Downgrading from full frame to crop, depressing

[PaulWog]

So, I want to purchase a new Macbook Pro. Part of the purchase is a move away from having a desktop computer. To finance a new purchase, I will have to sell camera gear (because I'm a broke student but I have really nice camera gear).

I'll be downgrading from a D750, Tamron 15-30, Nikon 85mm 1.8G, SB-700 flash, and some other gear. I'll be keeping my 50mm 1.8G and Sigma 150-600 Contemporary. I'd even consider selling the 50mm 1.8G, but it will serve as a good portrait lens (my copy of the 50mm 1.8G is quite sharp, I hear copy variation can be bad with the particular lens). The move will sting since I'm taking a nice loss on the resale of a lot of my gear.

What crop camera should I look at though? I'm thinking about getting a D7100 used or on a sale, and looking for a good used UWA crop-sensor lens.

 

[fathergll]

The D7100 is probably the best bet. I would just think long and hard if this is a smart long term financial decision. If you are still into photography a few years from now I am going to bet you are going to be itching at dropping another $2k on a full frame body at the time. At the end of the day after you sell the D750 and purchase the D7100 is it worth the extra $700-$800(U.S) to just end up with something you don't want and you might end up spending much more to rectify it a few years from now?

 

[MCAsan]

Olympus e-m5 mark ll and do high res mode.

 

[Apple fanboy]

So, I want to purchase a new Macbook Pro. Part of the purchase is a move away from having a desktop computer. To finance a new purchase, I will have to sell camera gear (because I'm a broke student but I have really nice camera gear).

I'll be downgrading from a D750, Tamron 15-30, Nikon 85mm 1.8G, SB-700 flash, and some other gear. I'll be keeping my 50mm 1.8G and Sigma 150-600 Contemporary. I'd even consider selling the 50mm 1.8G, but it will serve as a good portrait lens (my copy of the 50mm 1.8G is quite sharp, I hear copy variation can be bad with the particular lens). The move will sting since I'm taking a nice loss on the resale of a lot of my gear.

What crop camera should I look at though? I'm thinking about getting a D7100 used or on a sale, and looking for a good used UWA crop-sensor lens.

I have the D750 and D7100. Both are great cameras. The D7100 certainly struggles in lower light than the D750, but it depends on the type of photography you do.

 

[zioxide]

If you're going to APS-C, get a mirrorless. Fuji XT1 or a Sony Alpha.

 

[phrehdd]

Lots to choose from. I gather you want to stay within the Nikon family? If not, then there are excellent smaller cameras to be had that do quite well from several makers. You might want to list features that are a must.

 

[AlexH]

If you're going to APS-C, get a mirrorless. Fuji XT1 or a Sony Alpha.

That's good advice if the OP intends on sticking with APS-C. If this is a temporary move, I could understand sticking with the same lens mount.

 

[PaulWog]

If you're going to APS-C, get a mirrorless. Fuji XT1 or a Sony Alpha.

Only thing with that is I have a Sigma 150-600 Contemporary, so taking the loss on resale of that, and buying it all over again, would be a big hit. Not sure

I want to downgrade to APS-C permanently because my gear is too big and expensive. I want slightly lighter gear, and cheaper gear, so that I am not afraid of taking it with me. I often don't bring gear with me because I don't want to risk leaving it in my car. My shutter count is embarrassingly low, compared to the quality of my work & cost my gear.

 

[phrehdd]

Only thing with that is I have a Sigma 150-600 Contemporary, so taking the loss on resale of that, and buying it all over again, would be a big hit. Not sure

I want to downgrade to APS-C permanently because my gear is too big and expensive. I want slightly lighter gear, and cheaper gear, so that I am not afraid of taking it with me. I often don't bring gear with me because I don't want to risk leaving it in my car. My shutter count is embarrassingly low, compared to the quality of my work & cost my gear.

If you don't mind using the Sigma 150-600 as a manual lens, you could get an adapter for some mirrorless cameras. I admit I am a fan of Fuji but there are also other cameras out there if Fuji does not meet your taste/needs. Btw, any reason you do not want the Nikon D500?

 

[PaulWog]

If you don't mind using the Sigma 150-600 as a manual lens, you could get an adapter for some mirrorless cameras. I admit I am a fan of Fuji but there are also other cameras out there if Fuji does not meet your taste/needs. Btw, any reason you do not want the Nikon D500?

