Now would be the perfect time to tell you that I know diddly squat about photography. This article won’t be filled with tons of technical jargon about the Nikon D5300, Instead, it’ll be about the features that I liked, and, how it would suit my needs for my personal use and, for capturing images for my site.
I currently have a Canon SX50. It’s considered a bridge camera, meaning that it bridges the gap between a DSLR and a point and shoot. It offers a lot of pretty cool features that would satisfy almost everyone, but being the greedy bastard that I am, I want more. I want better photos. I want a camera that would produce photos that would force you to spend time taking in every little detail. That was why I reached out to Nikon Canada a few weeks ago. I asked if they would be willing to let me use one of their cameras, and then do a review at the end. I also reached out to other manufacturers, but Nikon was the only one who gave me this amazing opportunity. By the way, thanks for not getting back to me, Canon and Samsung!
Nikon D5300
I asked to borrow the D5300, one of Nikon’s upper entry-level cameras. I’ll tell you why a little later on. The features that initially caught my eye were the built in Wi-Fi, the vari-angle LCD monitor and, the 39 auto focus points.
The 24.2MP camera came with a AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II lens which allowed me to start shooting right out of the box. It took a little while to get used to all of the features but they weren’t very difficult to learn. YouTube videos are a godsend! The size of the camera allowed it to fit comfortably into my hands, but the body was made of a shiny plastic which I didn’t particularly like. I would’ve preferred a more matte finish. The grip, thankfully, wasn’t the same finish as the rest of the body, and had a slight ‘rubbery’ feel. It was big enough to properly grip and provide sufficient control for setting up the perfect shot.
The built in Wi-Fi was my favorite feature. It made transferring pictures between my devices so much easier by eliminating the need to pop out the SD card to upload photos to my computer. I was able to connect my phone, or tablet, to the camera using the Nikon Wireless Mobile Utility app, available in the Google Play store, and transfer photos to my devices. I was also able to use the app to view the photos on my SD card while it was still in the camera and use my phone as a remote control for taking photos.
The bright LCD monitor performed well even in sunlight and its ability to swivel out in many directions allowed me to get shots from some unique angles. This is very handy if you’re shooting videos, taking macro shots, and for self-portraits.
I’ve played around with DSLRs in the past but like many people out there, I kept the dial set to Auto. Obviously, this didn’t allow me to experiment with the different auto focus points that these cameras are capable of. The D5300 has 39 auto focus points which meant that I was able to focus on one of 39 different spots in the camera’s field of vision. What does that mean? Look at the next photo, I set the focal point a little above the fourth Minion from the right. You can see how certain spots are very blurred while the area around the Minion is sharper.
You may be wondering why I asked to borrow this camera instead of Nikon’s more advanced ones. Don’t deny it, the thought did cross your mind. First of all, I’m not a professional photographer, and I don’t need the features that a professional would require in a camera. The features on this camera satisfied my needs and more importantly the price falls within my budget.
I ended up loving the experience I had with the camera and the pictures it produced. All I have to do now is save my pennies because this camera will be joining my family soon. If any of you know a guy who knows a guy who is selling this camera at a decent price, please let me know. I’m serious, I want to purchase this.
Here are some of the photographs I took with the D5300. As you can see the camera produced some gorgeous images in a variety of situations.
1 comment
LOVE how you took many different types of photos and shared them. They look great by the way. Buy it! I like my iPhone camera, but love the results I get with my Nikon D7000.