Hi,I know this question has been asked many times on this forum and I have gone through many of those threads. However, I'm no closer to making a decision on this due to the various points of view!Before I go into which camera I should buy I want to put across my photography needs. Most commonly I take pictures (and videos with my smartphone) of my 10 month old daughter (a couple of times a week). On vacations (usually twice a year) I like to shoot wildlife, birds and landscapes. I rarely use my camera for social photography.My current gear is:I want to upgrade because:Here are the options I have:Irrespective of the above choice, I want to buy a prime lens (maybe the AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G).Based purely on budget I am leaning towards the D5300, while I really want to go for the D7100 as I feel it will give me a chance to improve my photography skills.Thoughts?Thanks in advance.Rahul

As I said the first time, D5300 and a Sigma 17-50 f2.8. You now have swiveling LCD, optical stabilization, and a constant f2.8. All pretty helpful with a baby. You can get down to their level easily - and in dim light. 1 more f stop than the D7000 and a faster lens than the kit lens.

doc rahul wrote:Hi,I know this question has been asked many times on this forum and I have gone through many of those threads. However, I'm no closer to making a decision on this due to the various points of view!Before I go into which camera I should buy I want to put across my photography needs. Most commonly I take pictures (and videos with my smartphone) of my 10 month old daughter (a couple of times a week). On vacations (usually twice a year) I like to shoot wildlife, birds and landscapes. I rarely use my camera for social photography.My current gear is:I want to upgrade because:Here are the options I have:Irrespective of the above choice, I want to buy a prime lens (maybe the AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G).Based purely on budget I am leaning towards the D5300, while I really want to go for the D7100 as I feel it will give me a chance to improve my photography skills.Thoughts?Thanks in advance.RahulIf you really want to take the next step into photography (you want to be the master of your camera) , you need the D7100 or D7000 with all the hard buttons.If you are not sure about how deep you want to go in photography and video is very important in your discision, you will go for the d5300.Little warning: if you get used to a body with a lot of hard buttons, you probably will not buy a menu driven camerabody anymore.

Steve Bingham wrote:As I said the first time, D5300 and a Sigma 17-50 f2.8. You now have swiveling LCD, optical stabilization, and a constant f2.8. All pretty helpful with a baby. You can get down to their level easily - and in dim light. 1 more f stop than the D7000 and a faster lens than the kit lens.Never considered a non-Nikon lens till now. Will do some research on the Sigma 17-50. f2.8 and stabilisation sound interesting! Thanks for the suggestion.

RemcoDo wrote:If you really want to take the next step into photography (you want to be the master of your camera) , you need the D7100 or D7000 with all the hard buttons.If you are not sure about how deep you want to go in photography and video is very important in your discision, you will go for the d5300.Little warning: if you get used to a body with a lot of hard buttons, you probably will not buy a menu driven camerabody anymore.Yes, I do want to improve my skills. Started doing photography when I was in high school with a Yashica camera and have had many film cameras (Nikon, Minolta). Got the D50 7 years back and have tried to experiment with all the manual settings so far.I'm guessing the D7100's video is not that bad as compared to the D5300. It'll definitely be better than any smartphone!

Here are the options I have:Irrespective of the above choice, I want to buy a prime lens (maybe the AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G).Also take a look at the 50mm F1.8g. It will produce more flattering portraits of your daughter.It's less useful on the streets thoughBased purely on budget I am leaning towards the D5300, while I really want to go for the D7100 as I feel it will give me a chance to improve my photography skills.The D7000 will give you a lot of extra's of the D7100.An larger viewfinder.More direct controls.AF with older lensesDual sd card slots.The D5300 has a newer sensor that resolves more details and it has a wifi option. Which unfortunately is not very well executed yet. I would pick the D7000 over the D5300.Thoughts?Since it seems like your daughter is your most important subject.Get an 50mm F1.8 for that small depth of field. And an flash. Pick a cheaper body like an D5100 if budget is an issue since the flash and that lens will make a far bigger improvement to your pictures as an D5300 would do over the D5100.Do upgrade the D50. It's 6mp CCD is a long way from the standards of todayThanks in advance.RahulMy 2 cents good luck

it doesn't matter what THE 7100 can not be beat. all other thinking is just $$ motivated . Nikon released the 7100 as their best in this format and until a replacement comes out IT REMAINS THE BEST. Consider nothing else, unless money is an object and you do not mind compromise

I fail to see how a D7100 over a D5300 is going to "improve" your photography.  If you can give examples of how that's going to happen I'd like to know.I've never looked at a really good image and said - that can't be from a D5x00, it must be from a D7100.  Never looked at a good image and said that can't be from a D7100, must be from a D4.Just like I've not looked at images and said -- pretty poor shot, must be from a D3xxx series.The photographer makes the image.  The photographer composes the image.  The photographer makes the best use of light, imagination, etc..The cheapest dslr on the market will make Ansel Adams' images look average if put in the hands of a good photographer.

Are you sure you want to use a DSLR for video, especially a Nikon one? The focussing is slow and noisy, if it works at all. You can't change the aperture while shooting and you don't get good control over the shutter speed.

