I'm not sure someone wanting to upgrade a 10 year old camera is gear obsessed
But yes it's each to their own. There's no doubt that lenses are a better 'investment' but sometimes a better body can help you get shots that you otherwise wouldn't, and can improve your images in terms of sharpness, shadow recovery and general manipulation in PP, colour rendition, and noise.
My point is that there are reasons to upgrade bodies and not everyone who upgrades their body is gear obsessed, suffering from GAS or anything else That being said, there's nothing wrong with anyone wanting to change their gear. As long as they don't think gear is going to instantly give them award winning photos then people are free to spend their money how they want. After all, most work hard to get what they have and life is for living and enjoying
I was thinking even for this forum that suggesting an FF camera instead of a 35mm lens was a bit over the top but a D700 for £400 is ridiculous, wow. It's easy to forget just how old a camera it is as I think it's still a fantastic device, the 12MP sounds bad but in practice it's not that much of an issue and the DR is decent, the high iso gives usable 6400, it has a decent buffer and the body is durable. It is heavy but it has a lovely feel as everything just feels right, all the buttons just sit ready making it quick and easy to change settings on the fly.
The newer Nikons (from d7000 on) had overall improvements is resolution, dynamic range and iso. These differences may not be apparent in a well lit non challenging subject, but when the light is more challenging or there is more contrast the newer cameras should achieve better results.
The 50mm is a nice lens. The 35mm f1.8 dx (designed for crop sensors and retailing at approx 140 pounds) is also a very nice lens and well worth the money.
In your case I would buy the 35mm lens at such a reasonable cost. I would then look at investing in a more modern crop sensor nikon camera when funds allow (d3400/d5600/d7500 for examples). I don't think from reading your post that the crop camera is inhibiting you, I do think that a new lens and a more modern/able camera will allow you to do a little more
I'm not sure if what your problem with the 50mm is... field of view - how much of the scene is visible in the shot
OR close focus distance - the minimum distance between the end of the lens and the subject in focus?
If it's field of view your D60 with a crop factor of 1.5 with a 50mm lens is a 75mm full frame equivalent which is a bit "long" for a indoor lens unless you're doing head and shoulders portraits etc.
Your 35mm will give you 52.5mm full frame equivalent which is still quite long.
FWIW I shoot my indoor things with a lens that has a full frame equivalent of 34mm (17mm on Micro 4/3rds crop factor of 2).
My second favourite indoor lens is a 50mm equivalent (25mm native) but I do sometimes struggle to fit everything in the frame with that one.
I'm not sure you will get what you want by keeping your 50mm lens and moving from a crop to full frame body as you'll still be quite "long".
If you have an 18-55 kit lens (27mm-82.5mm FF equivalent) then if field of view is the issue, set the kit lens to 35mm (52.5mm) and see how the framing looks on your subjects. You know how a wider aperture will defocus the background but you can quickly work out if the framing will work for what you want.
If that's still too tight then you need to choose another lens with a wider angle. Again you can simulate that with the kit lens before you buy.
If the issue is close focus distance then you need to look at the spec of the lens you have and the distance you need to achieve and see if there is something suitable. It may be there is another 50mm that focuses closer. You might need to look at a macro lens instead if you're looking to get in very close on a small subject.
I'm not convinced a new body will get you what you want, though there are lots of improvements to be had. I would look at the lens first and choose with FF compatibility in mind so if you upgrade the body too then you're purchase is still useful.
I also have a camera with a cropped sensor (Sony A6000) and personally found 35mm to be a much more useful lens generally than the 50mm.
With a crop sensor the focal length in 35mm terms for a 35mm lens is 52mm and for the 50mm is 75mm. I like the 75mm equivalent for portaits with nicely blurred backgrounds but it can be rather too narrow a field of view for general purpose use.
So you could either:
(1) Upgrade to a full frame body and your 50mm lens will have a 50mm field of view.
(2) Upgrade to a 35mm lens on your existing body and you will have a 52mm field of view
You camera body is very old. Even if you upgrade to a new cropped frame you will get much more detail and far,far better high ISO shots. If you upgrade to a newer full frame body then these advantages will be even more significant.
Some options:
(a) A new Nikon D5300 (cropped sensor) camera would cost around £450. This would not solve your issues with the 50mm lens though. (Could also consider used older models such as the D5000/D5100/D5200 which will still be a step up from a D60.)
(b) A new Ninon 35mm lens would cost at least £190 Nikon 35mm f1.8 G AF-S DX Lens
(c) A used full frame camera e.g. Nikon D700. For example for £430 here with guarantee: Used Nikon D700 Digital SLR Camera Body
Also have a look at Imaging Resource "Comparometer" ™ Digital Camera Image Comparison Page
It allows you to compare shots taken with different cameras on each side of the screen. You can use this to compare shots from your D60 with more modern bodies. Note to view shots from your D60 you will need to click the small "All" button at the top of each side of the screen so that you can go back to discontinued models of camera such as the D60.
It's primarily field of view that's the issue - I gather I could probably struggle by with the existing body and a 35mm but, as many have pointed out, the body has other limitations so I think I'm going to push the boat out and pick myself up a d700 and see what other avenues it might open up, image-wise. I can also obviously still consider the 35mm a few months down the line when I've a bit more cash spare!
Author: Goof
2-12-2019 07:02:19
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