D500 costs about what the D750 costs. I'm downgrading for 3 key reasons:
1) To get some spending cash net of the switch (to afford a Macbook Pro)
2) To carry around lighter equipment
3) To carry around less expensive equipment

Point #1: I find Windows to be a very distracting OS. What I like about OS X is in the subtleties: The trackpad, how the finger swipes work, how iCloud integrates, etc. Windows 10 is doing most of that now, but it's in a slightly different flavour that still rubs me the wrong way. I could save a lot with Windows, which is a bummer. Catch-22 as well: I don't have a great screen for editing (color accuracy is TERRIBLE on my 27 inch desktop monitor), so a Macbook Pro would be excellent for editing photos.

Point #2: Lighter equipment will be a fairly big deal for me. I want to carry my camera with me more often. My Tamron 15-30 and D750 are a crazy heavy combo. Granted, when I have an UWA lens, I need my tripod and ND filters, so the weight adds up regardless. It takes a while to set up 150x150 neutral density filters as well onto the Tamron, and my girlfriend is very impatient. A circular ND filter is easy to throw on and take off.

Point #3: Less expensive equipment... I want to carry my equipment with me more often, without worrying about it as much. If a D7100 gets stolen, that sucks, but it's not as big of a deal as a D750. If a Tamron 11-20 f2.8 or whatever their new pro lens gets stolen, not as big a deal as the Tamron 15-30.

Point #4: I see the future of photography moving in an unpredictable path. I don't think Nikon will support their current mount indefinitely. I think Canon has a lot of changes they need to make with their sensor tech. I think Apple is very keen to reach into different markets and expand their profit margins. The iPhone 7 Plus tells me this: "Maybe in 5 years something really cool will hit the market that blends what the iPhone 7 Plus does, but actually competes as a true DSLR alternative."

 

[phrehdd]

Paul, while I would advocate the Fuji X-T2, there are deals to be had with the X-T1. The camera can take an adapter for Nikon lenses and the typical "kit lens" is absolutely no slouch - 18-55mm. Getting this lens plus the 55-200mm is a nice combo for a light camera combo. (27-300 mm range in a FF camera).

 

[Apple fanboy]

D500 costs about what the D750 costs. I'm downgrading for 3 key reasons:
1) To get some spending cash net of the switch (to afford a Macbook Pro)
2) To carry around lighter equipment
3) To carry around less expensive equipment

Point #1: I find Windows to be a very distracting OS. What I like about OS X is in the subtleties: The trackpad, how the finger swipes work, how iCloud integrates, etc. Windows 10 is doing most of that now, but it's in a slightly different flavour that still rubs me the wrong way. I could save a lot with Windows, which is a bummer. Catch-22 as well: I don't have a great screen for editing (color accuracy is TERRIBLE on my 27 inch desktop monitor), so a Macbook Pro would be excellent for editing photos.

Point #2: Lighter equipment will be a fairly big deal for me. I want to carry my camera with me more often. My Tamron 15-30 and D750 are a crazy heavy combo. Granted, when I have an UWA lens, I need my tripod and ND filters, so the weight adds up regardless. It takes a while to set up 150x150 neutral density filters as well onto the Tamron, and my girlfriend is very impatient. A circular ND filter is easy to throw on and take off.

Point #3: Less expensive equipment... I want to carry my equipment with me more often, without worrying about it as much. If a D7100 gets stolen, that sucks, but it's not as big of a deal as a D750. If a Tamron 11-20 f2.8 or whatever their new pro lens gets stolen, not as big a deal as the Tamron 15-30.

Point #4: I see the future of photography moving in an unpredictable path. I don't think Nikon will support their current mount indefinitely. I think Canon has a lot of changes they need to make with their sensor tech. I think Apple is very keen to reach into different markets and expand their profit margins. The iPhone 7 Plus tells me this: "Maybe in 5 years something really cool will hit the market that blends what the iPhone 7 Plus does, but actually competes as a true DSLR alternative."

The weight difference between the D750 and D7100 is pretty marginal. Especially when coupled with a 150-600 mm lens.

I can relate to sometimes taking a cheaper camera with you. When I travel abroad for work I take my D7100 with a 50mm 1.8 as the set up is much cheaper than all my other gear.
Sounds like trying to combine photography and taking the girlfriend out at the sometime is the issue.
If I'm doing photography, thats all I'm doing. Trying to combine it with other things just doesn't really work.

