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In this, you can see which DSLR camera will be best for the beginners and which camera will adjust in your budget with some special features and performance. This is about the Nikon camera, model is D3400 and D5300. Check out the pros and cons about both the camera.
Introduction
Nikon D3400
This is the best entry level DSLR out there because the whole bunch of cool cameras that you can get for around three to four hundred pounds. It’s got a decent USB socket. It’s got Bluetooth for transferring images across. It takes a decent SD card and it’s just easy to use.
Nikon D5300
This camera is very easy to use even if you’re a beginner. There’s a lot of potential for you, the controls are really well laid out, even if you’ve never used a DSLR in your life before. The grip is nice, they work well and the functions are easy to get used. It will be available for around 450 to 500 Pounds with the kit lens.
Put your money into lenses which 17 to 52.8, 51.8, 31.8, all great lenses that you can get for a decent price and actually if you’ve got the budget to pick up this kit, this body and the lens and maybe one of those lenses that’s something well worth doing.
Design & Handling
Nikon D3400
This thing is light, it’s compact. It doesn’t have a touchscreen which you probably used to with your smartphones but it’s got HDMI. In fact economically, it’s nice. You’re gonna get a decent grip on there which if you’re not used to using a bigger camera, this isn’t even that big but you can carry that around comfortably all day, the way it’s not going to stress you out.
Nikon D5300
Cameras like this gives you the great advantage of having a decent grip, so you can still shoot away with gloves on if need be that might be important to you. The grip is extra nice with your hand because you’ve got a nice textured feel to it there. So generally, if you’re shooting with the camera handheld and not on the tripod, you’re gonna have maybe your hand just below and your finger on the trigger there and you can access the dials on the back and the screen with no problem at all.
You’ve got a play button, you’ve got a dial there that you can flick around and access your menu, you’ve got a zoom in and zoom out and bin. You’ve got a couple of buttons here and information, you’ve got a dial that’s easy to use and the menu button there. This is a big feature that I appreciate about this camera, it’s the flip out screen. It shows you all the modes that you’re in and you can actually access them and adjust them on the fly.
Why I love these screens so much is that you can flick them out and you can position it wherever you want. So, if you want to shoot something from high up but you still want to see the screen well, you can flick it even right to that point and just look straight. I think this screen is very well laid out. The only thing is I wish it was touchscreen that would be beautiful.
On the top of the camera, you’ll notice a few things. There’s a speaker, left and right stereo, microphone on this camera, you’ve got the on/off switch at the top. You’ve got a record button and an exposure compensator and an info button, all things that may seem completely foreign to you don’t worry. But, you’ve got your hotshoe which is where you external flash would go but of course, this thing has flickered on and it will give flash of its own. You’ve got round style button, in which you’ll see has an MASP, manual aperture, priority shutter, priority program, auto and a whole bunch of scenes and effects which I personally would say stay out of it. You’ve got a mic input, so you’ll possibly hear. That’s a very nice feature especially for vloggers. You’ve got few of the forts, there a remote port, HDMI port, AV and USB.
Lens
Nikon D3400
In this, even with the kit lens, you’re going to get a decent photograph. I would recommend getting the lens with VR if you’re a bit shaky or you want to shoot video without using a tripod. Just pay a little bit more that’ll also give you the added advantage that you can shoot at slower shutter speeds perhaps in a lower light environment.
This lens has a little locking feature, so once it’s there it’s not moving at all. So, you need to press the button on the side, hold it in, and turn and now it’s in and if you note, it will just go between 18 to 55. The winds will stay basically fully extended and if you want to get it back, its most compact form you’ve got a push in and you’re in.
Nikon D5300
To get the lens on and off, there’s a button on the side there, and you’ll notice a white dot. So, you can just turn it to release and if you look at the side of the lens, you’ve got a white dots and that’s pretty standard.
Focus and Performance
Nikon D3400
You’ve got auto, single, continuous, and manual. Now, you might want to just leave it in Auto until you get used to using the camera a lot. I’m a fan of single point AF that means you’ll have a point on the screen and you can choose the way you want and that’s where it’ll focus. In metering, this camera has three modes: 1. Matrix metering, 2. Center-weighted metering 3. Spot metering.
In metering, matrix is great if you’re shooting in somewhere like a theater. Something you’re only really interested in getting the image spot-on in one area, spot metering is great. Matrix is a good all-rounder. It’s also has movie settings which gives you different frame size and frame rate for your videos. In ISO settings, the maximum shutter speed is 1/2000 s.
