Have to Buy A New Camera- D5300 or D750?

[Dustin]

Ok! As much as I would like a default flat profile, I use an external flash on the hotshoe that isn't supported on the d5500, so it looks like I'll be getting the d5300

[sandro]

I read the 5500 has a new sensor compared to the 5300, does it mean more DR for videos?

[IronFilm]

I just had to log in on my phone  to correct the absolute crazy talk I'm reading about not getting a D5500 because it won't use an external flash!!!!! wtf 

 

Of course it can use a flash! lol

If it would work on a D5200 / D5300, you can expect it to work on a D5500.

 

Oh, and the D5500 is the same sensor used in all D5x00 bodies from D5200 onwards. They do tweak and refine the design, and even sometimes switch manufacturing suppliers, and in that sense it is "new". So you can expect sometimes some minor improvements from one model to the next (sometimes these are more notable than other times, such as fixing banding issues after the D5200), but broadly speaking you can expect the "same" general performance in all of them.

The "same" sensor is also in the D7100/D7200 as in those newer D5x00 series cameras. Ditto in the D3300 as well.

[Dustin]

I just had to log in on my phone  to correct the absolute crazy talk I'm reading about not getting a D5500 because it won't use an external flash!!!!! wtf 

 

Of course it can use a flash! lol

If it would work on a D5200 / D5300, you can expect it to work on a D5500.

 

Oh, and the D5500 is the same sensor used in all D5x00 bodies from D5200 onwards. They do tweak and refine the design, and even sometimes switch manufacturing suppliers, and in that sense it is "new". So you can expect sometimes some minor improvements from one model to the next (sometimes these are more notable than other times, such as fixing banding issues after the D5200), but broadly speaking you can expect the "same" general performance in all of them.

The "same" sensor is also in the D7100/D7200 as in those newer D5x00 series cameras. Ditto in the D3300 as well.

From what I read you can't use an external flash on the hot shoe. Which is my issue

[Phil A]

From what I read you can't use an external flash on the hot shoe. Which is my issue

Of course you can use flash in the hotshoe. It would be silly if not, there is no picture camera with a cold shoe in forever. I'm no expert but the only thing I could imagine is that low end models don't do optical master with the build in flash to a slave, but then anyway everyone I know uses remote triggers for reliability.

[Dustin]

Of course you can use flash in the hotshoe. It would be silly if not, there is no picture camera with a cold shoe in forever. I'm no expert but the only thing I could imagine is that low end models don't do optical master with the build in flash to a slave, but then anyway everyone I know uses remote triggers for reliability.

Ok now I feel like an idiot and cant even find where I read that. Pardon my brain fart its been a long and stressful day. 

Honestly if the 5300 with flaat 10/11 looks good, I'd rather save some cash at the moment

[IronFilm]

For your needs I'd very strongly recommend ignoring the D500 as you do not fit into any of these categories:

a) wildlife / photo journalist / sports photographer 

b) rich amateur who must have THE BEST NOW

c) MUST HAVE NIKON 4K *NOW* filmmaker  (patience.... it is just Nikon's first go at 4K. I trust/hope they'll bring out 4K to cheaper models soon. Hopefully without the additional crop over FHD!!)

d) a very successfully working pro photography (they're rarer than you think...) who wants a pro body DX camera and who the extra cost of a D500 over D7200/D7100/D7000 is so small and inconsequential when spread over all their jobs. And who might even just be getting it as their back up / B body.

 

Your big choices are instead between these three categories of options:

A) D5x00 series camera, this is by far the most cost effective option and from reading your replies seems like the best option for you.

