Paradigm-shift: Bought a Nikon D3200 and love it! (smaller is better). I may never buy another [mirror-box] FX body again!

<p>Do the D3200/3300 feature a mirror lockup shooting mode?</p>

<p>How is the Live View implementation compared to a D800? Can you focus easily on the LCD screen? Does contrast detection AF work well in Live View?</p>

<p>Are you comfortable using one SD card for all of your shooting?</p>

<p>How do these bodies work with VR lenses?</p>

<p>How is the viewfinder?</p>

<p>I don't see how changing bodies is going to make a travel kit much smaller. I would still need multiple batteries plus the charger, multiple lenses with hoods, at least one speed light plus extra batteries and/or charger, some sort of camera support option (tripod, etc.), cleaning supplies, filters and accessories. The body is a small part of the entire package.</p>

<p>1. Don't know--I won't ever use it for this camera.<br />2. Haven't tried it.<br />3. One slot works fine.<br />4. VR works great!<br />5. Smaller than a D7000's, but bright!</p>

<p>This is my take-with-me-everyday camera for mostly casual shooting. A Nikon D3200 weighs only one-pound--hold one in your hand, and it feels like it weighs <em>nothing</em>. My D7000 weighs almost twice that, and <em>feels</em> like it. I'm also forgoing taking my heavy, clunky Tokina 50-135mm f/2.8 (which weighs 1.9 lbs.), and taking my new AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G instead, which weighs less than half that (12.4 ozs.). So instead of lugging around a nearly four-pound camera, I'm carrying a body and lens which weighs under two pounds. It's a big difference, believe me.</p>

<p>Well, okay, I guess I've been cutting down my camera system as well. My D800 is slightly lighter than my D700. (I put an L-plate on the D800, but then I've acquired a third-party grip for the D700, so I could bulk it up to my F5's levels if I wanted to.) I now sometimes use a 70-200 instead of my 200 f/2. I tend to use a 300mm f/4 in preference to the 150-500 I used to own.<br />

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This was what we're talking about, right?<br />

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In my defence, I've just got a ThinkTank shape shifter, so I don't have to carry an Airport Acceleration 2 everywhere. (And the next time I have any disposable income - i.e. when I've not just upgraded my copy of DxO so that some of the dimly-lit photos of my recently-deceased black cat are a bit less noisy - I will be bearing a D3x00 in mind. Though if Nikon <i>does</i> make a smaller competitor to the SL1...)</p>

<p>Andrew said:</p>

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<p><em>This was what we're talking about, right?</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>My goal for everyday casual shooting is to have two focal lengths in a small, compact package. Today, I grabbed a few shots with the 28mm-equipped Nikon 'A', but rarely had a chance to shoot the D3200 + 85mm f/1.8G combo. In fact, I was quite hampered by the second body today, since I had to deal with a rather difficult set-up with a number of other TV outlets competing for position at a studio press event. So, I just hung my D3200 on a light stand, and went off to perform my real job (shooting TV) with just the Coolpix 'A' around my neck.<br /> <br /> Of course, how most of us gear-up is typically highly application-specific. When I shoot portfolio/head-shots, I'll usually take a single Nikon D3s + Sigma 35mm f/1.4 + Sigma 150mm f/2.8 (currently, my two favorite FX lenses). For product/food, I'll shoot my D800E + AF-S Micro-Nikkor 60mm. When shooting events, I'll take two D3s bodies: one with an SB-800/24-120mm f/4.0G VR, the other with a 70-200mm f/2.8G VR.</p>