Nikon D5100 or D5200 or D3300?

photography4ks

Hi Guys,

I'm new to this forum and need some advice. Photography is my latest hobby and I was using Nikon D3100 from the last couple of months. Now I have sold it and looking for mid-range DSLR camera, not expensive but can afford a bit expensive if its worth buying. I've a resto business and I'm also interested in some food photography for my business. So I need a good DSLR camera & lens advice. After reading some reviews, I almost decided to buy D5100 as its cheap and very competitive to all latest entry level DSRL's in terms of overall ratings (ratings I compare from snapsort.com). But with the launch of D3300, I'm again confused. If I have money to waste on an expensive mid-level DSLR, I would like to spend on D5200 but its expensive, the drawback in D5100 is its firmware, I really like latest firmware of D5200, D5300 and even D3300 and my other reason of interest was a swivel screen of D5k series.

As of today, I'm getting D5100 in 25k (new), D3300 in 30k (new) and D5200 in 32-35k (second hand) with kit lens, bag etc. Kindly advice me which camera should I buy and the lens as well. Thanks!

manhattanboy

Hi Guys,

I'm new to this forum and need some advice. Photography is my latest hobby and I was using Nikon D3100 from the last couple of months. Now I have sold it and looking for mid-range DSLR camera, not expensive but can afford a bit expensive if its worth buying. I've a resto business and I'm also interested in some food photography for my business. So I need a good DSLR camera & lens advice. After reading some reviews, I almost decided to buy D5100 as its cheap and very competitive to all latest entry level DSRL's in terms of overall ratings (ratings I compare from snapsort.com). But with the launch of D3300, I'm again confused. If I have money to waste on an expensive mid-level DSLR, I would like to spend on D5200 but its expensive, the drawback in D5100 is its firmware, I really like latest firmware of D5200, D5300 and even D3300 and my other reason of interest was a swivel screen of D5k series.

As of today, I'm getting D5100 in 25k (new), D3300 in 30k (new) and D5200 in 32-35k (second hand) with kit lens, bag etc. Kindly advice me which camera should I buy and the lens as well. Thanks!

Go to a camera shop with your own SD card and try out the options if you can. That way you can tell both about how they handle and look at the final results at home before buying. Also try out some lenses and a flash if you can and see how they affect the look of an object.

There is only one body I believe that has the flip out screen, and the wifi shooting is really nice to have.
Ultimately food shots will be indoors so you will neither either a flash or a wide aperture lens to get the most out of your pics, and thus IMHO your concentration should be on the lens or flash as most of the DX bodies should be sufficient for these shots.

sevencrossing

Hi Guys,

and I'm also interested in some food photography for my business.

Two important things with food
The lens
Consider the Nikon 85mm f/3.5 DX VR Micro-NIKKOR ED
The lighting
Something like a Table Top Studio Light Box and two SB-700 Speedlights
Flash will eliminate any chance of camera shake and allow you to stop down for a reasonable dof, without the need to crank up the ISO too much
The soft box will avoid any nasty shadows. (Food of often best shot with some back lighting )
Any of the cameras you have mentioned should be OK

spraynpray

What @sevencrossing said except with a crop sensor camera you need to go for the 40mm or 60mm micro for the right working distance as otherwise you will have to be too far back from the subject. Don't be tempted to use the pop-up flash.

For images that promote your business I would use a tripod.

adamz

for food photography the swivel screen will be a huge benefit so I'll opt for the D5XXX series cameras.

DaveyJ

Long before we actually owned a restaurant we had done commercial food shoots. I used the 60 micro Nikor a lot after I found how well it compared to Hasselblad and larger format. Owning a D3200 and three lens purchased just for that rig, I would say the D3300 is an amazing camera and the 18-55VR new lens is even better than the former 18-55VR that I have used a lot. Actually I would say a tripod and lens hoods are pretty important and run the ISO somewheres around 400. I would also look at the images as closely as possible because when you are making a batch of dishes just to photograph (fine they do get eaten too) a retake later gets more expensive. Just what benefit a swivel screen is here I am not sure. Having done this work with 8x10 and focus cloth where the image is so large and you can put a magnifying glass on elements of the pic you want in sharp focus the utility of a swivel screen (which we have not only tried but we own some VERY expensive remote screens) is severely overrated. Because I did this professionally for some time I always paid CLOSE attention to how other photo pros did the same kind of work. I can not think of ONE swivel screen I saw being used in that application. I have seen enough posts though of adamz to think the suggestion to go see them in a camera store is an excellent way to scope this out. Lastly.......since I owned and use the 18-55VR KIT lens I have been ASTONISHED how useful it is.