B) D7100/D7200 good if you want to take your professional photography further and get a semi pro body. And it will allow you to AF with AF-D series Nikkors (this is the biggest reason why to get one in my books)

C) a D750 for all the reasons I just said in B) plus you get the small (debatable, some will claim the benefit is greater) gain of moving up to the larger FX sensor. But at a much much greater, not just for the body but also greater cost for the lenses too. (And is why I wouldn't recommend option C for you, even though still now in 2016 the D750 is *the* best general purpose DSLR you can buy anywhere)

 

My view is get yourself a D5x00 series camera (or maaaybe a D7100/D7200). Then a year or two down the track pick uo the amazing 4K shooting  (probably? Maybe??) D5600/D7300 or instead a D750 on the ultra cheap. Then your purchase now will become your B cam body later on. As every pro shooter should have at least two cameras (and especially if you shoot events in the future, then it can become ESSENTIAL to use two or more bodies).

From what I read you can't use an external flash on the hot shoe. Which is my issue

Nope, sorry to be so very blunt but that is 100% crazy talk. Don't think Nikon has *EVER* made a DSLR which can't use a flash on its hotshoe, the mere thought of it is rediculous lol :-)

[Dustin]

For your needs I'd very strongly recommend ignoring the D500 as you do not fit into any of these categories:

a) wildlife / photo journalist / sports photographer 

b) rich amateur who must have THE BEST NOW

c) MUST HAVE NIKON 4K *NOW* filmmaker  (patience.... it is just Nikon's first go at 4K. I trust/hope they'll bring out 4K to cheaper models soon. Hopefully without the additional crop over FHD!!)

d) a very successfully working pro photography (they're rarer than you think...) who wants a pro body DX camera and who the extra cost of a D500 over D7200/D7100/D7000 is so small and inconsequential when spread over all their jobs. And who might even just be getting it as their back up / B body.

 

Your big choices are instead between these three categories of options:

A) D5x00 series camera, this is by far the most cost effective option and from reading your replies seems like the best option for you.

B) D7100/D7200 good if you want to take your professional photography further and get a semi pro body. And it will allow you to AF with AF-D series Nikkors (this is the biggest reason why to get one in my books)

C) a D750 for all the reasons I just said in B) plus you get the small (debatable, some will claim the benefit is greater) gain of moving up to the larger FX sensor. But at a much much greater, not just for the body but also greater cost for the lenses too. (And is why I wouldn't recommend option C for you)

 

My view is get yourself a D5x00 series camera (or maaaybe a D7100/D7200). Then a year or two down the track pick uo the amazing 4K shooting  (probably? Maybe??) D5600/D7300 or instead a D750 on the ultra cheap. Then your purchase now will become your B cam body later on. As every pro shooter should have at least two cameras (and especially if you shoot events in the future, then it can become ESSENTIAL to use two or more bodies).

For budget reasons I'm most likely going to get the d5300. Further down the line in a year who knows but for my lenses yeah the d750 doesn't make sense. If anyone has seen my posts on this forum, I was saving for investing in lighting anyways before my camera breakdown  So unless I hear that flaat 10/11 doesn't look good on the d5300, that is what I will be getting. I'm not a noob but I recently discovered 12 bit raw for photos on it and was blown away by the amount of control! 

[IronFilm]

Mortgage the house and you can get 16 bit raw photos ;-)

[Dustin]

Would this be a good deal? Same price as the d5300 body new...

 

http://www.adorama.com/INKD5500BKR.html?hotlink=t&svfor=5m&gclid=CK39javUqsoCFcKGaQodLp0CCg

[IronFilm]

Refurbished is a good way to catch a bargain! Sell the kit lens and it is even cheaper.

[thedistraction]

im about to buy a d5500 but i have a important question:

How do you get your videos properly exposed without a external monitor when you dont have zebras in live view?

[Mattias Burling]

im about to buy a d5500 but i have a important question:

How do you get your videos properly exposed without a external monitor when you dont have zebras in live view?

I thought the d5500 had zebras?

Otherwise you can use the histogram in combination with looking at the screen.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

How do you get your videos properly exposed without a external monitor when you dont have zebras in live view?

The LCD is freakishly accurate on the D5300 compared side by side to my calibrated monitor both in colour and brightness/contrast when set to maximum +3 brightness. What you see is what you get in the NLE. (D800. d5200, d7100, D3200 have a green tinted monitor. D5300, d7200, d810/750 are perfectly precise)

My method of exposure is ETTR.

