New Nikon

I have just received the Nikon ordered last week, a D5300 18-55 lens plus a 70-300 VR zoom lens, Has anyone else had experience of this or a similar DSLR?
I am hoping to improve on the quality of my photos as the bridge cameras just don't seem to have the detail.
I think I'll need a lot of practice before I put any pics up!

 

Hi @strongylodon i have the Nikon d5500 with the ap-s 18-55mm which I'm still getting used to also.
The first mode I used is P and altered the colours,saturation sharpness alittle to my preference.
It was a big jump from my point and shoot and still very much learning. Try not to read everything in one go it just boggles the mind
My advice would be just take loads of pictures and learn from there.
I'm currently saving up for a zoom lens

 

Hi @strongylodon Mr Kandy has just bought himself a new Nikon7200 and so far he is very pleased with it.He was looking at a NikonD500 but he couldn't justify spending £1,729 on just the body and then spending out a lot extra for the lens to go with it.He didn't want to spend a lot on heavy lenses that weigh a ton to carry around as he uses his camera a lot when we are out walking as well as birdwatching

Hope you are pleased with your choice as like us you enjoy taking wildlife shots but i know it can be frustrating when they don't come out sharp and crisp

 

My 11 year old Nikon D50 died of old age and overwork earlier this year and my hope was to buy a D5500 to replace Unfortunately Jessops did not have a body only kit in stock but they did have a D7200 and the Financial Controller (Christine) said that we should have that - I am still in a state of shock. I am very pleased with it, it is a vast improvement on the D50. I do still prefer my old film SLR which did as it was told rather than making decisions for me. One of my earliest cameras was a 2.5*3.5" plate camera which was definitely hands on.

 

Thanks for your help, I hesitated about the 300mm lens due to it's weight but I still went for it, it cost more than the camera! Hopefully as the lens has a built in image stabiliser it should help with the sharpness. It will take a lot of getting used to I know, I'll start on Auto or P and see how I go.

 

Good luck with the new lens Strongy.
I didn't think your pics. could get any better.

 

As Roders said, but if there going to get better then we've got more joyment to come
good luck

 

I do envy you guys with your Nicons when I persevere with my little Samsung10X, I was tempted to update but decided instead to treat myself to a new Celestron 20x80 Spotting Scope & Tripod instead!

Have only had it a couple of days and am highly delighted so far. It has surprised me just how more intense most birds plumage is when viewed through a decent scope . . .

My new camera will just have to wait till next year

 

I thought I noticed a slight drop in quality of images after you acquired your latest bridge camera, and that seems to be a common criticism with many cameras these days, that the latest models aren't as good as what they replace (and should be an improvement on).

How does that compare to a bridge 'superzoom'? Are you going to miss that long focal length and end up carrying both the new DSLR and the old bridge camera?

Really looking forward to seeing the first of many new bird images.

 

Strongy unless you shoot in RAW, Then you need to take Mowgley's advice
"altered the colours,saturation sharpness alittle to my preference"

Otherwise you may be well disappointed with the results the jpeg output is usually not quite right unless you adjust the above, usually a +1 to each and work from there

Nice camera you got though and the long lens :-)

 

The 300mm lens will be very able (450mm on a 35mm eqv). The JPEGs set on fine quality are fantastic but I have found that when uploading to forums/Facebook etc they look rubbish due to downscaling. Don't be put off if you think your pics are rubbish to start with! I did and learnt
that practice does make perfect.

 

I won't be carrying both, the Nikon 70-300mm lens is heavy (740g) and I also carry bins (new Nikon Monarch 5 8x42). Yes I will miss the longer reach of the panasonic but most of the time the shots had been taken at 39x or 50x zoom instead of the default 24x but that reduced the picture size to 8 or 5mp and then possibly cropped after that losing definition all the time.
I am also having to get used to manual focus, I mean manually turning the lens barrel like my old SLR. I will use the 18-55mm kit lens for garden and close up shots and we will see if I get better results!

 

I don't know if anyone can help with this! I took some pics today some in RAW/jpeg and some in RAW. Does anyone use editing software other than Light room or Photshop/Elements?

I have neither but I have Digital Photographer Pro (DPP) which came with my discarded Canon SX50 and now View NX 2 with the Nikon and have problems with both.

DPP only shows jpegs and none of the RAW files, although I have selected 'show RAW files only!

View NX converts all files to NTC which cannot be opened anywhere can they be converted to jpegs?

I haven't a clue although there seems to be some very limited processing with the jpegs .

 

Mr Kandy took quiet a few photos while we were away in Derbyshire the other week and this is one of the photos he took of the leaf colours when we walked in the Goyt Valley

Sorry @strongylodon I can't help you with your camera query but someone else on here might be able to help and offer advice

@David E Peacock Mr Kandy bought his camera with some of his retirement money as an upgrade of his Panasonic Lumix G2 which he has owned for six years