The cool thing with this camera, it does have picture guides to show you the effects of what you choose in. If your eyesight’s not giving you a focused image through there you can just rock it back and forth on there until the image that you see is nice and sharp. In photos you’ll get a smooth transition with the focus.
Nikon D5300
You’ve got you auto-focus, a manual switch, so you can flip between the two. If you’re finding you having difficulty in getting the focus perhaps in an area where there’s not a lot of lights, you can just flick it and start rotating here and that will help you get a bit of a finer focus. For the most part, you’re probably being auto-focus. The auto-focus isn’t that much amazing in the video.
In down part of camera, we’ve got a VR on and off and you’ll see the logo at the top there, that’s vibration reduction. This will help you hand hold the camera with this lens and get a shot in a lower light situation or just get a surer shot if you’re worried about having a shaky hand.
If you might want to use a live view and you can flick it over. Now, live view is not mega fast when it comes to the auto-focus and they can’t still quite behind with that. It can even go selfie style. Format memory card, monitor brightness, you can adjust a whole bunch of things. Obviously, you can set the time, language, location, video modes, HDMI, remote control, etc., there’s a whole bunch of things. In this camera, the maximum shutter speed is 1/4000 s, put it to something that you’re happy with. Once you get bigger, heavier and longer lenses, you might want a higher shutter speed because a lot more shake is getting involved and that will just help it to calculate on the fly where you want it to go.
You’ve got these release modes which are of interest. In this, you’ve single frame, continuous low and continuous high. In a continuous shot, it will take a whole bunch of shots, that light there will flash away telling you that it’s recording. You’ve got self timer and remote, so very handy. For example, if you’re shooting a group you want to be in it, you can use it. Also, in this camera you’ve movie settings in which you can set your frame size and rates as per your wish for your videos. If you want to just get started you want some decent Full HD video while you’re on holiday for example, then this camera has got you covered with that right there.
Image Quality
Nikon D3400
It’s always great to shoot in raw but if you just starting out maybe JPEG okay. If you’re a little bit afraid of using storage and using software, JPEG fine to start but do try the rows that’s where your maximum potential lies. In the ISO sensitivity you can go from 100 to 25600.
Nikon D5300
In the playback menu, you can pause and see if any of that is of interest to you, there is a image quality. If you just starting out I’m going to recommend that to you JPEG fine. But, at some point with this camera you want to explore the NEF raw that’s where you getting the best file out of this camera, the JPEG are okay. With this camera, you want to get playing with the rows and don’t be too afraid, you can do it without too much hassle, even your smartphones now some of them can handle RAW files. So, you can get some free software on your computer too. So, you’ve got a lot of potential especially with the raw file.
If you’re feeling confident, just jump into the rows and start playing in the software or maybe you’ll be better off using NEF raw and JPEG fine, so the final be your best JPEG might as well get the best out of it.
In the old days, the film was rated at an ISI for America or ISO international standards organization. It had a sensitivity that would affect your exposure to the film. Now, it’s all digital, the censors do a similar thing but you can set it to whatever you want. So, you can go from a 100 to 12800. now you always want to shoot at the lowest possible setting now I like to shoot in Auto with the maximum In this camera at 12 800 will let you shoot in darker situations but get it as low as you can.
Bluetooth or WiFi
Nikon D3400
The app it’s not as bad as you might have heard. If you download Nikon snap bridge, connect the Bluetooth of the camera to the phone. You can let it transfer as your shoot and it works quite well but just make sure you’ve got space on your phone. It’s pretty handy, if you want to use the camera to shoot stuff for your Instagram and for your Facebook and the apps got a whole bunch more features and that could be a whole video on its own.
Nikon D5300
You’ll notice, it’s got the logo for WiFi there and GPS which is a big feature about this camera which might make it extra handy because you can connect it to your smartphone and transfer pictures. So, you can share them on social media straight away or just trigger it off using the smartphone. In the side, you’ll find the door which is where your memory card will go. So, you’ll need an SD card usually best to get the fastest possible but not the very fastest. This camera is a little bit old and doesn’t need the very fastest but get something decent like 16 gig, 32 gig, and 64 gig.
Conclusion
Nikon D3400
I think people that are after this camera are gonna be using it on holiday with nice weather. They’re gonna be using it at family outings, special occasions and generally your lights will be better. I think you’ll appreciate that for an amateur, a beginner will have a good time using this camera.
Nikon D5300
This has a lot of things that make it a great buy, especially now it’s been out a little while and the prices are dropped. I hope that’s been of some use to you, I hope it can help you in your journey into better photography, DSLRs etc. Most of the cameras you’re looking out I’ll probably do you’re fine but its not a bad place to start.
