Nikons 'In Order of Desirability'

A few days ago I listed the current Nikon DSLRs "in order of desirability," and several readers asked me to explain that ordering. So here goes. First, this is what I wrote:

The current Nikon DSLRs, ranked in order of desirability, are:

The D850 (pro FX/full-frame, $2,800);

The D7500 (prosumer DX/APS-C, a bargain at $999);

The D500 (pro DX/APS-C, $1,600);

The D780 (prosumer FX/full-frame, $2,200);

The D5600 (amateur/consumer DX/APS-C, $800 with kit lens);

The D6 (specialist professional FX/full-frame, $6,500—don't buy unless it's a business expense and you can depreciate it); and

The D3500 (entry/cheapie DX/APS-C; with kit lens, $650 that probably won't be money well spent).

Get 'em while you can....

First, I wouldn't buy a Nikon DSLR, so that needs saying. I owned a D800 briefly (some cameras "take," some don't), and I tested both the D750 and D7200 when they were new. I think the Sony A900 was the biggest SLR I ever owned, film or digital. Big SLRs have never done it for me, as a rule, in the same way I don't like pickup trucks—and the bigger, the less I like 'em. As my friend Gabi once observed, "you like go-karty cars," and the same is true translated to cameras.

No, wait, it was the Nikon F4s—that was my biggest-ever 35mm/FF SLR. I bought it new when it was first introduced, right after joining a professional studio in the Maryland suburbs of DC, and there was a waiting list: I used an N8008 as a stopgap until the F4s arrived. After using it for a year (and converting it to an F4 with the smaller hand-grip), I went back to the N8008. I own an N8008 now, and I'm surprised by how heavy it is—that wasn't my memory. But it's a lot smaller than the F4. But I digress. (When don't I digress? But let's not digress into that.)

The list also isn't my personal list. Mine would probably go: D500 first, D780 second, ferget the rest.

Here's the rundown, with reasoning:

D850: This is Nikon's top pro-am DSLR, the highest quality and, apart from the D6, highest functioning. The most pixels, the better to make big prints with, my dear. A natural choice for dedicated photography enthusiasts who want a full-dress Nikon with no apologies needed.

D7500: I ranked this highly because at only $1k it's a relative bargain, and as a DX/APS-C camera it's more useful for long-lens work like birding and sports, even if the sport is your kid's soccer game or pictures from the stands at the stadium.

D500: Thom said it better than I could: "The D500...is still in the top three APS-C cameras you can buy today, and only recently eclipsed in any way (by the X-H2S for sure, and in some ways, arguably by the R7)." Since it's been out for quite a while, it's high value both new and used. Odd to call $1,600 "high value," but it's considerably cheaper than the D850. Or the XH2S. This is the one I'd have, and I'd have the now-elderly Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 17–55mm ƒ/2.8G IF-ED lens on it. That is truly one of Nikon's best-ever lenses, made at the tail end of the time that Nikon was sticking to APS-C, and the only lens most people will need on a D500. Love that lens. I'd almost buy the camera just to be able to shoot with it. Personally I probably wouldn't even buy any other lens for the D500, to simplify my choices going out the door.

D780: The sensible choice for full-frame, if you don't want to splash out for the D850.

D5600: Of course this is a good camera, since it's Nikon's Corolla or Civic. But the advantages of SLRs plummet when you move away from the better viewfinders, IMO. I'd never shoot with this, if I'm honest.

D6: Anyone interested in a D6 for valid reasons wouldn't be looking for advice from me. My only job, therefore, is to prevent rich neophytes from buying it for status reasons. (In the days of the F4s, I occasionally saw one hanging from the shoulder of a Washington lawyer or a Washington tourist, and I'd silently think to myself—because that's how I think to myself, silently—"too much camera."

D3500: Again, doubtless good of its breed, because it's a Nikon and Nikon is Nikon, but if you're going to spend for this, you should definitely spend the extra trifle and get the D5600. It's only a $150 difference in price.

So that's my reasoning.

