Discussion
I'm toying with selling my D80 and buying a D3200 so I have a better chance of taking pictures in low light and would like the benefit of the video facility too. What's the score with my current lenses (Nikkor AF)and the D3200? Can I still use them or is there a difference? I'm not sure what the VR means! Thanks
The D3200 does not have an autofocus motor.
If all your lenses are the newer AF-S then you will be fine as they have motors in the lenses.
If your lenses are the older AF-D and AF then no, these will NOT autofocus with the D3200, but the metering etc will be fine.
The VR is just vibration reduction and works fine with all Nikon camera bodies since about 1995!
If you have older AF-D and AF lenses and need Autofocus, the D7000 or the older but still available D90 is what you need.
If all your lenses are the newer AF-S then you will be fine as they have motors in the lenses.
If your lenses are the older AF-D and AF then no, these will NOT autofocus with the D3200, but the metering etc will be fine.
The VR is just vibration reduction and works fine with all Nikon camera bodies since about 1995!
If you have older AF-D and AF lenses and need Autofocus, the D7000 or the older but still available D90 is what you need.
bernhund said:
Thank you good sir....it looks like I'll be buying new lenses with the new camera!...
Don't be too hasty!If you have even a couple of nice AF-D lenses that you like using then it would be better for you to look at the D90 or D7000 and keep your good lenses, especially coming from a D80. The D3200 is a real beginners DSLR and may not be satisfying in terms of knobs and buttons etc.
It would be cheaper to pay the extra £400 and get a D7000 or extra £50 and get the D90 than buy new lenses!
Right, I'm now finding out how little I know! I have a D80, an AF-S DX ED18-55mm 3.5-5.6 lens and an AF 70-300mm 4-5.6 as my kit.
I'm happy with the range, i.e 18mm to 300mm (albeit a little bit missing in the middle!) but in low light even compact cameras get far better exposure than my D80 does when I wind it up to 1600 ISO. I just get slow shutters and lots of noise. Daylight, no problem, lovely. But the way I see it is if I buy a new model that copes with the low light AND has 24 mpix, then I can zoom in and crop reasonably well without having to buy longer lenses, get less noise and get HD video. To get more light in on my D80 I'd have to buy say an F2.8 lens which will cost me a packet.
So have I misunderstood the digital photography world? It appears so different from film! I'll have a max budget of £750 and for that I need 2 lenses similar to the ones I have and a camera that has HD video and copes with low light. Second hand is not a problem either.
What do I do? HELP!!!
(what about Canon EOS?)
I'm happy with the range, i.e 18mm to 300mm (albeit a little bit missing in the middle!) but in low light even compact cameras get far better exposure than my D80 does when I wind it up to 1600 ISO. I just get slow shutters and lots of noise. Daylight, no problem, lovely. But the way I see it is if I buy a new model that copes with the low light AND has 24 mpix, then I can zoom in and crop reasonably well without having to buy longer lenses, get less noise and get HD video. To get more light in on my D80 I'd have to buy say an F2.8 lens which will cost me a packet.
So have I misunderstood the digital photography world? It appears so different from film! I'll have a max budget of £750 and for that I need 2 lenses similar to the ones I have and a camera that has HD video and copes with low light. Second hand is not a problem either.
What do I do? HELP!!!
(what about Canon EOS?)
bernhund said:
Right, I'm now finding out how little I know! I have a D80, an AF-S DX ED18-55mm 3.5-5.6 lens and an AF 70-300mm 4-5.6 as my kit.
I'm happy with the range, i.e 18mm to 300mm (albeit a little bit missing in the middle!) but in low light even compact cameras get far better exposure than my D80 does when I wind it up to 1600 ISO. I just get slow shutters and lots of noise. Daylight, no problem, lovely. But the way I see it is if I buy a new model that copes with the low light AND has 24 mpix, then I can zoom in and crop reasonably well without having to buy longer lenses, get less noise and get HD video. To get more light in on my D80 I'd have to buy say an F2.8 lens which will cost me a packet.
So have I misunderstood the digital photography world? It appears so different from film! I'll have a max budget of £750 and for that I need 2 lenses similar to the ones I have and a camera that has HD video and copes with low light. Second hand is not a problem either.
What do I do? HELP!!!
(what about Canon EOS?)
If you want to move camera bodies for specific features then fair enough, but I'm surprised to hear that your compact camera is outperforming your D80 - is it using a flash? Do you have a speedlite for your D80?I'm happy with the range, i.e 18mm to 300mm (albeit a little bit missing in the middle!) but in low light even compact cameras get far better exposure than my D80 does when I wind it up to 1600 ISO. I just get slow shutters and lots of noise. Daylight, no problem, lovely. But the way I see it is if I buy a new model that copes with the low light AND has 24 mpix, then I can zoom in and crop reasonably well without having to buy longer lenses, get less noise and get HD video. To get more light in on my D80 I'd have to buy say an F2.8 lens which will cost me a packet.
So have I misunderstood the digital photography world? It appears so different from film! I'll have a max budget of £750 and for that I need 2 lenses similar to the ones I have and a camera that has HD video and copes with low light. Second hand is not a problem either.
What do I do? HELP!!!
(what about Canon EOS?)
