Nikon D5100 SLR or Nikon P500 Bridge

[sam9s]

Hi friends,

Need the photographers advice here ..... I have a budget of 40K, I love photography, and I want to venture in to it ... but the problem is .... I do not know ABCD of it ... ..... I mean not even the AB forget about CD...lolzz

But I have been using Bridge cameras above the typical PnS just because I want good snaps. By good snaps I mean under difficult conditions. (any camera can give good snaps for a stationary subject under bright sunlight out side).

Now what I am already using .... Nikon L120 and prior to that Sony H50. Nikon has given me some amazing results and quality pics. However things go bad under low lights, (like candle light dinner snaps ...etc) OR fast moving objects, like my baby is running and I movie my camers to get a snap. Or maybe the subject moves while taking the snaps and it goes hazy .....

So now I am thinking to upgrade and I have finilized these two ...

1. Nikon P500 or
2. Nikon D5100 . DSLR.

Now even though I have a budget to spend I am not sure if I should go for DSLR, coz I dont know a thing about it, all the technicalities .... like lens specification 18-55. etc.

Few thing I have seen is that DSLR does not have any zoom, dont know why. Nikon L120 had 21x and P500 has 36!!!. and both take amazing snaps at full zoom. makes it so easy. How to achieve this with DSLRs .....

My main interest is in ...

1. ultra low light snaps, specially indoor,
2. Moving Subject ... (like my baby is running and I can get a perfect still shot)
3. Decent DOF, I love DOF snaps ...

Not sure I should go for a DSRL. As I said I am absolute new to photography but I have utmost interest to learn it, and persue it. But never had the courage to go for a DSLR as I couldnt understand half of what it has to offer (if you know what I mean). I still dont get most of it.

suggestions Please ...

 

[muradasa7]

Your first two criteria itself are reason enough to go for the DSLR.Dont worry about the zoom levels not being there, you can get extrememly powerful zoom lenses which will provide superb image quality and the build quality and performance will be far superior. If you still want to learn more visit dpreview for mor info. Mind you the P500 is a gr8 camera by in itself and could be a stepping stone to a DSLR if you feel a DSLR is a little difficult for you to handle right away. Cheers!

 

[sam9s]

abosuletly I have no issues spending 40K, but I fear a little that getting a DSLR does not become too much for me to handle. About the zoom lenses which one is recommended for atleast a 21x zoom ....... I hope its not like after you buy a DSLR for say 40K you have to spend another 40K on lenses for different types of shooting ....

 

[anm]

advantages of dslr
- larger sensor area - therefore more details. Instead of zoom, you can crop and the picture can be still better than a higher zoom p&s

- interchangeable lenses - you can attach different lenses for different purposes.

Low light and moving subjects both need faster (bigger aperture) lenses. For low light you can steady your hands or use a tripod. Moving subjects is the toughest and I am still not able to do much about it, even with my dslr and 50mm f/1.8 lenses. By the time I focus, the kid is already in "shallow depth of field" range.

You MAY use flash in both the cases. However flash introduces very dark shadows and scares kids. You can try bouncing off flash or diffuse and reduce the intensity a bit. It would take a just a paper over the flash. See this - Nikon SB-400

 

[anm]

I hope its not like after you buy a DSLR for say 40K you have to spend another 40K on lenses for different types of shooting ....

your fear is unfounded. Once you spend 40k on a dslr, you would want to buy lenses that cost 1 lakh or more.

 

[vivek.saikia]

Get yourself a Nikon D5100 and Nikkor 35mm f1.8 lens and you are set for your venture into the world of photography!

 

[muradasa7]

There are plenty of Nikkon and other lenses which you can use on the DSLR. Yes you do have to spend more on buying lenses, but the results are worth it. If you really want a telephoto zoom try to get the maximum possible with the camera, say a 18-200mm. Cost will be high though. Nikkor 35mm f1.8 lens is an excellent prime to consider too. look at flipkart for prices. PM me if you want more details.

 

[arj]

i think there is a lot of in fo you can read up on the thread on canon Vs Nikon DSLR which you would find relevant.
These days Bridge cameras are getting almost a good as DSLRs (only difference is in Sensor Size). all aspects like High ISO, DOF and low light are very much present in both.
As far as bridge cameras go, The Panasonic FZ series are supposed to be really good.

