• Members 218 posts
    April 6, 2023, 12:37 p.m.

    Hi, my daughter in law is looking to upgrade from her 3200 and kit lens to a 3400 / 3500, shes doesn’t have a lot to spend on it, so it’d be used kit

    She mainly does portraits/art projects at college 

    I had a look and although they are newer I’m not convinced that’s worth doing, but I know nothing about Nikon.

    Would she be better for example with a portrait lens / flash gun ? Or a different Nikon ?

    What would you advise ? 

    Thanks

    Jim

  • Members 71 posts
    April 6, 2023, 12:50 p.m.

    If the D3200 is in good working condition, I don't think an upgrade to the body would make much of a difference, especially since portraits and art projects mostly aren't areas where more modern AF systems or higher burst rates are particularly relevant. Replacing the aging kit lens with a nice prime, on the other hand, would seem like a very good idea to me.

  • Members 6 posts
    April 6, 2023, 12:55 p.m.

    A Nikkor AF-S 50mm (75mm equivalent) will give her a very useful, reasonably priced portrait lens.

  • Members 218 posts
    April 6, 2023, 4:05 p.m.

    Thanks, Is that the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Black Lens ? I did see a 1.8 as well and when used they are similar £s

  • Members 218 posts
    April 6, 2023, 4:08 p.m.

    Thanks, thats my feeling as well but thought i'd better check, its a similar senor so i'd expect similar output, the autofocus and processor would be better but for static subjects its probably not going to make much of a difference

  • Members 6 posts
    April 6, 2023, 9:24 p.m.

    Either one, Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 G or the AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G, whichever you can find and afford. (Not expensive used.)

  • Members 5 posts
    April 7, 2023, 3:16 a.m.

    I feel like a portrait photographer needs nice light more than most. That's why people would hire you instead of shooting a selfie with their phones. If she doesn't have any lighting equipment yet, that's generally a big difference per dollar spent.

    If she already has decent lighting equipment, upgrading the kit lens to a faster prime lens is a good move too. The camera body matters less than the light and the lens (and bringing out good expressions in your subjects) for portraiture.

  • Members 218 posts
    April 7, 2023, 9:46 a.m.

    Thanks, and yes, I also think a new lens, allowing shallower DoF, and some form of lights would be a better option than a similar body, now it’s time for the convincing part…

  • Members 6 posts
    April 8, 2023, 11:52 a.m.

    I would recommend she take a look at this commercial photographer's YouTube channel. He gives a huge amount of sensible advice on starting out in studio work and what is the minimum he would suggest and it isn't very much I can tell you.

    Tin House Studio is the youtuve channel.

  • Members 218 posts
    April 8, 2023, 4:05 p.m.

    thanks moggi, i'll have a look

  • Members 16 posts
    April 9, 2023, 1:21 p.m.

    If her D3200 is not broken, probably not any big reason to update to 3300-3500. I would recommend a decent auxiliary flash that has bounce capability as the first thing to try. The 18-55 and 55-200 vr kit lenses are actually excellent lenses. The 55-200 dx vrII lens is the sharpest lens I own and I use a lot on all my Nikon DSLR's and mirrorless cameras.

  • Members 50 posts
    April 9, 2023, 6:23 p.m.
  • Members 218 posts
    April 9, 2023, 8:04 p.m.

    Thanks phototaker, I think she only has the 18-55, which is why I thought a portrait lens might be better than a body, I’ll check and yes some extra lighting options are a good idea

  • Members 29 posts
    April 12, 2023, 2:40 p.m.

    Yes get a nice prime or so. The 50/1.8G is pretty good but the 50/1.4 if you can get it cheap.

    as with others, no particular reason to move to s D3400 for these applications. There is just one point and its do with the AF-P DX lenses ie the 10-20, 18-55 and the 70-300 VR DX. These are thought to be the best DX kit lenses in that price range but they won't work with a D3200 and there is a limitation with a D3300.

    richard

  • Members 218 posts
    April 14, 2023, 7:33 p.m.

    Thanks Richard, thats good/bad to know about lens vs bodies.

    I think shes finally decided on a decent prime and some flash equipment

    jim