UKC

I think I've decided on the Nikon d7200, but do you have any advice on where to buy it? I'd prefer to go to Jessops or John Lewis, but the kit is available for around £200 less online from sites like DigitalRev and HDEW. Does anyone have experience of using those sites?

In reply to rossowen:

If Jessops have it, and they do a price match ( assuming you ARE looking at like-4-like, ) you are best off getting it in the likes of Jessops.

Jessops will have already found all the other identical deals and will have it on their favourites, so IF you have found a bargain, so will they , and with price match you can have best of both worlds.

In reply to Jim C:

Thanks. I'd like to get it from Jessops, although they won't price match those sites because they are grey imports without an official warranty. They do provide their own warranties, but I don't know how good they would be.

In reply to rossowen:
I'll only point it out as you mentioned John Lewis but Jessops only offers a standard 1 year warranty. John lewis offers 2 years as standard and are only £1 more expensive but if your worried about that they'd price match Jessops.

In reply to rossowen:
I have bought all my stuff (two cameras and three lenses) from Digitalrev and have found them brilliant. The delivery company screwed up the delivery of a lens last month (no fault of Digitalrev) but Digitalrev still sent me a free UV filter and bag of goodies as a goodwill gesture. All other deliveries have been amazingly fast. And they are cheap!

In reply to Robert Durran:

>And they are cheap!

If you can evade VAT etc then yes it's going to be cheaper.

In reply to rossowen:

Have you checked out Wex Photographic? Their prices are usually very good, no grey imports, and cash back if you use Quidco. I use Wex regularly, excellent customer service. Recommended.

In reply to rossowen:

I have recently got the D7200 (part of me wishes I had gone for the D750 but couldn't justify the cost of changing all my lenses ) very good camera you should enjoy

I have used John lewis to buy a panasonic lumix before, this developed a fault and went to the local waitrose filled in a form and handed the camera over and had a new one delivered next day no questions asked. I would use them
I have heard good things about digital rev so don't rule them out.

In reply to rossowen:

I buy most of my stuff from MPB. They have been consistently brilliant to deal with. Have a look at Calumet as well, they will likely have good deals on just now. I've often found their in-store advice a bit lazy and disinterested (aside from making a sale) but if you know what you're after this doesn't really matter so much.

In reply to rossowen:

I bought most of my new camera gear from digitalrev. I haven't used their after sales service as I have had no issues, but the prices were good, and delivery was fast. Highly recommended from me.

In reply to rossowen:

Thanks all, really good advice. Looking likely I'll put the sale through Digital Rev with all the good feedback here. Also, both Jessops and JL are out of stock atm. And of course there's a £150 difference, not to be sniffed at.

In reply to rossowen:

Fair enough, it's their business.( of loss of , as the case may be)

Garmin in said that they would not support Grey imported GPS, I bought one anyway , and first thing I did was register it with Garmin and asked a technical question, they accepted both even though I gave them the serial number, so they knew it was from Canada.

In reply to rossowen:

I've used HDEW without any problems. I think they offer their own warranties. I'd use them again without much hesitation!

In reply to mikedelderfield:

They've got some really good offers atm.

I popped in to JL today to check out the cameras and noticed the size difference between the d7200 and the d5300. The d5300 is so much smaller and lighter, with the same sensor / image quality I am considering either that or the d5500 instead. I think with the size / weight difference I'll be more likely to use it more.

The biggest difference between d5300 and d5500 is d5500 is touchscreen. D5300 with basic lense on hdew is £335 and d5500 is £420 with the same lense.

Is a touchscreen worth the extra £85?

In reply to rossowen: no

In reply to rossowen:

>


Probably not, though it gets good mentions in reviews. I believe the 5500 also dropped the GPS, which might help battery life.

The 5500 has a thinner, but deeper, hand grip which makes it much easier to hold. Have a feel, side by side. For me, for climbing photography, things like that make a difference.

In reply to rossowen:

When I bought my d5300 last year I had the same dilemma between this and the 7200. The weight and size of the d5300 won it for me. The adjustable lcd display is also particularly useful. Yes it's not fully sealed, but I have a cheap rain cover that works fine for the few occasions I've needed it.

I think the touchscreen on the 5500 would be nice though. Particularly for quickly changing the point focus on the fly. It's a bit more fiddly with the buttons on the 5300, but not by any means hard, and wasn't a game changer for me.

In reply to icnoble:


I'd pay £85 to NOT have Wifi or a touchscreen. It's a camera FFS!

In reply to rossowen:

Not sure why you would not choose the best camera you can afford. The Nikon d7200 is a semi pro camera and is built as such. Magnesium body ,weather sealed ,different sensor, able to autofocus with any Nikon lens , better dynamic range, the list goes on.
yes its heavy to carry around, but I would lug a d810 around if I could afford it.