Some people like DSLR viewing, and the recent wholesale shift to mirrorless will make DSLRs more appealing to those people, not less. Like those who stuck with Leica-style rangefinders in the 1960s, back when everyone and his uncle was shifting to SLRs. You don't have to follow the crowd.

SLRs and EVFs have different sets of advantages and disadvantages. I switched allegiances a few years back. Plus, I love the way the new Nikons can put WYSIWYG exposure compensation on a lens control ring; if I were getting any Nikon now it would be the Z6 II (assuming it supports that feature, which I'm not 100% positive about. I tried it on Dave Levingston's Z7 II when he was visiting). 

So that's it. I would guess I've tried my last Nikon SLR...new, anyhow.

Mike

Book o' the Week

Grit and Grace: Women at Work in the Emerging World. Unfortunately, this will be the posthumous swan song of the indefatigable documentarian Alison Wright, whose untimely death at 60 in the Azores this year meant she never got to see it published. Wright's photography was inextricably entwined with her life's dedication to social justice, a sense of acceptance of humanity, and a roving search for beauty and color.

The book link is your portal to Amazon from TOP, should you wish to support this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Tam: "This brings us to the immortal photography nerd scene from Veep, 'Not a 1D?'"

Albert Smith: "Regarding the DX 17–55 ƒ/2.8, I concur that it is the top of the crop-sensor food chain in Nikon world. I got one to use on my D300s and the images that I come back with often shock me with the quality. And if you put the external battery pack on the camera along with this lens, you may need a hernia truss and a chiropractor when you finish a shoot. You really need to know that you need this lens. It is not a casual carry-on-spec optic."

Mike replies: That is true. Serious Nikons be big.

Comments

[mike r retro grouch :) in colorado]

I have almost no knowledge of Nikon's current SLR lineup. Here is my list of Nikon SLRs in order of desirability TO ME:

F2 with non-metered pentaprism
F3 non-hp
FM with no numbers or letters following
Nikkormat FT-3

I no longer own the FM, but these are the only Nikons I've used, so can't really comment much about others. Oh, my daughter has on of their DSLRs from about 2011. It's OK too.

[gary bliss]

Mike --

I know that you are enumerating new Nikons here but I must point for any reader in this market that very clean D810s may be had for under $1k. I have one and cannot quite bring myself to spring for a D850; unless you really need the better AF module for stressing action -- I have a D500 for that -- it really is a very close D850 substitute. Yes the D850 has a few more pixels but 36mp is more than enough for razor-sharp 20x30s with the right glass (which is the limiting factor at that point). Did i mention that its 36mp sensor will go to ISO 64 with what is even now industry matching DR?

You are surely correct about the ghastly mirror viewfinder in D5xxx and D3xxx bodies, but I keep a D5500 as a lightweight all-day "beater", for which it is useful. An eyecup helps with the VF. With lens it actually weighs less than an Olympus Micro 4/3 equivalent, but produces much better raw files.

-- gary ray

[David Smith]

I suppose this is off-topic, but my never-CLA'd (AFAIK) Spotmatic beater gave up the ghost last year. Mirror doesn't return, probably due to shutter curtain sync fail or whatever.

Anyhoo, I have a spare my brother gave me about three or four years ago that's so ugly, all this time I thought it's a spare *parts* body, maybe.

But the film bay is immaculate, like new! Not even any dust (light seals, don't ask). A previous owner (my brother bought it at a yard sale) stuck dymo tapes all over the bottom relating the towns where they lived, so I think they must have cared, even if they (apparently) stored it in the bottom of a dumpster.

It needs a shot of WD-40 up the backside, the film advance is a bit stiff. I put a roll through it, and will see how bad the light leaks are in due course.

It's absolutely shocking how the prices on old film gear have been hipstered right into the stratosphere. You see, I won't be purchasing Nikons of any vintage, thanks for asking.

The most I paid for a FF camera body in the last ten years is Can$35 for aforementioned spotmatic. Also all my lenses are m-42s. So there's that.