 

[fathergll]

D

Point #1: I find Windows to be a very distracting OS. What I like about OS X is in the subtleties: The trackpad, how the finger swipes work, how iCloud integrates, etc. Windows 10 is doing most of that now, but it's in a slightly different flavour that still rubs me the wrong way. I could save a lot with Windows, which is a bummer. Catch-22 as well: I don't have a great screen for editing (color accuracy is TERRIBLE on my 27 inch desktop monitor), so a Macbook Pro would be excellent for editing photos.

I'd rather edit photos on a proper desktop monitor no matter what the OS but if you are set on moving off a desktop OSX does shine the most in laptops.

Point #2: Lighter equipment will be a fairly big deal for me. I want to carry my camera with me more often. My Tamron 15-30 and D750 are a crazy heavy combo. Granted, when I have an UWA lens, I need my tripod and ND filters, so the weight adds up regardless. It takes a while to set up 150x150 neutral density filters as well onto the Tamron, and my girlfriend is very impatient. A circular ND filter is easy to throw on and take off.

Point #3: Less expensive equipment... I want to carry my equipment with me more often, without worrying about it as much. If a D7100 gets stolen, that sucks, but it's not as big of a deal as a D750. If a Tamron 11-20 f2.8 or whatever their new pro lens gets stolen, not as big a deal as the Tamron 15-30.

Point #4: I see the future of photography moving in an unpredictable path. I don't think Nikon will support their current mount indefinitely. I think Canon has a lot of changes they need to make with their sensor tech. I think Apple is very keen to reach into different markets and expand their profit margins. The iPhone 7 Plus tells me this: "Maybe in 5 years something really cool will hit the market that blends what the iPhone 7 Plus does, but actually competes as a true DSLR alternative."

All of this tells me you should just ditch a DSLR all together. If you are going to take a hit in resale, making an incremental step to APS-C DSLR is not worth it. Just make the full jump to mirrorless.

 

[zioxide]

Only thing with that is I have a Sigma 150-600 Contemporary, so taking the loss on resale of that, and buying it all over again, would be a big hit. Not sure

I want to downgrade to APS-C permanently because my gear is too big and expensive. I want slightly lighter gear, and cheaper gear, so that I am not afraid of taking it with me. I often don't bring gear with me because I don't want to risk leaving it in my car. My shutter count is embarrassingly low, compared to the quality of my work & cost my gear.

No doubt selling for a loss hurts, but if you really want to get lighter and cheaper, mirrorless is the way to go. Fuji's glass is amazing, just as good as Canon or Nikon, and yet it's way cheaper. You can get just as good of image quality out of the X-T2 + 16-55mm f/2.8 lens as you get out of a full frame Canon/Nikon with pro glass for like half the price.

I started with Canon gear but I bought a Fuji a couple years ago and I haven't looked back.

Fuji makes an awesome 100-400mm zoom (which on the crop sensor would be equivalent to your 150-600) that's weighs a full pound less than that Sigma. It's a few hundred more, but if you really want to go with much lighter gear, it's the way to go imo.

Paul, while I would advocate the Fuji X-T2, there are deals to be had with the X-T1. The camera can take an adapter for Nikon lenses and the typical "kit lens" is absolutely no slouch - 18-55mm. Getting this lens plus the 55-200mm is a nice combo for a light camera combo. (27-300 mm range in a FF camera).

I have the 18-55mm f/2.8-4 ("kit" lens). It's amazing, very sharp, and awesome build quality. It's definitely not like a typical kit lens, that's for sure.

 

[robgendreau]

I might look at the Olys. Yeah, smaller sensor, but they also do pixel shift, which can work as well as full frame depending on other variables. And small and light. And they work well with tons of lenses IF you can handle manual focus (although working with their excellent focus peaking makes that pretty easy). Of course if you do lots of action stuff thats gonna be a tough transition. The nice thing is that even if you hit the jackpot in the future and can get another FF, you'd still find use for a smaller, lighter M43 like the Oly. And I think using 50mm in manual is great on my E-M5II is a blast; I have a few non-Olys I use. It could be nice for portraits; lots of M43 folks use them.

But I hate to say it but keeping that big 150-600mm isn't gonna get you near light and compact no matter what's stuck on the end of it. Obviously a smaller, lighter 300mm zoom on a M43 would get you the same reach with less bulk and weight; maybe you could get some decent money for the Sigma. Used lens prices are pretty good deals; if you sell it for x then odds are in the future you can buy it again, used, for x.

 

[Fishrrman]

You might consider something like the SONY rx10 iii.

No lenses to carry, 600mm (35mm equivalent), all-in-one.