 

[sam9s]

Thanks for all the replies ....... I am reading quite a few articles for both P500 and D5100. P500 seems to offer quite a lot out of the box like 720p movie @ 60fps. High Speed shots at 120 and 240fps. ect.

A statement at one of the review is interesting and I would like to share here.

The other dominant part of the P500 is of course the 32x zoom lens, which goes from an ultra-wide 22.5mm to a massive 810mm in 35mm terms. Considering that with an SLR, you would need at least 3-4 lenses to cover the same focal range, the single, fixed-mount lens of the Nikon P500 can be described as remarkably compact

Now I dont get 90% of what it says but for a layman like me looks like a major advantage of this camera over a DSLR.

SOURCE :: Nikon Coolpix P500 Review | PhotographyBLOG

Can anyone explain what 35mm f1.8 actually means. Any pointer of basic photography learning site, where I can learn the very basics of the same. As I said I am a total blind one when it comes to photography technicalities .....

 

[muradasa7]

SLR Photography Guide - Digital guide to DSLR photography

Digital Photography School - Photography Forums

You can check these sites.

 

[reignofchaos]

Well its as simple as this - for low light photography, you need fast lenses which are f/1.8 or faster and sharp at those apertures. Also you need big sensors with low noise so that you can shoot at higher ISOs without noise.

Most compact cameras can never reach those standards. The ones that come close cost as much or more than DSLRs.

Also another thing to note - there's no 10x zoom and such crap in SLRs :lol:.

The 'x' in the zoom ratio of compact cams signifies the ratio of the highest focal length divided by the lowest focal length the lens can adjust between. The thing to note is that the bigger this ratio, the poorer the quality of the lens - it'll have way more geometric distortion, way more fringing and flare and will be very very soft at both ends.

SLRs have lenses which are dedicated for particular focal lengths and typically none of them are more than 3x or 4x to get good image quality. In fact one gets the best IQ out of the most simple fixed focal length 'prime' lenses rather than zooms. The lens that sits on my SLR 90% of the times is an 85mm f/1.8 which has no zoom since its easily one of the sharpest and vivid lenses that canon produces for not so much money.

 

[deba]

If you want low light performance and better optics and photo quality then D5100 is the answer.The D5100 has very good low light performance and uses the same sensor as the D7000. Best APS-C Sensor till date from Nikon.Small sensor of P500 will never let you boost ISO for low light photo.....

 

[sam9s]

mmm Ok got it .... can you put some light on this as well ...

The other dominant part of the P500 is of course the 32x zoom lens, which goes from an ultra-wide 22.5mm to a massive 810mm in 35mm terms. Considering that with an SLR, you would need at least 3-4 lenses to cover the same focal range, the single, fixed-mount lens of the Nikon P500 can be described as remarkably compact

 

[reignofchaos]

mmm Ok got it .... can you put some light on this as well ...

Yes what is said is true - you'd need lenses from 22.5mm all the way to 810mm to cover that range and that is not cheap. The biggest reach in SLR territory with good quality is 18-200mm. However in reality, unless you wanna be a peeping tom :lol: or do astronomical photography, anything more than 250-300mm is not really needed. For bird photography, which needs long zooms, you'd need upto 400mm but beyond that is absolutely not useful. You also have to remember that the 32x zoom lens that exists in the nikon will produce very very soft images at both ends with very poor color so in all honesty, its more to create a paper spec than anything else.

Now to make it even more confusing, entry level SLRs all have crop sensors - so when you buy an 18-200mm lens, the effective focal length is roughly 27-300mm.

 

[anm]

focal length isn't everything. It's like PMPO watts in some sense.
What is important besides focal length is aperture size of the lens, optical image stabilizers, ability to focus fast etc.
For camera, large sensor size is very important. If you shoot very sharp and shoot RAW, you can blow up the image and crop whatever you need. It is equivalent to zooming in on that area.

If you want to check nikon D90 you can walk to my office and I can give a demo
D5100 is a good buy.

