Opinion of D3400

[clovishound]

I'm thinking about getting Clovispup a new camera for Christmas. She has some interest in photography, and I would like to fan the flames of that. We have an older Canon DSLR which still works, but the newer cameras have much higher resolution stats and other nice features like bluetooth connectivity. I can't justify the expense of a high end DSLR, but from what I am reading the difference in the half frame sensors and full frame sensors are no longer a major consideration.

The local AFB exchange has a good price on a package deal with two lenses, and I am hoping that they will run some kind of sale on it before Christmas.

Any thoughts, experiences with this model. I've never owned a Nikon before, but they have always had a great reputation, and they seem to offer more bang for the buck in the current crop of DSLRs these days from what I can tell.

[dave77]

Tony Northrup's youtube channel is really great for camera info, saw this comparison of the d3400 vs d5600 which is a few $100 more. The D3400 doesn't have a touch or articulating LCD screen, I have a Canon 70d which has both and I would hate to give either option up. Tony actually recommends the older D5300 over both of them.

Check out some of his some of his other reviews, there are a lot more good cameras now than just Nikon and Canon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO2RMAH2WIs

[RetiredSeabee]

I have a d5000 and have been very happy with it. Just looking at the specs for the d3400 it seems like a very good camera. The 5000 came out in 2009 which is when I got mine. The articulated screen is a nice feature for when you need to shoot with the camera in a position where you can’t use the viewfinder. But I think that I have used it to shoot less than a dozen times. Many people have learned to shoot using an lcd screen and don’t use the viewfinder much if at all. I am old school when it comes to my cameras and prefer to use the lcd to review shots and check settings.

[dave77]

I almost always use the viewfinder but the articulated screen does come in handy for some shots. I've used it at a few banquet/reception shoots and if you walk around with the camera at waist level looking at the screen you can get some good candid shots, people don't realize you're taking their picture until the flash goes off. A touch screen is really nice for making setting changes, you don't have to scroll through a bunch of menus.

My first SLR had a dial for ISO setting, shutter speed and f-stop, a lever to advance the film, a shutter button and a button to turn on the exposure meter which was just a needle in the viewfinder. No zoom lenses either, your legs were the zoom.

[clovishound]

My first camera didn't even have a light meter built in. Either use a handheld meter, or guess. I got pretty good at guessing.

[RetiredSeabee]

My first camera was a Kodak Brownie my grandmother gave me when I was six. No bells or whistles.
Over the years I have had a number of good cameras. But the basics I learned from that Brownie had less to do with the camera and everything to do with subject, lighting, and composition.
I do appreciate all the bells and whistles on the newest cameras and although my current Nikon is pushing 8 years old I haven’t used them all.
I have a couple of custom screens set up with what I do use which is a nice feature. I expect the d3400 would be set up similar.
But learning to use the basics well before getting into advanced features is a good start.
The camera kits that I see in the base exchanges are always a good deal. A two lens kit usually has a kit lens from around 18 to 55mm. Great lens for candid shots and landscape to portrait. And usually a mid range zoom around 55 to 200mm. Gives you a good overall range to learn with.

[clovishound]

My first was an Argus C4. Handmedown from my dad, who was into photography. I got his Rollie TLR when he passed. Still have it, although it hasn't been used in a very long time. I still have darkroom equipment moldering in the unused darkroom in the garage.

I see that Best buy has the D3400 on sale next weekend. $100 less than the exchange, although I'll have to add $40 tax. It also includes a bag and a 32 gig card, as well as the 18-55 and 70-300 lenses. I will likely go for that, although I dread braving the crowds.

[dave77]

My first was an Argus C4. Handmedown from my dad, who was into photography. I got his Rollie TLR when he passed. Still have it, although it hasn't been used in a very long time. I still have darkroom equipment moldering in the unused darkroom in the garage.

I see that Best buy has the D3400 on sale next weekend. $100 less than the exchange, although I'll have to add $40 tax. It also includes a bag and a 32 gig card, as well as the 18-55 and 70-300 lenses. I will likely go for that, although I dread braving the crowds.

Also got a hand me down Argus from my dad, don't see a model # anywhere.

I cleaned out my storage last year and finally decided I would never be using my darkroom equipment again so got rid of it all.

Good luck on your shopping trip, I think I would almost rather pay the extra $100 than go shopping the weekend after Thanksgiving.

[clovishound]

I believe that is the C3, nicknamed "The Brick", for obvious reasons.

[dave77]

This is the camera I got in the late 60's when I got serious about photography. Shot mostly black and white. Color film and processing was expensive and not very practical for a home darkroom while B&W was reasonable, even for 8x10s. We turned my best friend's whole unfinished basement into a darkroom, had room to do some big prints, only limited by how much we could afford to spend on trays.

[clovishound]

Since this has derailed into a trip down photography's memory lane (probably more fun than talking about one of the new, all electronic gadgets), here's a stock photo of the 3.5f just like the one I got from my Dad.



It is a beautifully engineered and manufactured camera. Almost makes me want to order some film, chemicals and paper and take a couple of rolls of pictures with it. That's assuming it still works. I don't think the shutter has been cycled in a long, long time. There is something compelling about the old ways. I still can't wrap my mind around putting a couple thousand high quality photos on a card not much bigger than a postage stamp.

[dave77]

. I still can't wrap my mind around putting a couple thousand high quality photos on a card not much bigger than a postage stamp.

I remember taking some non-professional wedding photos for friends and would shoot less than 10 rolls of 36 exposures. Recently shot some with a couple of other non-pros at a friends wedding and I shot at least 500 stills and a couple hours of video. I've heard that pros will shoot 1000's of photos at a wedding.

You did have to take more time to make sure you got decent shots with film.

I could probably fit at least 10,000 lg. high quality jpegs on the SD cards I have although I generally back them up to a couple of hard drives when they have less than a hundred.

[clovishound]

You had to be even more careful when taking pictures with the Rollei. The 120 rolls only had 12 exposures. I toyed with the idea of a view camera at one point. Talk about having to set everything up with care prior to hitting the shutter button.

[daytime dave]

I'd say get her the D3400 if it's a good deal on the combo package. Right after Christmas, a better camera will be available. Encourage her. Good luck.

[clovishound]

The package is going to be on sale for $500. That includes the body, the two lenses, a 32 gig card, and a camera bag. Seems like a good deal to me. I think she might like the bluetooth feature, she has a tablet and it might be cool to be able to immediately transfer a couple of pics to the tablet and view them in a larger format than the small LCD screen on the camera.

[daytime dave]

It sounds like a good deal. My DSLR doesn't Bluetooth. That might be a nice feature.

[dave77]

That's a good deal, I was at Costco yesterday and they had pretty much the same bundle for $599. My 70D has WiFi, must be similar to the bluetooth, I can set it up to send pictures as I'm taking them to my tablet (or a laptop).

[clovishound]

Just got a flyer from the NEX. They have it on sale Fri for the same price as Best Buy, minus sales tax. Now I need to decide whether it's worth $40 to try and fight the traffic over there before work Friday afternoon.

[clovishound]

Well, the deed is done. I decided to try and drop by the local Best Buy this evening. I didn't relish the idea of fighting the traffic tomorrow. I got the only one they had at my local BB. I was gone from the house about 30 minutes. Hopefully she will be happy with it. I'll try and remember to post her reaction and maybe some pics.

[daytime dave]

I'm glad you got it. I too hope she likes it.