#nikons

Hello and thank you! I currently use a Nikon D7000, but I started on a D3000 (and I recommend a similar camera for beginners - the 7000 has a lot of extra buttons that would have bamboozled me).

-> @queeriesandmore has my 3000 now and is considering upgrading in a while, so they might be able to give you some advice as well ;P

If I was buying my own camera bodies, I think I would have started on a Canon instead, just because they tend to have screens that flip out and around (along with video capabilities on even the cheaper models) and hot damn that would be so useful! But my bodies have been presents from the other camera user in my family, so I didn’t have a choice. XD I’m not familiar with Canon specs otherwise, and I love my Nikon so I’m chill with it.

So definitely look for a cheap camera body, and make sure it comes with a lens - 18-55mm is pretty typical (zooms from wide angle (18, good for landscapes) to portrait (50, good for people)), but prime lenses (that is, a fixed lens that does not zoom) are also popular. For primes, 35mm and 50mm are the most versatile, and they’re also the lenses that I use the most in my own photography.

You might like the blurred-out background in my photos - that comes from a combination of lens length (the longer the better) and aperture (how much light gets let in) - common nikon primes are f1.8 apertures, which are VERY wide and thus blur out backgrounds very nicely (it’s called a ‘short depth of field’; conversely, a long DOF like f22 will have EVERYTHING in focus). Other lenses will have f3.5 or f5 as their widest, and that won’t work as well. My 85mm Sigma lens is f1.4 and it’s beautiful. <3

If that was just a rush of weird numbers and information that went over your head - don’t worry! I’m still learning a lot every time I have to go look up something. Even after I upgraded camera bodies, I still had barely any idea what most of the various bits did (what’s ISO? Why is an f1.8 ‘wide’ and ‘fast’ but an f22 ‘small’ and ‘slow’??? this makes no sense) but I chugged along and made sure to look up anything I didn’t understand! I still feel stupid when talking with other photographers, but it’s getting better as I learn, and that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun with my camera and what I capture with it. :) (Though I definitely had an advantage, knowing Photoshop and art composition prior to picking up a camera.)

For camera- and lens-specific information, Ken Rockwell’s site is an invaluable resource. Pages like this one help you understand your camera more easily than the manual!

I’m not an encyclopedia on cameras, unfortunately; I’ve only ever used maybe three models of Nikon, and I have zero idea what all the others do. But hopefully this helped?

Dunno what your budget is, but here’s a used D3000 + 18-55mm lens for $200

& here’s a D40 + 18-55mm lens for $150