I finally took the leap and replaced my twelve year old digital SLR with a brand new Nikon D7500. I had purchased a Nikon D70s when my youngest son was born so I was somewhat attached to the camera; however D70s’ flash was not working and he was suffering from traumatic brain injuries that frequently left him unable to function. He has not aged gracefully.
I had been using my iPhone for most photos, and I dreaded it when my wife would ask me to get out the “real camera.” We were also planning a trip to the Grand Canyon.
Buying a camera requires some thought. After all, everyone has a cell phone that takes perfectly good photos. I needed a camera for three reasons:
- A real zoom and the ability to use multiple lenses. The digital zoom that is built into cell phone cameras will only go so far.
- Dynamic range. It is difficult to properly expose bright and dark areas in an image with a cell phone camera.
- Light sensitivity. Cell phone cameras have a small sensor that is unable to collect sufficient light in low-light situations.
I considered newfangled cameras such as the Samsung NX1 28 MP 4K Wireless Smart Camera. The Samsung is basically a cross between a smart phone and a high-end digital camera; however I had a budget of about $1000 and the Samsung camera at $2400 was simply too expensive. Full-frame DSLRs were also too expensive, and I could not convince myself that the larger sensor was worth the additional cost.
As a compromise between price and quality, I settled on the Nikon D7500. The reviews were good, I could use the lenses I already owned, and at $1247 it was only slightly more expensive than my targeted budget. I ordered my camera from Amazon Prime and had it the next day, with free overnight shipping.
By the way, does anybody have any recommendations on what to do with a half working Nikon D70s?
All About Images Blog 
Toss it, it doesn’t work. I only keep old cameras if they still work. My original Rebel dSLR still works, so I kept it. Recently my granddaughter asked if she could use it. I still have my old film Rebel too. Again it still works. Said granddaughter used it for her high school photography class.