Reddit mentions of Nikon D5300 24.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Auto Focus-S DX NIKKOR Zoom Lens (Black)

For those interested, I used a Nikon D5300 with a 55-200 mm lens, 2 sec exposure, 400 ISO.

I was going to recommend a Canon, but I don't think there are any Canon DSLR bodies under $700 that can do 1080p@60fps (Only 30 fps). So your choices for #1 would either be the Nikon D3300 or the Nikon D5300. Image quality wise, they should be exactly the same (they use the same sensor), however the D5300 has a flippy screen (useful for video), a better autofocus system (for stills), and wifi. I don't usually recommend the D5300 over the D3300 because I don't find these three features worth the $200-300 difference in price, but in your case it's what fits your criteria: D5300.

Disclaimer for camera #2: I'm not too well versed in Nikon point and shoots (and point and shoots in general), so I don't have as much confidence in this recommendation. With that said, point and shoots, especially in this price range, tend to all be very similar in feature sets and performance. It's going to be a bit tricky to find a point and shoot under $300 with 1080p@60 FPS, I'm not sure if it even exists. The closest Nikon camera I can find is the Coolpix S7000, 1080 @ 60i.

Look at something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Digital-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G-Focus-S/dp/B00I1CPA0O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=D5100&qid=1557983321&s=gateway&sr=8-1&th=1&psc=1

I'd buy this used D5300. It's a excellent starter camera with enough depth to be useful in a later stage. Definitely will be a while before you outgrow this.

With it, I'd recommend the 18-55mm Kit lens and a 55-200mm Zoom

Both are autofocus, they will give you a range of 18-200mm in 2 stages.They are pretty good lenses, solid build, autofocus and image stabilisation. It's under a 1000$ but will cover everything. Add in a SD card or 2. Extra battery for it. And perhaps a camera bag and tripod if you want and you'll be good to go.

Using these 2 lenses you can use a tool like Lightroom to figure out after a year or so what focal range most your pictures are in (Your camera embeds all this data in the photo's ) and then you can look at buying better quality lenses for those focal ranges. Buying a wide range of zooms will allow you to experiment. From wide angel to telephoto to portraits and really figure out what you like.

Sure a 85mm prime will do better at portraits than these lenses, but are you into portraits, you won't know till you own this for a while.

I think it's a excellent starting kit, there is a elaborate video here covering absolute everything this camera has to offer and it will be excellent into learning.

As for used, I woulnd't worry about that. In my experience it's almost never worth it to buy a new camera. Especially since its often more limited in functions or costs a lot more. Somebody took a few pictures with it and had it's in his bag, so it's not 'new' big deal. That said some people have something against buying new. If you're that kind of person I'd still recommend the same kit. But then buying it off amazonor such. The D5300 with the 18-55 is about 573$ on there atm. And with the 55-200 included it's still under a 1000$.

As for the models you recommended, I'd largley ignore anything mirrorless as the lens selection just isn't as diverse and affordable as a DSLR. The T6 is a excellent camera and also a great option with a similar selection of lenses as I listed above. Although I don't exactly know if Canon offers these zoom, they definitely have a 18-55 as a kit lens. Not sure if they have a affordable zoom like that though. The A7 is a horrible choice as lenses for it are imnmensely expensive.

The Canon 80D is also a great camera but I'd say if you're new to photography it's just excessively expensive. Better to learn with a cheaper camera and then buy something else if you know what you are looking for in a camera.

Edit:

As /u/logarithmic_bushel suggested, the D5500 has a touch screen which can aid a lot in usability.

Would it be a good idea to go with this bundle

Or just buy the parts I need camera, case, tripod, SD?

All links go to amazon.com

I don't really care about the filters in the bundle since they are probably trash anyways, and I might have better ones lying around my house anyways that I can use if I want to try them out. But I'm not sure about the other lenses, and items. But I figured if i get the bundle I can try different attachments out and see how I like them. but if to many of the items are going to be trash I would prefer to spend the extra money and buy what I need/want so I don't waist more money

I'M open to alternatives, it seems like from my research this would be a good camera to go with, but if you have any alternatives (try to limit to ~$700 with everything (SD, Camera. case, tripod, etc)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00I1CPA0O/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
this is also around the price but is a more recent camera.
most of the time i believe that it is fine to buy from amazon, they have an amazing return policy most of the time.

I'm more interested in landscape and astrophotography when discussing the "outdoors".

I thought the d5xxx had AF? Same with the kit lens in the Amazon package?

I also have general purpose photography in mind... DIY albums and build process stuff. My point and shoot takes ok pictures in good lighting, but I'm usually too lazy to set up that for all cases (or is difficult in a woodshop) and I'm looking at better gear to help out.

Okay cool. Yeah I was just using a Sony DSC-RX100M3, because the venue last year didn't let you take in DSLRs annoyingly.

Hopefully this time I can bring in my Nikon D5300 -- do you think that will be sufficient? I only have the basic lens for that, which you can see here: https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Digital-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G-Focus-S/dp/B00I1CPA0O

These are examples of the shots I got with the Sony DSC-RX100M3 last year:

http://imgur.com/a/68zHe

http://imgur.com/a/z5emZ

If you have the time, do you have any pointers of how I could have taken those shots better / also incase I'm limited to only a non-DSLR camera again this year?

I've got one, and it's great. Essentially it's their entry level camera , but with a folding viewscreen on the back and a few more features.

That price seems a little high. It's $500 new, $475 refurb.

https://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Digital-18-55mm-3-5-5-6G-Focus-S/dp/B00I1CPA0O

If it's good-as-new, with boxes and everything, and has a low shutter count, it's probably good, but I'd still angle for a lower price. If it's missing boxes, or more than a year or two old, it should be lower.

I took a class recently and used the Canon T5i Rebel, which I really enjoyed. But now that I'm buying my own camera I'm struggling to find the right skill vs price balance.

Is a $600 camera too much for a beginner who just wants to photograph landscapes, night scenes, and everyday objects? In class we used manual mode exclusively -- something with a lot of versatility in that aspect would be great. I also want the basic features so I can learn and explore this hobby without accidentally paying extra for luxuries only a highly experienced photography could use. But I also don't want to be kicking myself 1 year from now for buying such a limiting camera, you know?

I visited a local store and the owner recommended the Nikon D5300.

Nikon D5300 - $500

Nikon D3300 - $450

Nikon D3000 - $150

\^\^\^ I found those other two by reading through this thread.

On top of this I'll need a lens, tripod, case, and SD card. But the issue isn't really price but rather overestimating the quality of camera I realistically need.

If anyone can offer some guidance I'd really appreciate it, because this is stressing me out. Thank you.