Nikon D5300 24.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Auto Focus-S DX NIKKOR Zoom Lens (Black)

I upgraded to this camera from a Nikon D40x. I love the D40x. I have had that camera since 2009. I got to where I had an almost Zen-like relationship to it. The only reason I upgraded to the D5300 was I wanted to experiment using some features my D40x did not have. In particular, I wanted to be able to bracket my shots. And, after seeing the pictures I got from a friend whose camera gave 16+ megapixel resolution, I wanted to see how 24+ megapixels resolution helped my photography if at all. My first trip out with my D5300 was a disappointment. The disappointment was not, however, with the camera. It was with me. I did not have the settings defined as I thought I had. This was due in part by the excitement of having a new camera and the fact that the menus on the 5300 are much more involved than those on the D40x. I came home and started taking pictures inside. I watched videos, went back to the camera manual and ran through the camera's menus again. I found some settings that were not where I thought they were and changed them, then started shooting some indoor pictures. This is the same style of photography I used with my D40x. Once I got the settings on my D5300 where I wanted them to be, I was blown away by the images. From a technical standpoint, I found nothing to complain about. Great color. Great resolution. Very good color rendition under different settings. While the D5300 is not as easy to figure out as the D40x, I do not see that as a minus. I have a multitude of new features on this camera that I did not have on the D40x. My only complaint about the camera is that the explanations of some of the menu items are not what they should be. There are still menu items I am not understanding. In time I expect the D5300 will become as much a part of my arm as my D40x feels. It may not be a perfect camera in some people's eyes. But, I did a lot of research into which camera would best suit my needs for the price and the Nikon D5300 won over all the others in contention. I have no regrets in my choice. I hope to be able to return to outdoor shooting soon. I will make sure I am all set up for the adventure this time. And, beyond any doubt, I believe the D5300 will take even more amazing photos than does my D40x, if that is possible. I enjoy photography. Nikon builds cameras that are not only technically brilliant, but fun to use as well. I highly recommend Nikon's D5300 to anyone that is interested in learning the possibilities this camera affords the user. *** Six Month Evaluation *** There are no real technical problems with this camera. However, I have changed my feelings towards it after having used it for six months. Some older reviewers may remember when CDs first came out. While they were amazing from a technological standpoint, the music lacked the warmth of a vinyl album. There was a very definite cold and sterile sound to the music. Even technicians admitted there was something different with a digitized sound versus an analog reproduction. Now, almost anyone realizes that a film photo has more depth and warmth to the image than a digital photograph. Yet, hardly anyone cares. I know I don't. The ease of creating a fine image through digitization is a photographer's siren call. Interestingly, however, as concerns my experience with a comparison of the results from my D40x to my D5300, all digitized images are not the same. With my D40x, with a minimal use of Lightroom, I could manage images that had nuance, warmth and a goodly amount of appeal that comes from that undefinable human connection. From the beginning, I recognized there was something different about the D5300's images. From the aspect of a human connection, there was a major disconnect. I concentrated to make sure I was careful in my settings. I assumed that my images were different because a setting or two was not correct. Goodness knows, the D5300 is all about options of settings. Well, after six months of using the D5300, I now realize that, like the sound of music from a CD, its images lacked the warmth and human appeal that I found so abundant with my D40x. I am a user of Flickr. I belong to the Nikon D5300 group. If one surveys the images posted in that group, it will quite soon become evident that the images are amazingly lacking in true appeal. They may look decent from a technical aspect. But, there is no human emotional presence to be found in the photos. If one doubts that a digital camera can present an emotional presence, go to any group dedicated to the Nikon D90. That camera has a soul that is absolutely amazing. I can look at a photograph and recognize if it was made with a D90 camera. What's my bottom line about this camera now? It lacks soul. It's a machine. Personally speaking, I have not been able to connect with it on anything other than a technical level. Technically it is superb. But, something is missing. And, that missing element becomes very apparent when looking at the images the D5300 makes. I use the term "makes" because it doesn't "take" an image. It "makes" one. There is a difference. Some photographers may not see that there is a difference between making an image and taking an image. Some photographers, alas, are not creative in their approach to photography. I do not always succeed in being creative. But, I do, at least, try. Even under the best of circumstances, my photos rarely connect with others. But, I don't take photos for others. I take them for me. Tragically, the D5300 does not create images to which I feel that human connection. If what I am saying makes sense to anyone, my advice would be to go to a site like Flickr and seriously study the images posted for this camera. Determine for yourself how you relate to the pictures on an emotional level. Then make your decision to either purchase or pass on this camera.

