Published February 25th 2024
I bought a camera!
It’s not a new camera – even though it’s new to me. It’s a Nikon D750, a camera launched 10 years go, but it’s great!
I haven’t bought a camera in ages, like in at least 10 years. Come to think of it, that’s not quite true, because late last year, November 2023, I bought a replacement for my trusty D5100, which had croaked, and suddenly wouldn’t bring back the mirror when it had exposed a picture or recorded a video.
It looked like a mechanical malfunction, and since I bought the camera used many years ago, that wasn’t completely unexpected. It had done its duty, and had been an über-luxury webcam for my home office for the last many years and done an excellent job there.
Being a webcam means ”recording” video for hours on end, mirror being up constantly for long periods and altogether really working for the food. In the end it stopped working. It’s forgiven. Since my setup was all tuned for a D5100, I opted to buy a new one, and for a mere 200 USD or so, I acquired a new used D5100 with a couple of kit lenses. It’s been ticking along nicely ever since I bought it in the autumn.
But it has long been my wish to upgrade my “main” camera, which has been a cropped sensor format D300s for many years supplemented by a D700 full frame camera.
I haven’t craved a full frame camera, but have wanted a bit more resolution than the 12 megapixels offered by both of these cameras.
I have been looking sideways at a D500 with its 21 megapixels for many years, and have seen a a couple of used bodies for sale locally, but a combination of fairly high prices and typically high shutter counts have kept me from buying. I also shortly considered switching to a Z-body, but the prices are high for what I want, and the thought of having to go into a new line of lenses also kept me back. I know that some Nikon F lenses will work with a converter, but I have so many odd lenses that I love, and I’d hate to loose the use of them.
So when a friend announced his D750 kit for sale on Facebook, that called my name.
A 24 megapixels full frame body and three lenses as well as a SB-900 flash, batteries, chargers, vertical grip and more for about 1,000 USD. That was my cue.
The camera might have been launched 10 years ago, but it got great reviews back then and is still considered a really good camera.
Add to that the lens lineup: a Nikon 28-300mm VR lens, a Sigma 105mm f/2.8 full frame macro and not least a Nikon 85mm f/1.8G of the latest generation. And the SB-900 flash as a nice little extra bonus. I already own two SB-800’s, but the newer flash is both more powerful and much smarter with the newer cameras.
That all spelled very good value, and I jumped at it.
And I haven’t regretted it. The grip was a cheap knockoff with some damage, but I rarely use a grip anymore anyway, so no big loss. The batteries were a little on the old side, the camera reporting them as in “stage 4” out of 4, so I ordered a couple of new ones. And a local shop had an original grip for just 70 USD, so that went into the shopping cart too for good measure.
So all is now well in casa 500th, with a really top performing full frame camera in the bag. I have a lot of full frame lenses, and even my DX lenses perform quite well on the 24 Megapixel camera. A little cropping to get rid of the dark corners, and there are still plenty pixels to work with.
I haven’t shot extensively with the D750, but the hundred or so images I have shot have come out great, and I really love the feel and the handling of the camera. It’s all that the D300s and D700 is – and then much more, not least resolution, speed and a great display on the back. It’s a very nice upgrade, which will keep me going for a few years.
It looked like a mechanical malfunction, and since I bought the camera used many years ago, that wasn’t completely unexpected. It had done its duty, and had been an über-luxury webcam for my home office for the last many years and done an excellent job there.
Being a webcam means ”recording” video for hours on end, mirror being up constantly for long periods and altogether really working for the food. In the end it stopped working. It’s forgiven. Since my setup was all tuned for a D5100, I opted to buy a new one, and for a mere 200 USD or so, I acquired a new used D5100 with a couple of kit lenses. It’s been ticking along nicely ever since I bought it in the autumn.
Nikon D750
[Nikon press photo]
[Nikon press photo]
I haven’t craved a full frame camera, but have wanted a bit more resolution than the 12 megapixels offered by both of these cameras.
I have been looking sideways at a D500 with its 21 megapixels for many years, and have seen a a couple of used bodies for sale locally, but a combination of fairly high prices and typically high shutter counts have kept me from buying. I also shortly considered switching to a Z-body, but the prices are high for what I want, and the thought of having to go into a new line of lenses also kept me back. I know that some Nikon F lenses will work with a converter, but I have so many odd lenses that I love, and I’d hate to loose the use of them.
So when a friend announced his D750 kit for sale on Facebook, that called my name.
A 24 megapixels full frame body and three lenses as well as a SB-900 flash, batteries, chargers, vertical grip and more for about 1,000 USD. That was my cue.
The camera might have been launched 10 years ago, but it got great reviews back then and is still considered a really good camera.
Add to that the lens lineup: a Nikon 28-300mm VR lens, a Sigma 105mm f/2.8 full frame macro and not least a Nikon 85mm f/1.8G of the latest generation. And the SB-900 flash as a nice little extra bonus. I already own two SB-800’s, but the newer flash is both more powerful and much smarter with the newer cameras.
That all spelled very good value, and I jumped at it.
And I haven’t regretted it. The grip was a cheap knockoff with some damage, but I rarely use a grip anymore anyway, so no big loss. The batteries were a little on the old side, the camera reporting them as in “stage 4” out of 4, so I ordered a couple of new ones. And a local shop had an original grip for just 70 USD, so that went into the shopping cart too for good measure.
So all is now well in casa 500th, with a really top performing full frame camera in the bag. I have a lot of full frame lenses, and even my DX lenses perform quite well on the 24 Megapixel camera. A little cropping to get rid of the dark corners, and there are still plenty pixels to work with.
I haven’t shot extensively with the D750, but the hundred or so images I have shot have come out great, and I really love the feel and the handling of the camera. It’s all that the D300s and D700 is – and then much more, not least resolution, speed and a great display on the back. It’s a very nice upgrade, which will keep me going for a few years.
Gear mentioned: