Which to chose??

Okay I'm looking to upgrade my camera, currently I own a Nikon D60 with an 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses.

Now I've only got a budget of about $1200 and am looking at the D3300 and the D5200.

By all means I'm open to other suggestions, but my main focal point or topic of photos is horses. Horse sports (shows and competition or

horse racing) , horse Photoshoots etc etc

What is going to be the best for me?

Thank you in advance :-)

<p>Knowing which horse sports you are talking about and what part of the world you are in would be helpful. I shoot Dressage X Country and Jumping and use a D4</p>

<p>If you can give us a little more some of us might be able to help.</p>

:-) I'm in Western Australia

And as for horse sports lately it's been a lot of local hack shows (show ring type) but want to be able to use the camera

for other disciplines also such as Dressage, X-country, Horse Racing and the odd photoshoot (horse and owner at the

beach etc).

Most of the year here we get Warm sunny days, but obviously in winter we get rainy or overcast days.

<p>If you're looking to replace only the camera body, your budget is enough for the D7100, which has better autofocus, a better viewfinder, and much better handing than the D3300 and the D5200.</p>

<p>D7100 is something to think about. I still have a D300s that I use when I need more reach. As long as you don't need to push the ISO up the image quality is just fine. And the advantage to it is the large buffer and strong AF</p>

$1050 us will get you a used full frame d700 from keh.com in ex+ Condition.

 

Though you won't have any glass since what you currently have is dx. I know it's an older body, but it's still a fantastic

camera and I use mine all the time. I'm not parting with it until it can't be repaired anymore.

 

I also have the d7100 and it too is a great camera. Both have excellent 51 point auto focus whic is a huge help for sports.

I got rid of a d7000 because I didn't like the 39 point af. My in focus percentage is much higher now.

 

Next up after you upgrade your body, you will want to look into better glass.

<p>I agree with Hector about the d7100. It is a wonderful camera and I have used it at equestrian events including jumper divisions. It is a big step up from the other two options IMHO.</p>

<p>-Cheers</p>

I'd also recommend a D7100. Coming from a D60 the AF would be a huge upgrade and would let you do moving subject

tracking that the D60 can't. Then I'd start saving up for a new lens.

<p>Wait a few months, buy a used D7100. The difference between it and the other cameras when it comes to the autofocus will astound you.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

Thank you all so much for your advice :-)

I'm now thinking the D7100 would be the way to go, and then save up for a lens.

Now another question, when it comes to lenses, What sort of lens would be the way to go?

<p>To start out a 70-200 would give you great flexibility. I use a 120-300 but that will set you back a lot. If you can rent lenses then you could try different ones and see what works best for you.. I do have a Sigma 70-200 that works very well and is a great value.</p>

<p>A Tamron SP 70-300 VC lens wouldn't break the bank, and gives excellent IQ and stabilisation.<br>

BTW, if that budget is $1200 Aussie dollars, a D7100 is going to take a <em>big</em> bite out of it.</p>

<p>As you're going DX, the Sigma 50-150mm f2.8 OS is ideal. It gives ~ the same working distance to size as a 70-200mm on FX (Full Frame) </p>

<p>The short 50mm 'end' can occasionally be a bit long if you're working in small rings when it comes to rosette time to get a full horse + rider portrait and you can't back up enough. The same can happen on a small X-Country course when you have to be on the sunny side of a jump and can't bury yourself in a bush. Something like a Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 OS would cover the wider end nicely.</p>

<p>I find primes can be very limiting and a horse, in general, is not always the most predictable of animals position wise!</p>

<p>For what you are doing, a 70-200mm f2.8 would be great for the longer, action shots. Again, your best value is used. Either Tamron or Nikon 70-200mm VR (first version.) For up close, a Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 OS would be hard to beat. I always buy used ones as they are a great deal. The f2.8 lenses will allow for faster shutter speeds in lower light such as you find indoors.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>The D7100 would be a good choice. Another to consider would be a used D600.<br>

For lenses, a used second version Nikon 80-200 AF-D is a bargain now. Be sure to get the D version, I believe it has faster AF operation than the first version. </p>

<p>A D600 is not going to do what you want for horse shows. I know several people who have tried and it just isn't what you want</p>

<p>. While the 80-200 AF-D is a fine lens the Sigma 70-200 AFS is better. The copy I have is 90% of the Nikon 70-200 AFS version 2 at 50% of the cost. The testing I did was both controlled tripod mounted shots with VR off and not so controlled real world use. Wide open the Nikon is very slightly sharper and has a touch more contrast. Stop them both down to f/3.2 and the difference is gone.</p>

<p>If you could find a good used copy of the Nikon AFS 80-200 that would be a very fine lens. They only problem with that lens is it is old and when the AFS motor in it goes it becomes a manual focus lens or a door stop depending on how you feel. Nikon USA has no parts for the AFS motor for this fine old lens.</p>

I've done a bit of research, as I'm not all that understanding of lenses (just getting into it all) I've got two Im wanting to

know about and what certain things mean.

One is a Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR

What does the DX, ED and VR mean?

 

Other is a Sigma 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G DC OS HSM

What does the DC, OS and HSM mean?

 

I'm thinking I might go with an 18-300mm as I think it will save time in changing lenses when it comes to capturing close

up to distance photos. With horses and horse sports most actions happen very quickly from being far away to close up

<p>Alyce<br>

For the Nikon<br>

DX is for a crop camera like the D7100<br>

ED is a special kind of glass that helps with image quality.<br>

VR is vibration reduction. It helps you make a sharp image when shooting hand held. I do not usually find it useful when shooting sports.</p>

<p>For the Sigma <br>

DC is for a crop camera <br>

OS is the Sigma version of VR<br>

HSM is a Hyper Sonic Motor. That means the lens has the focus motor built in.</p>

<p>I have not used either of the lenses so I can not comment on the image quality of either of them.</p>

<p>Alyce, since you are shooting some sort of sports, e.g. horses, I would not buy a telephoto lens that is as slow as f6.3, regardless of whether it is a Sigma or Nikon. Such a slow maximum aperture is going to make auto focus slow and inaccurate. Most likely you'll experience a lot of AF hunting back and forth.</p>

<p>The D7100 has the best AF among the cameras discussed so far. The D5200, D5300, and D5500 use the Multi-CAM 4800, which has 9 cross-type AF points and is Nikon's second best, which is still going to be far better than the D60 or D3300. What you want to invest in is a good telephoto lens such as the 70-300mm/f4.5-5.6 AF-S VR or better yet, some 300mm/f4 lens. The more light a lens lets in, the better the auto focus will be. Unfortunately, anything such as the 70-200mm/f4 zoom or 300mm/f4 will likely exceed your $1200 budget.</p>

<p>I would suggest the D7100 too, for its AF system. For the telephoto lens I would go with the Nikon 80-200 AF-D or 70-200 VR1 since both are F/2.8.</p>

<p>I'm guessing you can get a 2nd hand D7100 for ~$700 (US)</p>

<p>That leaves $500 for optics. I think you might be able to get a 2nd hand Sigma 50 - 150mm 2.8 HSM , but probably not the latest OS version, too many $$$!</p>

<p>An 18-300mm superzoom will cover the required focal lengths, and some, but it won't let much light in and fast sports is the time you need as much as you can get.</p>

<p>Some news that may lower the price of a new D7100: a successor, the D7200, has just been announced. It has some important improvements, but I'm still keeping my D7100, and I still recommend it for you. You might watch for sales at reputable stores such as B&H, Adorama, and Samy's.</p>