Camera upgrade.

[Luke.]

Hey all. I have posted an introduction thread and I'm keen to (slowly) get more in to astrophotography.

At the moment I just have my old Nikon D3000 which has served me well but I think I want to upgrade it.
The main reason would be for live view. I have got a bit of astigmatism, which has been fine for normal photography but I struggle to get a nice focus on a star through the eyepiece.

I want to stick with Nikon as I have lenses and friends with lenses. Also I want it to last me a while if I eventually want to use it with a telescope. I want to spend around 600, second hand is fine.
I was looking at a D5500 and it looks pretty good. Does anyone have any opinions?

[dannat]

what lenses do you have currently? if you have zooms you may want to look at getting some legacy prime lenses
what see do you want to shoot with the camera? e.g. do you want to do kids sports ?

[Luke.]

Just the 18-55 and 55-200 kit lenses and a tamron 17-55 f/2.8 lens. I am not looking to get new lenses right now, just the camera body only.
I want to use it for Astro and landscapes mostly.

[dimithri86]

Hi Luke.

I upgraded from the 3100 to the 5300 two years ago. I am very happy with the 5300. I use it piggy back with the 18-55 kit lens, and also through my telescope with quite good results (you can find my pics in the photography section)

The only difference I can see between d5500 and d5300 is the screen is touch on the d5500 (same sensor, processor etc)
http://www.gizmag.com/nikon-d5500-vs-nikon-d5300-compare/35653/

So if you want to save some money maybe you can find a second hand version of the d5300.

[Luke.]

Thanks for the tip, might save me a few bucks!
I will definitely check out your pics when I get a chance.
Could you just explain what you mean by piggyback? Just so I am on the same page as you.

[dimithri86]

The ways to use a SLR are
1. Tripod...doesnt follow sky so limited in how long your exposure can be
2. Piggyback, put it on a mount that tracks the sky, can get very long exposures, and its wider than using a telescope.
3. Telescope, using an adaptor connect it to telescope. Lots of zoom.

[Luke.]

Thanks that makes it very clear. I think once I get comfortable with untracked and also processing then I might take the next step to tracking.