In reply to john1963:


I'd definitely agree with this. I upgraded from a new D5000 to a used D7000 and haven't looked back. The 7-series is just so much better than the 5-series. I'd spend the extra unless you really can't justify it or are only having a dabble to see if you enjoy photography...in which case go for a 3-series initially (or any entry level camera really) then upgrade! Good luck either way.

In reply to Fraser:

I'd love to get into photography more. I've got a young family and we go abroad once or twice a year - I'd love to get some really good snaps. I have the camera on my phone but I don't think the image quality is fantastic and if I can improve it then I'd like to. I'd also like to get into landscape and perhaps street photography. A bit of a mix really. If it can take good videos that would be great also, but not essential.

A bit of a future pipe dream will be to use the dSLR for astrophotography. Initially with a tripod but then with a proper telescope on an EQ mount. I can't justify the funds for the latter right now but it is something for the future, but I could get away with a tripod.

I'd like it to be pretty lightweight to avoid the situation where I get a great camera and then leave it at home for anything other than an event because it's too large / heavy / fidgety to use.

I could just about justify the d7200 with a lens kit but that would be my limit.

In reply to rossowen:
I used Cotswold Cameras for my Fuji xt1 on recommendation and although it's a grey import the friend who recommended they says that if a repair is necessary they use the same co that the insurance cos use for insurance repairs. He's had lenses repaired there under insurance in the past and says they were fine. The Fuji come with 3 yrs warranty iirc.
Ps not tested the warranty myself...

In reply to rossowen:

I would look at this site to help you with your decision.
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9206637562/dpreview-products-of-the-year?s...
Probably the best review site out there.
Good luck on which ever you decide.

In reply to Jim C:
I bought my D7100 from Jessops in September. I had singled it out and just wanted to handle it to confirm. The sales assistant was very well informed and gave me a ten minute tutorial on the key differences between my D90 and the D7100 which was really useful. At the time their price was no different to many others so I was more than happy to buy it from them.

In reply to rossowen:


I'd strongly recommend going for a used body and lens , you'll get much more bang for your buck that way.

Ffordes.com are very good and I've bought from them in the past. They're selling a used D7000 for £300 at the moment:

http://ffordes.com/product/15101414233531

Also Wex Photographic (Warehouse Express) do used gear - they have a decent buy here, another D7000, (fewer actuations too), for £269:

http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-used-nikon-d7000-digital-slr-camera-body...


There will no doubt be lots of bargains on other manufacturers' kit you could consider, unless you're dead set on a Nikon.

In reply to rossowen:
Related topic - has anyone bought from Value Basket - they currently have a lens of interest to me?

In reply to rossowen:

Have a look at Pentax.
Magnesium body ,weather sealed, rugged, you can use any Pentax K mount lens made in the last 40 years (plus M42 via an adapter) with the in body shake reduction.

The K3-ii uses its built in GPS to track the stars, by moving the sensor. Other bodies can use an accessory GPS receiver/astro-tracer to do the same. It uses the in body shake reduction system to work.

In reply to keith-ratcliffe:

I tried once, nice and cheap. The item they claimed to have in stock wasn't and after a week or so of non communication on their part I was told they didn't know when it would be in stock. So I cancelled and bought from HDEW, which went fine. I personally wouldn't use valuebasket.

In reply to doingthebobs:

That sounds good I'll take a look thanks

In reply to rossowen:

Do you really want a DSLR, or do you want a camera that you'll take with you?

I went from a D7000 to a Sony Nex3 and then Sony A6000. Lighter smaller body and lenses, kit lens is okay. Bought an adapter and use quite a number of cheap 'legacy', mainly Olympus, manual focus lenses. Hubby has gone down this road too but has specialised on Minolta/Rokkor MF lenses. Made a huge difference to the enjoyment of taking pictures, and not weighed down by a boat anchor.

Other manufacturers available/etc. Micro4/3rds are producing good bodies, bigger range of lenses than Sony, and good image quality.

In reply to beth:

I've looked at mirrorless but not sure. Seems the battery isn't as good, and they're not quite as fast as dslr s for focusing and and video, but I could be wrong. I looked at the Sony a7 ii, looks like a very good value ff. Also the a77ii looks good, but not as good as the Nikon d7200 which is slightly lower priced. It's a minefield out there.

The d5500 is looking good at the moment with the same sensor as the d7200 but at £409 with a lens from hdew.

In reply to rossowen:

Totally agree with looking at Pentax, if I was you I´d look at the KS-2 which is a bit smaller and lighter as well as being cheaper than the K3 or K3ii, has a rotating screen good sensor and is also mag body waterproofed also worth noting all Pentax DSLR´s have built in shake reduction in the body so along with all PK lenses you can use any Tamron or Sigma K lens without worrying about camera shake (unlike NIkon & Canon).
Try SRS Microsystems, very reputable London company, always got good deals on the go.
If you have the cash go for the 135mm WR lens it is a belter and covers most uses.
http://www.srsmicrosystems.co.uk/cameras/interchangable-lens-cameras/pentax...