outweighs these negatives. This is my all purpose lens........

Some photographers frown at me when I tell them I have the Nikon 28-300 3.5-5.6G ED VR lens on my camera (D800) most of the time, especially when I travel. It has a little distortion both optical and chromatic that I get automatically removed in editing. No trouble producing good prints up to A2 size. Not having to change lenses allows me to concentrate on getting the shot and on occasions enables me to grab a shot I would have missed with a more limited zoom range. Horror of horrors it is capable of producing a good wedding album.

[rpcrowe]

I can certainly see the advantage of a lens with a long focal range such as a 28-300mm. Additionally f/3.5 is a decently fast aperture considering the high ISO capabilities of today's DSLR cameras. The weight of that lens is not so great if you consider the weight of two lenses to cover the same focal range and perhaps a second body to eliminate lens changing in the field. The 28mm short side is (IMO) perfectly adequate for general purpose shooting with a full frame sensor but, could be a TAD restrictive when using a crop sensor camera. I experienced that with my first DSLR lens; the 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS on crop cameras.

After all, it is the image you achieve not the gear with which the image is shot that is all important. I think that some photographers worry too much about what other photographers will think of their gear. I am guilty of that in fishing tackle. I love to whip out a beautifully done custom rod and a really nice reel however, it is the fish in the bag that really counts, not what the fish was caught with.

A donor is sending me a Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 lens for me to test out and sell on eBay with the profits going to our dog rescue. This is a great chance for me to test out a wide focal range zoom lens for a crop camera. I wouldn't mind having a single lens to carry on trips in which photography is secondary. If I like the lens, I will donate the average eBay price of that lens to our rescue and keep the lens. If I don't like the lens, I will sell it on eBay.