I shoot in the:

Standard PP (perfect balance. Neutral is too flat for the codec and loses the nikon punch/look. Standard has the unique Nikon rendering of colours and contrast )

-4 Contrast (highest DR. Neutral with -4 skin goes gray with no DR benefit, too flat)

-4 sharpness (sharpening is hideous plus even at 0 nikon applies a little. Wish they had canon 0 digital sharpness)

-4 saturation (also extends DR by making bright colour channels clip farther. Can be bought back with no penalty in post but can't be brought down if clipped)

-2 colour tone (to match Canon skin tones that are greener on the nikons) 

-AWB modified to +2/+2 towards orange/red to match Canon warmer image vs the greener Nikon WB.  

These settings took months of tests to perfect. They are meant for grading. You can't use these settings on the D5200/D710 because shadows turn to crap. And Flaat is much worse compared to this modified Standard PP, I'd keep away.

With these flat-ish settings and colour saturation I can clearly judge when the image clips, so I bring down exposure a notch to the point before that. This is how I expose. By eye really, and then modify the exposure/consistency in-post starting with the brightest/cleanest ETTR images with flat contrast & lowish saturation. 

Some words to Nikon on their cameras:

-Changing exposure settings are the REAL pain. Having to leave live-view to change iris and come back to see the effect is ridiculous. Having the ISO/fn button next to the lens release button is the worst position I could think of. You have to turn the camera and look at it (or you'll find yourself popping up flash), press. keep pressing, use the other hand to change the wheel. It's even harder with LCD flipped.

-Punch-in magnification is of horrible quality and stutter, really makes precise focusing a pain. Plus mag. occurs on like a hundred steps and when you reach maximum you don't go back, you have to press Minus all the steps or press a totally different button to get out. 

-The live-view UI is very annoying. In order to get 16:9 framing bars (even those are too transperant and distracting) you have it only in one display mode with two huge useless audio meters superimposed on the image and various icons. You can't get a clean image with just 16:9 bars. 

-You can't make picture style changes from liveview info button., you have to go into the menu to change contrast/sat/sharp/tone. And with every change you have to go back out of the menu to see, so you have to make recordings o compare PPs really.

-You only get a few WB presets and can't make manual kelvin adjustment, and AWB is too green/inaccurate. You have to modify WB in the menus, go out, take videos and compare.

-The record button is in a bad position crammed with three others you find your self pushing from time to time.

Yes it's a pain to work with, but once you DO find and press that record button, the image is beautiful and clean. Worth all the hassle. (which shows another annoyance of liveview not being an accurate representation of noise/shutter before and after record, but hey who's counting the issues)

Any Canon rebel gives you a video mode with 16:9 bars and all the configurations you want from clean to vegas-bright. You can modify PS in liveview from Q menu and see effect in realtime. 2 step focus mag. of much higher quality and third push gets you out. Can change iris/iso/shutter with one hand using two fingers and see final effect. And if you install ML, you get a small accurate waveform monitor, zebras and perfect peaking plus ability to view a non-log image and record flat. The record button is much better placed up front alone, and you get fully manual WB with Kelvin and precise tint adjustment.

But the aliasing/moire and slightly lower resolution make me obligated to use the Nikon and live with it. Why can't they put a video mode is BEYOND me, not to mention zebras or even a small always ON histogram or a clean realtime fps magnification. Just weird. 

[Phil A]

Some words to Nikon on their cameras:
 

It sounds like the D750 is a huge step up in usability to the camera you use. It can change the aperture during live view without leaving it as in the older models. Punch in magnification is on the ok button; you click it once to zoom in and once again to zoom out. Plus I have record on the shutter button when putting the live view mode to movie. The zebra is also really usefull but obviously also no focus peaking for whatever reason (it seems also still none in D5/D500).
It seems that like with most systems, going with the prosumer/pro bodies doesn't really change the image but more the usability. It gets easier to get to your result without hating the tool.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

It sounds like the D750 is a huge step up in usability to the camera you use. It can change the aperture during live view without leaving it as in the older models. Punch in magnification is on the ok button; you click it once to zoom in and once again to zoom out. Plus I have record on the shutter button when putting the live view mode to movie. The zebra is also really usefull but obviously also no focus peaking for whatever reason (it seems also still none in D5/D500).
It seems that like with most systems, going with the prosumer/pro bodies doesn't really change the image but more the usability. It gets easier to get to your result without hating the tool.