 

[sam9s]

^^mm I dont shoot RAW for sure sharp yea I guess. I am reading very extensively recently between the two cameras, and it seems for a beginner who is just venturing in to the field of photography, 5100 will be a bit over kill. P500 however gives you enough manual setting to first experiment and see/learn what all aperture settings do. I also was going through sample snaps for the two camera and it seems that viewing on a 42" LCD @ 1080p does not provide much of a difference (or may be I was looking at the wrong choices of snaps) anyway, unless and until I actually know what it means by aperture size and figures like 18-200mm and f/1.8 there seems to be no point in getting a DSLR, (unless other wise someone convinces me...)

Here sharing few sample pitcures taken from both cameras ...

FIRST D5100

NOW P500

@anm, where is your office BTW, I seriously might drop in if its not that far from my place .....

 

[anm]

Sam - what you can do is that keep reading about aperture etc - meanwhile buy 5100 with 35mm - 1.4 or 1.8 aperture. DSLR is not an overkill

Aperture is size of hole through which light comes into camera. Bigger the hole, brighter the picture. Larger hole means smaller f number. Twice the number, 1/4th the amount of light.

 

[matbhuvi]

I have Nikon D3100 with 18-55m (stock) , 70-200mm (stock). I added that with Nikon 35mm f1.8.

For indoors, i strongly recommend speedlights like sb-600. My gear includes a used SB-24 (manual) and Promaster 7500EDF (auto). For beginners, auto is recommended.

My only quirk with D3100 is, it does not have a HDR mode. You need to do manual exposure changes to get HDR (like the pros do). Besides that, i am happy with this kit.

Don't forgot that you need good backpack and tripod (very much underrated tool for photography).

If you shoot on outdoors a lot, then it is advisable to invest in good CPL filter and ND filter. I also recommend using good UV filter mainly for protecting your valuable lenses.

 

[sam9s]

^^ Man I hope you know whom you are suggesting ... Most of the things you said were french for me ... ......

@anm I know what aperture literally mean ... , What I meant was the figures that discribe it and how do you come to know what figure lense to apply under what conditions ...

 

[theironhorse]

^^ Man I hope you know whom you are suggesting ... Most of the things you said were french for me ... ......

@anm I know what aperture literally mean ... , What I meant was the figures that discribe it and how do you come to know what figure lense to apply under what conditions ...

man ?? i saw this thread now...... comparing a D5100 to nikon P500.

well first to start with..

the top notch SUPERZOOM cannot match the quality of the basic DSLR. (as mentioned) the sensor is like puny in front of dslr. lesser details.

second. P500 seriously ??? the worst of all superzooms of 2010..

you look for a P&S of 2011.. look forward for FUJI HS20, SONY HX100v , Pana FZ 47 or the old FZ-40 , FUJI X-S1, pana FZ-150

all of em might not be 32x but till whatever zoom they go they are pretty sharp. you would not want a 810 mm zoom will blurry pics/hazy pics.

sony's and fujinon lens did an amazing job getting the clarity even to the far end.

i did not included canon in the superzoom list for the colour ..purple fringing.

P500 hell no..

720p .. all the cams mentioned can do 1080p and few of them even high speed movies. and are around 20-25k you save 15k (get yourself a cpl of filters and a good ball head tripod)



now coming to dslr.

d5100 as mentioned carries the same sensor as the d7000 thats one hell of a camera.

if you look forward for a decent 8x10 print and no pixel peeping. geT yourself a p&S . (condition 1 )



you will be using the camera on auto settings.

dslr (dead investment )
get a sony or panny (fuji excluded ) works best with manual modes.auto is decent but does not uses the complete capacity of the camera.




you want DOF (depth of field)

you can get a fraction of those amazing photos with max tweaking on a P&S.
get a dslr with a prime lens 1.8 and you have all of em.


you want loads of zoom.
. dont even think bout dslr if you wanna keep that 40k intact for the next few years.



you want to try astrophotography with moving stars and like slow shutter night shots.

get a dslr.



if people in the family will be using it too... get a P&S.

as D5100 is not weather sealed you gotta be cautious about the handling.
lens are delicate. sensor gets dust or moisture and there you go for a service.




regarding the aperture question.. the more the aperture will open the shorter the number gets. you can get wide lens of say 18mm with aperture 1.8 and that will give you good DOF.

for landscape photos you would need anything between 4.5- 16
depending on the light and situation.


this is all that came to my head as of now. will add more if something comes soon.


i do not own a dslr though but i have used quite a few of them.

adding are few pics and experiments done with a fz-40 and my HS20.