Tip #1: turn OFF the beep on your camera... immediately, no questions, just do it. NOW. It just announces to the world that you just bought it, and don't have a clue what you are doing. This may be true, but why advertise that fact, and annoy everyone around you with the annoying "beep...beep. Click. Beep...click. Beep, beep, beep....click". ;) Moving on: Any DSLR is not for the faint of heart, nor for those unwilling to read the user's manual for any mode other than "auto". Yes, you can leave it in the Green "Automatic mode w/ flash" or the "Auto mode without flash" and you'll do fine for snapshots and some great photographs as those moments present themselves. The "scenes" modes are a quick way to shoot various conditions we all find ourselves in often, without having to slow the fun with deep menu changes, just set it for "party" or "beach" or "candlelight" (etc.) and you'll be shooting very good shots. If you want to shoot huge RAW files, go full manual mode, alter the ISO settings, shoot time-lapse sequences, 1080p/60hz video, it is all there for the semi-professional, too. ISO goes to 12800 if you need it without too much noise. 3200 and 6400 ISO are much less noisy than my D70s model. I have the D70s model from a few years back, and I **REALLY** miss the front sub-control wheel. The D5300 has only one control wheel on the back for your thumb to rotate, and the lack of the second one up front is mind-boggling, forcing the user to hunt-n-peck on the LCD screen or with other buttons to switch up a few settings on the fly. The trade-off for that wheel was the flip-out screen and built in Wifi (vs. the more expensive new cameras with two wheels and more controls, so you don't have to use the LCD menu system). Remember, unless you are blowing up your photos to 30"x40", you can come down on the megapixel size to 6mpx or 12mpx without any drop in on-screen resolution. The files sizes are huge (11MP JPGs), so your hard-drive and uploads to facebook, twitter, etc will take much longer... so just shoot in 6MP "fine" or "normal" and you'll get fantastic pictures, without the bloated file sizes. Remember, MP only count if you do a lot of cropping or print enlargements. Google "Ken Rockwell megapixel myth" to learn more from the best about how "megapixels" are mostly hype. My D70s is a 6MP camera, and the pictures are gloriously beautiful (see the D70s group on Flickr). The battery life is about 200 shots for me, but I've been using the LCD screen alot and playing with settings, menus, etc. If/when I just flip the LCD monitor closed, and shoot through the viewfinder...it will probably shoot 500 photos on one battery. I do like that you can customize the "My Menu" for your most used settings, mine being: ISO, White balance, Set Picture Control, Release mode (timer/remote/continuous), Active-D Lighting, Image Size, Image Quality, Auto Information Display (on/off), Wi-Fi (on/off) Nikon has a great little feature so that when you have highlighted a menu item, you can hit the "?" button, and an on-screen paragraph explains the feature and what it does. Spend the few bucks to get a nice strap, camera bag and by all means the Nikon remote shutter control (under $10)...which is totally the best thing for tripod family shots and be in the picture. You can flip the LCD around to make sure you and everyone else is in the picture, hit the remote, and get a 2sec, 5sec or 10sec time delay to the picture (or instant, but then you can't hide the remote in time!). The WiFi option is pretty cool, and when enabled allows you to hook to the camera via your smartphone, download pictures, or even see what the camera sees (!), and use the phone as a remote shutter release. Once on your phone, hop back on the 4G network or your home wifi, and upload to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Pretty sweet. The phone can also act as a temporary backup to your camera memory card. Hope that helps... I'm lovin' it, and still think the flip-out screen is what we needed for selfies and family photos. If you don't need the flip-out screen, need lots of manual controls, and have the budget, move up to a Nikon with dual control wheels. Cheers, Doc Rings

