Upgrading from a Nikon D3200

[buzzer]

I currently have a Nikon D3200 and a couple of lenses, the standard 18 -55 and also an 18-200, both Nikon

I was thinking of upgrading the body, maybe with something a bit newer, but perhaps second hand spending say £400

is there a body I can buy that will give significantly better photographs than the D3200 and still use my exiting lenses?

[Simpo Two]

All Nikon bodies will work with those lenses. Even full frame (FX) bodies can use them, you'll just get a vignette (some FX cameras will crop this off automatically). However it may be that the lenses are the weak link in the chain, I'm not sure.

[steveatesh]

Can I ask as to the specific features you think your camera doesn’t have, or what you hope to be able to do with your new camera that you can’t do now?

I have a D5100 my friend has the same camera as you. She takes smashing pictures with it, equal to mine but the only thing she would like that my camera has and hers doesn’t is the ability to automatically bracket shots for HDR.

The next model up from my camera into the 7100 or 7200 would give better weather proofing, dual cards, more features and the one I would, like the ability to do high speed sync with a flash light.

Can you give us some ideas about why you want to change and perhaps somebody can help you better?

[Nigel_O]

The next step up from a D3200 is something like a D5200 / D5300, but it’s not a huge step (iirc, the sensor is the same)

The D7100 / D7200 are a significant step forward, especially in respect of low-light performance, focus speed and processing power. You may struggle to get one in budget though.

As for the lenses, the 18-55 is a decent bit of glass, but the 55-200 is rather average, so definitely worth considering something a bit better when budget allows.

[GroundEffect]

I've gone from a D3200 to a D7500 in the last few months. That's from £400 body to a £1300 body.

Tell me which photo is from which camera:

DSC_0069 by Scott Thomson, on Flickr

DSC_0356 by Scott Thomson, on Flickr

Without looking at the Exif data on Flickr!

The D3200 is a fantastic camera and for travel or landscape photography you cannot really get a significant upgrade without going Full Frame for £1500+.

I bought the D7500 as I do a lot of action photography too (motorsports, wildlife) where the autofocus performance is the key part

DSC_0436 by Scott Thomson, on Flickr

The above was my D3200 too, but it was really stretching its capabilities.

So the question is more what type of photos do you take?

Where you could improve on the D3200 is low light performance (ISO performance isn't the best) or where you need fast autofocus capability (such as fast moving action). If you don't really do either, then don't bother upgrading body. Get some better glass first.

Your 18-55 is a pretty poor lens. The 18-200 not much better. Get a 35mm F/1.8 or 50mm F/1.8 and see what difference that makes! They're cheap too.

[Richjam]

As Ground effect says there will be little in it in image quality unless you go for full frame. I have D3300 and D7200 the sensor is the same therefore IQ is much the same. Where I find the D7200 stands out is focusing it's better in lowlight than the d3300 which struggles to focus in low light it's also far better for sports and action photography as the focus is faster. The D7200 also does bracketing which I find very useful. If you don't need the above I would invest in better glass as that's more likely to give better IQ.

[buzzer]

Thanks guys. I tend to take landscapes, some portrait, and pictures of cars and bikes, but not sports shots.

I never seem to achive really sharp photographs, and in many cases I seem to get better pictures with my Sony RX 100 mkll.

I think i am going to try a 35mm prime lense...

[toohuge]

buzzer said:

Thanks guys. I tend to take landscapes, some portrait, and pictures of cars and bikes, but not sports shots.

I never seem to achive really sharp photographs, and in many cases I seem to get better pictures with my Sony RX 100 mkll.

I think i am going to try a 35mm prime lense...

I had a D3200 (still do) and I upgraded to a D7200 - primarily for the internal focus motor... I love the D7200 - however, I suffered from the same problem as you with my D3200. It turned out, I had a faulty autofocus setup in the D3200 - Nikon replaced this under warranty and immediately, the images from the D3200 were improved.

If you could post some images up from your camera - we can have a look and see where you may be going wrong.

The 35mm prime is excellent - I love mine and for the money, difficult to beat.