Image & Focus stacking

[Manfred M]

You were one of the experts I was referencing with my tongue-in-cheek response.

That said, ~2 years ago I was looking for a new hobby, had $300 in my pocket & was drinking whiskey with a friend who is an excellent photographer. She convinced me to give it try (it didn't take her much) and she found a used D80 with the Nikor 18.0-135.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 lens for $250. She said it was the camera she learned on and she always loved it.

So that's what I've been learning on. I wanted to invest enough in it to learn and create good images. In general I'm not really a gear hound, I very rarely go out and by the latest & greatest for any hobby or gear in my home, however I keep thinking it may be time to upgrade my camera body. I've also been thinking about a wide angle lens, too.

So, My eyeballs have wandered to the Nikon D7200, and there's a used (nearly mint condition) for ~$580 on eBay.

There is nothing wrong with old or used gear. My current camera is 7 years old (D810) and the only reason I have it is that Nikon lost my D800 when it was sent in to be serviced and replaced it with a newer model, otherwise I would be using a 9 year old camera body. I am definitely not someone who has the newest, greatest gear. In my view, pretty well any camera made over the past 9 or 10 years will produce some great images.

As the old saying goes, "the best camera is the one you have with you".

[xpatUSA]

... she found a used D80 with the Nikor 18.0-135.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 lens for $250. So that's what I've been learning on. I wanted to invest enough in it to learn and create good images. In general I'm not really a gear hound, I very rarely go out and by the latest & greatest for any hobby or gear in my home, however I keep thinking it may be time to upgrade my camera body. I've also been thinking about a wide angle lens, too.

So, My eyeballs have wandered to the Nikon D7200, and there's a used (nearly mint condition) for ~$580 on eBay.

Personally, I would only "upgrade" if my photography is seriously limited by my current camera after having learned everything related to both it's use and to post-processing it's output. Is your D80 really holding you back from some higher level, or some different genre e.g. infra-red, may I ask?

As to the lens, yours is a pretty good lens:

https://www.imaging-resource.com/len...nikkor/review/

Again, I would ask if 18mm (28mm full-frame equivalent) is really holding you back from some perceived goal?

Also, 9mm is within your grasp for free by obtaining one of the many "stitching" apps available on the 'net plus the opportunity to learn about perspective distortion and other esoteric stuff ...

[Chataignier]

I've only upgraded three times in 30+ yrs. Changed my Canon T90 (which I'd had since the late 1980s) to a Canon 400D in 2005 (I think), then upgraded to Canon 70D in 2013, then changed to Fuji X-T3 (to reduce weight) in 2019.
My advice is to change only when REALLY essential.
What is it that you want to do that cant be done with your current gear ? Write it down.
Then decide how often you plan to do it.
Then consider spending the same sum on visits to interesting locations....

[YossarianXXI]

Personally, I would only "upgrade" if my photography is seriously limited by my current camera after having learned everything related to both it's use and to post-processing it's output. Is your D80 really holding you back from some higher level, or some different genre e.g. infra-red, may I ask?

So, if i were to get a new camera, there's a number of things I'd like that I think would make me a better photographer

• The aforementioned self-clean mode - I'm spending a lot of time mitigating sensor dust.

• Digital Viewfinder - I've come to really enjoy taking photos from very low to the ground. With some landscapes i think it gives a sense of expansiveness. I also find myself trying from weird angles at times. IT would be extremely helpful to occasionally have the option to view my scene and pick my auto focus from there from time-to-time

• Low light performance - I know i have a lot to learn about low light photography, apart from sensor performance. Most of my learning has been landscapes which often gives a lot of light. But I also shoot at dusk, and I will shoot indoors, too. We have a foreign trip, or two, tentatively planned for next year and i hope to be able to shoot some things indoors at high quality. I'd also like to learn astrophotography at some point

• Wireless/Bluetooth capability - Not the highest priority. But there are photos I was to really post process & put time into. And there's some i wouldn't mind sending to my phone wirelessly, hitting "auto" in Lightroom and quickly uploading to Instagram for fun.

Is this enough to justify a new camera? But I'm very much considering it. I think ti would improve and help me take the pictures i'd like to take.

As to the lens, yours is a pretty good lens:

https://www.imaging-resource.com/len...nikkor/review/

Again, I would ask if 18mm (28mm full-frame equivalent) is really holding you back from some perceived goal?

Also, 9mm is within your grasp for free by obtaining one of the many "stitching" apps available on the 'net plus the opportunity to learn about perspective distortion and other esoteric stuff ...

I wouldn't be getting a replacement lens. I like my lens a lot. It would still be my workhorse, and what I use most of the time.