As an alternative - 'quick' lenses don't have to cost a massive amount of money:
35mm f1.8 @ £161
50mm f1.4 @ £293
flat-planedCrank said:
If you want to move camera bodies for specific features then fair enough, but I'm surprised to hear that your compact camera is outperforming your D80 - is it using a flash? Do you have a speedlite for your D80?
As an alternative - 'quick' lenses don't have to cost a massive amount of money:
35mm f1.8 @ £161
50mm f1.4 @ £293
My camera is a DX body and I believe the sensors have improved significantly since it was made and a later camera will allow a higher ISO without the noise.As an alternative - 'quick' lenses don't have to cost a massive amount of money:
35mm f1.8 @ £161
50mm f1.4 @ £293
I don't have an external flash but would like one, however the problem isn't flash related. e.g I went to Top Gear live with a friend and his compact. His results from the indoor arena were sharper and brighter than mine. There was absolutely no comparison even after I cranked the ISO right up. It seems the D80 just doesn't have what's needed in the situation I have described?
TBH that sounds more like your PP techniques than a limitation of the D80. Compacts are invariably set with defaults that do all the pretty algorithms. Your D80 will have all the info I suspect, it's more to do with how you unlock its potential.....
What do you currently do? Are you shooting RAW or JPEG? If the latter, what are the in camera settings..... et cetera....
What do you currently do? Are you shooting RAW or JPEG? If the latter, what are the in camera settings..... et cetera....
I think you guys have probably just hit the nail on the head! Like most blokes, I've failed to read and understand the whole instruction book. In fact, I don't even know where it is!When using the camera I would normally decide on a setting i.e auto, shutter or aperture priority, etc. then choose an ISO according to how much light there is....that's all I do. What am I missing? Would a Dummies guide help me?
bernhund said:
I think you guys have probably just hit the nail on the head! Like most blokes, I've failed to read and understand the whole instruction book. In fact, I don't even know where it is!When using the camera I would normally decide on a setting i.e auto, shutter or aperture priority, etc. then choose an ISO according to how much light there is....that's all I do. What am I missing? Would a Dummies guide help me?
I normally use Aperture priority as that's most important during my normal use, and that means the camera decides the shutter speed and ISO.
I only set the ISO myself when a tripod is used and the subject is stationary. In these cases I set it as low as possible and don't worry about the shutter being open longer as its on a tripod and shutter speed doesn't matter.
You're halfway there. So, faced with a low light situation, what do you do?
My approach is this (though others may differ):
1) Choose aperture priority and crank it open as far as it will go.
2) Frame up and see what shutter speed this gives you. If it's fast enough to take a photo without camera shake, take the photo. Practice technique - with a normal lens I can handhold 1/30th sec with acceptable results and 1/15th at wide angle.
3) If that's not enough or you want a safety margin, increase the ISO until you get a speed you can handhold.
If you're on max aperture and as much ISO as you can take without it getting too noisy, then you have hit the buffers; you need more light (eg flash) or a tripod to allow slower shutter speeds (but then the subject may move).
My approach is this (though others may differ):
1) Choose aperture priority and crank it open as far as it will go.
2) Frame up and see what shutter speed this gives you. If it's fast enough to take a photo without camera shake, take the photo. Practice technique - with a normal lens I can handhold 1/30th sec with acceptable results and 1/15th at wide angle.
3) If that's not enough or you want a safety margin, increase the ISO until you get a speed you can handhold.
If you're on max aperture and as much ISO as you can take without it getting too noisy, then you have hit the buffers; you need more light (eg flash) or a tripod to allow slower shutter speeds (but then the subject may move).
There's a preview along with some image samples here: http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikond3200/
bernhund said:
I've failed to read and understand the whole instruction book. In fact, I don't even know where it is!
Would a Dummies guide help me?
Whilst "RTFM" is often a good starting point, the manual doesn't always translate into vibrant clean images at the first settings. Would a Dummies guide help me?
My initial thought is that if you can't produce the results or near the results you want with your current body, a simple change of body won't necessarily cure all ills.
A well exposed file as a starting point should be capable of producing as good, if not better, than a compact (smaller sensor) under most conditions. As an example my P7000 cannot produce better files than my D2X would, even with 6-7 years of development. But both benefit from good techniques,
D80 => D7000 would be a good step in technology. But D80 and some development in user might be just as big a step???
Consider investing in a course - or, if that's not for you, just stick around this forum and Hoover up the knowledge!
On line there's plenty of basic and more advanced stuff about processing, too.
Personally I wouldn’t go for the D3200, I’d get the D7000, forget about the 24 megapixels the image quality, dynamic range, and colour depth are the same if not better with the D7000’s sensor. Plus going from a D80 to D3200 you’ll miss your big bright viewfinder, I’m always left wanting a bigger viewfinder on my D5100, and the D3200’s is even smaller, and trust me its a big part of the camera, it’ll really annoy you coming from the D80.
So basically get the more specialist, higher spec’d D7000, they’ll be getting cheaper with the replacement coming later this year, so just buy one and never look back, go out and take pictures and enjoy the results
So basically get the more specialist, higher spec’d D7000, they’ll be getting cheaper with the replacement coming later this year, so just buy one and never look back, go out and take pictures and enjoy the results
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