BarnET wrote:Since it seems like your daughter is your most important subject.Get an 50mm F1.8 for that small depth of field. And an flash. Pick a cheaper body like an D5100 if budget is an issue since the flash and that lens will make a far bigger improvement to your pictures as an D5300 would do over the D5100.Do upgrade the D50. It's 6mp CCD is a long way from the standards of todayMy 2 cents good luckThanks for the detailed advise. Appreciate it.I can afford the D5300 with a prime lens and flash (SB-400 maybe?)Will check out the 50mm. I see there are two 50mm lenses available from Nikon - the G & the D. Just want to confirm that you are recommending the G lens.

mike geier wrote:it doesn't matter what THE 7100 can not be beat. all other thinking is just $$ motivated . Nikon released the 7100 as their best in this format and until a replacement comes out IT REMAINS THE BEST. Consider nothing else, unless money is an object and you do not mind compromiseWell money is a definite constraint. I can't buy the D7100 and a good lens (and maybe a flash). Though I do hate a compromise, I want a body that can last me a few years (which is why I am reluctant to go for the D7000).

stevef1961 wrote:I fail to see how a D7100 over a D5300 is going to "improve" your photography. If you can give examples of how that's going to happen I'd like to know.I've never looked at a really good image and said - that can't be from a D5x00, it must be from a D7100. Never looked at a good image and said that can't be from a D7100, must be from a D4.Just like I've not looked at images and said -- pretty poor shot, must be from a D3xxx series.The photographer makes the image. The photographer composes the image. The photographer makes the best use of light, imagination, etc..The cheapest dslr on the market will make Ansel Adams' images look average if put in the hands of a good photographer.I agree with what you say with respect to the art of photography.There are times though that I felt limited by the D50 with the need to go into the menu to change some setting (for e.g. - matrix metering vs. center-weight - or - having to press an additional button to change shutter speed/aperture in manual mode). Agreed that those are rare cases and are not going to improve how I compose or imagine a picture. Maybe (and I could be wrong here) having access to fine tune my shots with the "hard" buttons will help me learn more about lighting, depth of focus, etc. And again, these are going to be used only when I am doing nature shots; my daughter doesn't have the patience to sit and let me experimentI still need to check out the D5300 and D7100 physically at a store to see how such options would be different from the D50.

iljitsch wrote:Are you sure you want to use a DSLR for video, especially a Nikon one? The focussing is slow and noisy, if it works at all. You can't change the aperture while shooting and you don't get good control over the shutter speed.I have absolutely no experience with shooting video with a DSLR (the D50 has not video option). Video is not a huge priority and I don't want to invest in another camera just for that. So I guess I'll be happy with whatever I get. Worst case, I continue using my smartphone.

I have a D5300 with the 35mm 1.8 and I love it. I actually got a superb quality lens that locks focus accurate at 1.8.The image quality from this camera in raw is superb. The colors and sharpness are very pleasing.I do wish it had more hard buttons, but you get use to the menu in a short time. The size of the camera is a bonus.Buy a few lenses and a nice flash and this camera is superb!

On the D5300 you can only use the 50 mm f/1.8G, not the f/1.8D (if you want to be able to autofocus, that is). On the D7000 or D7100 you can use both. I have the D and it's a great lens with no distortions, although I don't find the focal length the most useful one on a DX system.Nikon currently only has two kinds of flashes: the ones that are too limited (no swivel, AAA batteries that run out fast and recycle slowly) or big and expensive. Check out the third party options that are compatible with i-TTL such as those from Yongnuo, I think the 565 and 568.

doc rahul wrote:BarnET wrote:Since it seems like your daughter is your most important subject.Get an 50mm F1.8 for that small depth of field. And an flash. Pick a cheaper body like an D5100 if budget is an issue since the flash and that lens will make a far bigger improvement to your pictures as an D5300 would do over the D5100.Do upgrade the D50. It's 6mp CCD is a long way from the standards of todayMy 2 cents good luckThanks for the detailed advise. Appreciate it.I can afford the D5300 with a prime lens and flash (SB-400 maybe?)Will check out the 50mm. I see there are two 50mm lenses available from Nikon - the G & the D. Just want to confirm that you are recommending the G lens.Yes obviously. the 50mm F1.8g.You could also go for an 3rd party flash but get 1 with ttl.The yongnuo 568 is very good value but complicated.you can also take a look at metz which makes good quality strobes for less then Nikon

All three are great cameras. I tried out the D5300 and the D7100 for about 2 days each. Rented them. I did like the control button set up a little bit more on the 7100 but the 5300 just felt better in my hands. Most of the menu functions I could do pre-shot and unless your shooting actions/sports, adjustments on the fly is not that critical. IMO. I really liked the articulating screen. That screen would make it easier to get shots down on your kid's level in live view.I bought the 5300 w/the 18-140mm kit lens. With the money I saved over the 7100 I bought the 50mm f1.8 prime. While the 7100 is considered the fancier camera, I couldn't tell a bit of difference in IQ. The 5300 just felt better in my hands. JMHO.    OS.

I moved from a D50 after seven years to a D7000. The difference is night and day. I do use video on occasion, and I've found that my best results are with manual focus. You can't go wrong with any of these cameras, although I would recommend the D7000/7100 for the larger viewfinder and external controls.

doc rahul wrote:Steve Bingham wrote:As I said the first time, D5300 and a Sigma 17-50 f2.8. You now have swiveling LCD, optical stabilization, and a constant f2.8. All pretty helpful with a baby. You can get down to their level easily - and in dim light. 1 more f stop than the D7000 and a faster lens than the kit lens.Never considered a non-Nikon lens till now. Will do some research on the Sigma 17-50. f2.8 and stabilisation sound interesting! Thanks for the suggestion.I have been going down the same path in my thinking. Nikon with Sigma.As far as the camera is concerned I am thinking of waiting for the D7200 for the faster expeed 4 or dare I wish expeed 5 processor. There is talk now of a D9300. I am not sure what this will offer over the D7200 which I believe is already weather sealed.The lens I am looking at is the Sigma 17-35 f1.8. This is huge for its limited range but appears to be extremely clear and of course is very fast. The DXO ratings put it above many primes.

Tried 3 stores and none of them have the D5300 or D7100 available for a demo