What i'd like is to put a wide angle lens in my bag. If we go to Europe having a wide angle where i could capture more with limited space of narrow streets would be nice. It'd also be handy for indoor shots. I'd also like to for landscapes. I do a lot of hiking photography and there's quite a few places in Colorado that have pretty spectacular vistas & scenes at the top of the mountain. I think a wide-angle lens would help me get more out of those views.

P.S - That's a real sharp coat of arms you got there Ted

[xpatUSA]

P.S - That's a real sharp coat of arms you got there Ted

thank you for noticing it, Colin. I designed it so long ago that I've actually forgotten it's heraldic description, sad to say.

The English rose - where I was born

The USA shield - where I now reside

The upside-down chevron - my first rank in the RAF (junior technician) - colored gold for money

Blue for boys

Dragon for my Chinese birth year. Backasswards because I'm left-handed

ho hum ...

[rpcrowe]

As far as shooting multiple images with different exposures, Sony mirrorless cameras allow you to shoot up to five shots at different exposures with one press of the shutter button. I have always merged my multi exposures into HDR using Photoshop.

The Canon 6D Mark-2 allows touch focus and shoot using live view. I like to use a stylus for the touching because the small point of the stylus is more accurate in area selection than my finger tip. This is an excellent way to shoot your images for focus stacking. Some later Sony mirrorless cameras have this capability also. However many Sony cameras will only touch focus and you need to shoot independently.

Here are a two examples of focus stacking using touch and shoot on the Canon 6D2 and merging the images in Photoshop.

[wide2tele]

I've only upgraded three times in 30+ yrs. Changed my Canon T90 (which I'd had since the late 1980s) to a Canon 400D in 2005 (I think), then upgraded to Canon 70D in 2013, then changed to Fuji X-T3 (to reduce weight) in 2019.
My advice is to change only when REALLY essential.
What is it that you want to do that cant be done with your current gear ? Write it down.
Then decide how often you plan to do it.
Then consider spending the same sum on visits to interesting locations....

I like the way you see/do things and totally agree with you.

[Manfred M]

The aforementioned self-clean mode - I'm spending a lot of time mitigating sensor dust.

Just about any camera that is newer than the D80 will have that feature.

Digital Viewfinder - I've come to really enjoy taking photos from very low to the ground. With some landscapes i think it gives a sense of expansiveness. I also find myself trying from weird angles at times. IT would be extremely helpful to occasionally have the option to view my scene and pick my auto focus from there from time-to-time.

Carefully said, you are looking for a tilt feature on your rear screen, rather than a digital viewfinder. Again something often found on some of the newer camera models. My wife's D7500 does have this feature, but I don't think the D7200 does.

Low light performance - I know i have a lot to learn about low light photography, apart from sensor performance. Most of my learning has been landscapes which often gives a lot of light. But I also shoot at dusk, and I will shoot indoors, too. We have a foreign trip, or two, tentatively planned for next year and i hope to be able to shoot some things indoors at high quality. I'd also like to learn astrophotography at some point

This is very definitely related to the sensor and the newer the sensor, the better the low light performance. This not only impacts the digital noise you see in the images, but also colour bit depth (i.e. better colour performance) and better dynamic range (the amount of highlight and shadow detail your camera can handle). The D80 and earlier models were notoriously bad at this.

Wireless/Bluetooth capability - Not the highest priority. But there are photos I was to really post process & put time into. And there's some i wouldn't mind sending to my phone wirelessly, hitting "auto" in Lightroom and quickly uploading to Instagram for fun.

Is this enough to justify a new camera? But I'm very much considering it. I think ti would improve and help me take the pictures i'd like to take.

Carefully said, this is a bit of a mixed blessing. Again a feature my wife's camera has and it tends to work reasonably well for moving smaller JPEG files, but large raw files still move better with a hard-wired card reader.

What i'd like is to put a wide angle lens in my bag. If we go to Europe having a wide angle where i could capture more with limited space of narrow streets would be nice. It'd also be handy for indoor shots. I'd also like to for landscapes. I do a lot of hiking photography and there's quite a few places in Colorado that have pretty spectacular vistas & scenes at the top of the mountain. I think a wide-angle lens would help me get more out of those views.

I totally agree here; an ultra-wide angle (nominally anything below 16mm is UWA, but I would go down to 10 or 11mm) is going to be good. UWA lenses are among the most challenging to work with because even a fraction of an inch in movement while framing can be the difference between a mediocre image and a great image. If one is not careful, one can end up with too much foreground and too much sky. That being said, a UWA lens can let you step in front of a crowd and get a clear interior view of an old building.

Something else to be careful about is your choice of camera body. I don't know either of your lenses, but suspect that the 80 - 200mm might be a "D" lens, which requires the camera body to have an internal focus motor ("G" lenses and beyond have put the motor inside the lens). The 3000 and 5000 series Nikon bodies do not support D lenses, but the 7000 series does.