Friday, October 18, 2013

Choosing a Camera, Revisited

In my Choosing a Camera article I discussed my process of selecting a refurbished Nikon D600. It was a great camera, briefly. But I immediately noticed a few features that are really not up to par. For example, the focus area is limited to the center area of the frame, and the auto-exposure bracketing (AEB) is limited to 3 shots. After a hundred photos the oil spot problem started to appear. After about 700 shots it was obvious that the camera was defective and so I returned it to B&H Photo.

I initially decided on the D600 because I wanted the advantages of a full frame sensor as I start building my lens collection. Ultimately, camera bodies are upgraded every few years, but high quality glass lasts pretty much forever. In the long run your lenses will represent a more substantial investment than your camera.

Here are a few of the top rated Nikkor full-frame lenses:

Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8 G ED N   $2000
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 G ED VR II   $2400
Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/4 G ED VR   $1400
Nikkor AF-S 85mm f/1.4 G   $1650

Canon has similar high quality, high priced lenses designated by "L" (Luxury). I considered the Canon 70D camera body, but DxOMark sensor ratings show that Nikon and Sony sensors consistently achieve the best results. I have no way to prove or disprove this. Subjectively, I like the results from the Nikon DSLRs (D7000, D600) better than some of those from my Canon 60D, although the 60D is a fine camera.

My current thinking is to purchase a Nikon D7100 body. It has a number of improvements over the D7000/D600/D610 models, such as 5-shot AEB, and without the anti-alias filter it is capable of sharper images. Over time I can purchase quality full-frame lenses as my budget will allow, and ultimately upgrade to a full-frame body that can take maximum advantage of the lens collection.

Copyright © 2013 Philip N. Wheeler. All Rights Reserved.
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