Deciding to buy a DSLR is the easy part. Deciding which one, as a new purchase without any existing photography equipment, is the the hard part.
In fact, there are other formats besides the "standard" DSLR (micro four-thirds, mirrorless, large format). I chose to get a DSLR, well, because that's what I wanted. I can't afford the larger formats (especially for a hobby, which I'll get into more in a bit...). I wanted to use the view finder because that just seemed like real photography to me.
My fate was sealed - it was going to be a DSLR. There are a few name brands and it only takes a bit of googling to find out which ones are the most popular. The usual suspects are Canon, Nikon, and somewhat lesser, and in no particular order, Sony, Pentax, and some others that are either small players or expensive (like Lieca). Some of the non-Canon or Nikon cameras have some cool features too.
But, for me, it was a decision between the 2 big boys - Canon and Nikon. If you research that discussion on the web you'll find an endless supply of opinions. It's confusing and correspondingly hard to come to a decision.
First, I had to come up with a reasoned budget. I decided to stick to an entry level camera system, around $500 or so. My reason, which may not apply to anyone else, is that I've started a few other hobbies in my life, studied them, subscribed to magazines, and most importantly, sunk money into them.
Other Hobbies
I've stuck with some of my hobbies for a good number of years, such as music. I started playing guitar in 1970 and still play. I ran a small commercial recording studio for 10 years. I sold all of that equipment in the 1990's but in the 2000's I started accumulating more recording equipment. Today I have a dozen guitars and basses (the pic at right shows some of them), multiple keyboards, a drum set and percussion, and in some ways more recording equipment than I had in the 1980's and 1990's. I appear to be sticking to that hobby (although my interest ebbs and flows at times to make room for other interests, like most people).I also used to be into sport bikes, including a time when I had 2 of them simultaneously. I also used to fish a lot. I don't do either of those things any longer (but I MAY go fishing again if the right opportunity presented itself).
I used to give guitar lessons and always recommended to parents or students that they get the best instrument they could afford, or even spend a bit more than that. My reason was that the quality will be better (as long as you buy from a reputable dealer). Better quality meant the student would enjoy the results more - the timbre would be better, it would likely be easier to play and would tune and stay in tune better. And, if the student doesn't stick with it and they decided to sell the instrument they'd get a better re-sale value. I've never seen where that wasn't the case.
How does that apply to a camera? Well, directly...
Photography Hobby Deliberations
I wasn't sure (and still am not) how long I'd keep an interest in photography. I decided to be tentative. I wanted a camera that would do the cool DSLR type things (fully manual picture taking) so that was the minimum - an entry level DSLR. I figured that I'd know within a year or so the extent of my interest in photography. If I was a flaming fanatic I'd get a more expensive camera in a year or so. Otherwise I'd have a decent camera that I could still take some better pictures with as compared to our Kodak Z7590. Either way we'd make out. (By "we" I mean my "empty-nester" wife and I).
So, it was going to be an entry level Canon or Nikon.
I read the reviews of the entry level cameras including the Nikon D3200 (the D3300 wasn't out at that time). The bottom line of all I could read online was that all of the cameras in that price range were very similar and they all shoot really good pictures. I looked at a lot of sample pictures from both cameras too. To be honest, I don't remember the Canon that I was comparing to the Nikon D3200, but to me the colors and sharpness of the Nikon pics were more impressive.
Another information source I had was a number of friends that shoot photos too, and almost all of them had chosen Nikon and were happy with their choice.
My Nikon D3200
Coupled with that info, I decided to take a trip to Best Buy and lo and behold if they didn't have a sale going on right then on Nikon equipment so that was the final choice for me - price. There have been better deals since, but I got a Nikon D3200 with the kit lens, an additional 55-200mm zoom, 16G SD Card (I didn't realize you had to get that separately), a camera bag, a DVD on the D3200, and probably some other stuff. It was a good sized bag! With tax it was about $900. So much for the $500 budget!
I had looked at prices online for the gear and the deal at Best Buy was a saving over Amazon or other places. I later found out that Costco actually had a better deal - I don't have a current membership there and never thing to look at them. It would have been cheaper for me to renew their membership and get the gear from them!
But, Nikon was having a sale (which I've seen often since August 2013) where if you bought a camera you got a good price on accessories like zoom lenses and flashes. That's why I got the 55-200mm zoom at the same time.
Best Buy had a special on the camera bag bundled with the SD card, DVD, and other accessories.
In addition, I added an extended warranty. I don't usually do that but I planned to try to take pictures of landscape an who knows what might happen to the gear.
I ended up with a Nikon D3200. I have NOT regretted it yet although at this point, after about 5 months with it, I want more. I am pretty sure which way this hobby is headed - down the road that involves a long time passion and along with it, additional expense!
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