beginner photographer going with Nikon: full frame system or DX?

Question

I am looking for a camera I can take hiking, on vacation, night time landscapes, and to shoot fireworks. (not doing much with portraits of people) I am wanting to go with Nikon since it seems they have a lot of lenses available. I have the money but no experience, but don't like buying something sub standard only having to upgrade. If I went with a full frame system, I would get a few lenses such as the

Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S
and
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G ED AF-S

I can understand this is very heavy in comparison and expensive to a DX system, I'm not out to make any money with photography, but I see the F stops go lower on the expensive lenses and like the flexibility. Would I be overkill with a full frame, should I just get a DX system? Looks like one lens I spotted is the 10-24mm and about half the cost of the two above mentioned lenses. It would kill me to spend a grand on a DX lens only to find out in 5 years I should have bought the 2 grand full frame lenses from the get go.

Answer 1

The D7000 is probably the best DX DSLR from Nikon so far and it's about $1000-1200.

You should still be able to find a new D700 for around $1800. The prices might drop even more since the D800 just came out (which is $3000).

The D700 is still an amazing full frame camera and it's not that much more expensive. It doesn't record video though.

If you really want a full frame DSLR you should check it out. The lenses you mentioned are awesome pro lenses with great sharpness and they let in a lot of light.

You can always rent a camera with some lenses and see what you think of it.



For a beginner though I'd still recommend a good DX camera like the D7000 (or a D5100, they have the same sensor but the D5100 is cheaper). As for the lenses you can check out the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8, Sigma 17-50 f/2.8, Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 and if you need a telephoto lens the Sigma 70-200 f/2.8.



All of those are very very good lenses and they are much cheaper than the high end pro glass. If you're not gonna do it professionally that's all you'll ever need. If you've never used a DSLR before you'll be blown away by the quality anyway (in comparison to point-and-shoots).

You can probably get a D5100 plus all of the lenses I mentioned for around $3000.



And by the way...even if you do decide that you need a full frame body and the pro glass in a few years, you can always sell your stuff and still get more than half of your money back. f/2.8 lenses retain their value much longer and amateur photographers will be happy to take them.

Answer 2

A D3100 or D5100 w/ an 18-55 or 18-200 is all you need at this point. Slow down - 1) beginners don't need a 14-24 and/or 24-70. 2) Buying lenses just for the heck of it is a terrible idea. Thats great that you have plenty of dough to spend, but if you spend tons of $$$$$ on nice gear and don't end liking photography or whatever, its a waste.

Answer 3

At this point in time you would be best off investing in a DX/APS-C based DSLR-type camera, maybe extra or better lenses, and how about a couple of days training on how to use the thing! One thing you'll find is that people do often rather than upgrade to a better body, they just add an extra body to their kit! I guarantee in 5 years time you'll be looking to update your camera body, but your lenses will probably last several generations of body!

Answer 4

The best is the best. Go to there website and compare the two then if you see the difference then go for the best that is if you have the money besides even if u are just trying out to be a photographer its better to buy the advance stuff than begginer so that you dont hve to buy it in the future

Answer 5

A full frame DSLR is going to be very expensive. For a beginner, perhaps one of the DX models would be more appropriate.