 

[kenoh]

D500 costs about what the D750 costs. I'm downgrading for 3 key reasons:
1) To get some spending cash net of the switch (to afford a Macbook Pro)
2) To carry around lighter equipment
3) To carry around less expensive equipment

Point #1: I find Windows to be a very distracting OS. What I like about OS X is in the subtleties: The trackpad, how the finger swipes work, how iCloud integrates, etc. Windows 10 is doing most of that now, but it's in a slightly different flavour that still rubs me the wrong way. I could save a lot with Windows, which is a bummer. Catch-22 as well: I don't have a great screen for editing (color accuracy is TERRIBLE on my 27 inch desktop monitor), so a Macbook Pro would be excellent for editing photos.

Point #2: Lighter equipment will be a fairly big deal for me. I want to carry my camera with me more often. My Tamron 15-30 and D750 are a crazy heavy combo. Granted, when I have an UWA lens, I need my tripod and ND filters, so the weight adds up regardless. It takes a while to set up 150x150 neutral density filters as well onto the Tamron, and my girlfriend is very impatient. A circular ND filter is easy to throw on and take off.

Point #3: Less expensive equipment... I want to carry my equipment with me more often, without worrying about it as much. If a D7100 gets stolen, that sucks, but it's not as big of a deal as a D750. If a Tamron 11-20 f2.8 or whatever their new pro lens gets stolen, not as big a deal as the Tamron 15-30.

Point #4: I see the future of photography moving in an unpredictable path. I don't think Nikon will support their current mount indefinitely. I think Canon has a lot of changes they need to make with their sensor tech. I think Apple is very keen to reach into different markets and expand their profit margins. The iPhone 7 Plus tells me this: "Maybe in 5 years something really cool will hit the market that blends what the iPhone 7 Plus does, but actually competes as a true DSLR alternative."

If you really want to save money, ditch the girlfriend...

 

[Apple fanboy]

If you really want to save money, ditch the girlfriend...

Says the guy with three girls!

 

[kenoh]

Says the guy with three girls!

Expert opinion.... ;-)

 

[PaulWog]

If you really want to save money, ditch the girlfriend...

Hah, advice 3 years late!

Now she's working and making good money (as of just recently). I switched careers, so I have 1-1.5 more years until I can start working in my profession (no business background, switching to Accounting).

 

[OreoCookie]

I don't understand why you'd be depressed about moving to different cameras. While full frame cameras have clear advantages, mostly low light capabilities and shallower depth of field, they also have their downsides (price and weight). In good light, it's mostly moot. I would recommend having a look at mirrorless cameras (I'm partial to Fuji's X-mount/X-series), they give you an APS-C-sized sensor in a significantly smaller and lighter package than dslrs. I travel quite a bit each year (I spent ~2.5 months this year in beds that weren't my own), and after getting my Fuji X100s I have taken my Nikon dslr with me only on my trip to Chile. For me APS-C is really the sweet spot.

 

[jerwin]

Depends on what you like to shoot.
Let's see-- you have a ultrawide zoom lens. 15mm on a Full frame camera would be equivalent to a 10 mm lens on a DX body. Nikon actually makes a 10.5 DX _fisheye_, which some people say is a fine lens. But it's not rectilinear.

You'd lose that.

85mm lens + flash.

Maybe you'd get similar results using a 50mm plus a cheap flash. Maybe. Selling the 85mm and SB-700 suggests thatportraiture wasn't really your thing, since both would still be useful on a DX body.

150-600mm.

Certainly the DX would give you extra reach for wildlife photography.
But if you were shooting sports and overcoming relatively slow aperture by using ISO 8000, you'd definitely lose that. The D7100 is pretty noisy at ISO 3200.

The 150-600 lens sort of kills the whole "mirrorless is more compact" argument. With a lens that unwieldy, who cares?

and retooling and going for (say) Fuji APS-C would blow your budget.

Have you considered a D610? I don't mean to imply that "Full Frame" is objectively superior. But it is what you're used to.

The D7100 was, iirc, maligned for its skimpy buffer. This was rectified with the D7200.

 

[MCAsan]

Depressing is the thought of the cost of high end DSLRs and big glass; plus, the size and weight of carrying it all again.

 

[jerwin]

What's wrong with big glass?

 

[mofunk]

Use the D750 to make money. Take photos and sell them. Family portraits for holidays. Senior portraits. Holidays are coming, get a job. Target, 5 Below, Best Buy, check them first. Woolah...there is your money for the MBP.