Yes the d750 and D810 is a big step up in usability of video mode. I loved the 2 weeks I had with he D810 but couldn't justify keeping it for the image similarity to the D5300.  It's closer to Canon DSLRs in operation and quick setting adjustments. 

Shame not any camera below the D750 has the improved UI.

[Dustin]

Question to anyone: Would it really be that hard to put aperture switching in live view on their mid -range consumer cameras like the d5300/5500. I feel like the cameras now having a flat profile, wouldn't adding this and exposure for manual lenses alleviate many of the issues we have with the workflow on Nikon cameras sub 1000 ish? 

 

I shoot in the:

Standard PP (perfect balance. Neutral is too flat for the codec and loses the nikon punch/look. Standard has the unique Nikon rendering of colours and contrast )

-4 Contrast (highest DR. Neutral with -4 skin goes gray with no DR benefit, too flat)

-4 sharpness (sharpening is hideous plus even at 0 nikon applies a little. Wish they had canon 0 digital sharpness)

-4 saturation (also extends DR by making bright colour channels clip farther. Can be bought back with no penalty in post but can't be brought down if clipped)

-2 colour tone (to match Canon skin tones that are greener on the nikons) 

-AWB modified to +2/+2 towards orange/red to match Canon warmer image vs the greener Nikon WB.  

These settings took months of tests to perfect. They are meant for grading. You can't use these settings on the D5200/D710 because shadows turn to crap. And Flaat is much worse compared to this modified Standard PP, I'd keep away.

Can you link me any examples shooting in this profile?

Why is this camera (and others) much cheaper "new" from eBay? Not to ask a stupid question but...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-D5500-24-2-Mp-DX-Format-CMOS-Digital-SLR-Camera-Body-Only-Black-/321671464177?hash=item4ae51d04f1:g:~CUAAOSw9mFWH-g4

[Phil A]

Question to anyone: Would it really be that hard to put aperture switching in live view on their mid -range consumer cameras like the d5300/5500. I feel like the cameras now having a flat profile, wouldn't adding this and exposure for manual lenses alleviate many of the issues we have with the workflow on Nikon cameras sub 1000 ish? 

Can you link me any examples shooting in this profile?

Why is this camera (and others) much cheaper "new" from eBay? Not to ask a stupid question but...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-D5500-24-2-Mp-DX-Format-CMOS-Digital-SLR-Camera-Body-Only-Black-/321671464177?hash=item4ae51d04f1:g:~CUAAOSw9mFWH-g4

I can't speak for this specific offer/seller but often on eBay you will find vendors with imported grey market products. Here in Europe you often find sellers from the UK which sell cameras way below MSRP - like a Sony A7r II for 2650 instead of 3400 € as an example - but which come with no local system language (obviously not a problem if you want English) and more important no local guarantee. I read from Canon related pages that some of the greymarket dealers actually shipped the stuff with counterfeit accessories like charges, batteries, etc. so make sure that you check all details when finding a good deal on eBay. In the end it's valid: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.

[Dustin]

Right, gotcha! I would never buy a camera from anywhere but a BH, Best Buy, or the local shop. I have bought the tamron 17-50 on eBay and it worked out great. Got a good deal!

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

 

Can you link me any examples shooting in this profile?

Some frames. Here's straight off the card with flat profile. D5300. Graded and sharpened it's pretty great HD. See can be pushed pretty hard much more than D5200 image. 

I am surprised the image with that profile contains some information in the highlights making pretty deep dynamic range. Highlight recovery with a curve:

It's a pretty good HD image on the D5300 especially at standard with zero sharpening and -4 contrast. Not C100 but not 700D.