Really impressed so far. I had an SLR years ago in film days, and very much enjoyed using it. It was broken and for years I simply used point & shoots, eventually moving into digital with an HP 1.5 mp. I moved up through point & shoots and started getting back to the context of framing a picture and the art of photography--especially once I started hiking in our beautiful area mountains a few years ago. I had a 4 mp Kodak at the time, great little camera by the way that taught me the value of good glass-I still have it, but found I wanted to move up to newer and better technology. So, after considerable research, I purchased my Nikon L120. Very satisified, and great pictures, but I found in the last several months I wanted the versatility, options and creativity a dSLR would offer. Yeah, Now there's an expense, right? And here was someone who knew not much about them, having forgotten what she knew in the manual, film days. I have friends who will lay their lives on their Canon's and not as many who would for their Nikons (and possibly might offer their Canon friends as sacrifices, too) )-not that they aren't loyal to, and love their Nikon, there's just fewer of them. From earlier research I liked the image quality of Nikons just a bit better, but still when you're spending a chunk of cash, and if you're like me and are far, far from the top 3%, you want to make sure you're getting a good product, and a reasonably user friendly one for your money. So after considerable research, comparisons (to Canon), scrutinizing images for Canon & Nikons D3200, D5100, D5200, D5300, albeit not many with the 5300 since it was relatively new, and reading reviews here on Amazon (one of the best resources in my opinion, and '7's is a wonderful string with loads of interaction and advice) I started leaning towards the D5300 opposed to the other models, and finally due the reviews and 7's advice, I plunged and bought the D5300 with the 18-55 mm lens--the red one, of course. I love it! I was a little frustrated at first with all the menus's and options. It seemed overwhelming, but refer to the manual, buy a book to supplement ( I ended up buying 2), come here and read and just play with it. As you start experimenting with it and changing settings and modes, it gets less confusing and not as complicated as it felt at first. And it has auto modes, so it's not like you can't get great shots from the start while you learn. One of the things I found, is change your picture quality to fine, it will bring an incredible, realistic feel to your photo's. Images of my cat, a tortoise shell are fantastic, capturing the depth, clarity and colors in her eyes and the contrasts in her fur giving a very living feel to the picture--not to mention the disdainful look she's giving the dog is very clear. Photo's I took of my neighbor picked up the green flecks in his blue eyes, the lines, whiskers and age spots in his skin, making them look very lifelike. Captured him exactly, and with a sharper depth than normally in a photo. Some have noted difficulty with action shots. I haven't done much, but shots of my granddaughters jumping & goofing around captured them in mid air and did a nice job freezing the action. I also snapped some shots of my dog and his fur friends running outside, and captured hair and ears flying as they ran in different modes--Sport and pet, and I'm pretty sure some were in auto. I'm excited to take it out this summer to sporting and action events and see what I can get. I'm optimistic--if it can capture a flying, shaggy Shih-tzu, it's looking positive. I've noticed the single focus setting on auto doesn't stay put if you change modes and back, but as far as skewing the image, I'm not really seeing anything discernible or problematic. If you're taking a picture of a moving object, you won't want it fixed anyway. To me the wandering (and by that I mean it isn't fixed to a central single spot, not that it's randomly floating around) focus point is a little distracting when not fixed to a single point, but that's just me being over aware of it at the moment, I'm focusing on not focusing on it. Not a dealbreaker. I'm picky about image quality and I'm very satisfied with what I've gotten, As I become more familiar with various settings, I'm very much enjoying playing with it and look forward to learning more about a DSLR and what you can do with it. This is a perfect camera for it, and I absolutely recommend it to anyone stepping up to the dSLR universe.

I bought this to replaced my 8 years old D80. I'm a very picky person, and I am impressed by this camera. I've been considering SONY A6000, D5500, D7100, D7200. And finally decided to go with this camera. This is not a perfect camera. But budget wise, this is for sure a camera that have superior performance-to-price ratio. I use it with my one year old Nikon 18-200mm VR II lens. For the price of $496, I can't find another camera can compete with it. The A6000, it's a very nice mirrorless camera. I pay serious attention to it. And I went to Bestbuy to test it out. What I like A6000 is it's light weight and size. What I don't like much is when its length changes, it take like 1/4 second to show up in the OLED view finder. And A6000 doesn't have articular screen which equipped with D5300 that makes family portrait a lot easier. D5500, I don't see much different to D5300. The touch screen on D5500 is a nice but not must have. The higher ISO up to 25600 is technically nicer than the 12800 in D5300, but I doubt if I would shoot at such a high ISO. Other than that, I don't see much difference, and I know I ain't paying $200 more for touch screen and higher ISO. D7100, it has Expeed 3 processor while D5300 has Expeed 4 processor. Yes it has better manual control and functions. But after having D80 (which has top screen and dual dial and better manual control than D5300) for 8 years, I have to admit that I'm not a professional photographer but an enthusiast that enjoys the possibility to take photos that's better than a point and shoot camera. D7200, well, it has the same Expeed 4 processor while it comes with better manual control. But with $600 price difference, I'd give up those extra manual control and get a all around D5300 for the ease of my pocket. Bottom line, D5300 is a decent camera for the price that no one can deny, yet it's been announced for 2 years already but still maintains a 24MP clear and sharp production and relatively light and with functions that can make entry-level to enthusiast happy. The only thing I don't appreciate much is it's GPS function, I wish it had a faster and more accurate lock up performance that doesn't require a A-GPS file to be updated very 14 days.

I purchased this a few days ago here on Amazon. I brought a slightly used one with just over 3,000 shutter actuation's. Saved a LOT of money. I came from the delightful rank-beginner D3200 camera to this upgrade. Here are my thoughts after 2 years of shooting with a D3200 and upgrading to the D5300: 1. Stellar upgrade in sharpness! Without a doubt, the most noticeable thing. 39 autofocus points over the 11 on D3200 really helps! That irritating OLPF is gone! I use a 37" monitor to develop in Lightroom, and pixel peeping on the D5300 is a delightful experience. My friend who owns a D7200 thinks the image quality is identical. It is close, my friends. Too close to call. 2. Smaller and lighter than D3200, but still substantial enough in the hand. Anyone with slightly smaller hands will really enjoy this camera. Me? I am 6 4" with big hands, and it still felt just great. No issues there as far as I can see. 3. Your EN-EL-14 batteries will work in it. The D5300 is recommended and comes with EN-EL-14a. Battery life is just fine. To make a guestimate from the 150+ images shot and no budge on the battery meter...500-600 may just be possible without heavy flash use. I should not admit this, but even an aftermarket battery I used in my D3200 for 2 years works perfect in my D5300. No issues at all. 4. A surprising find: This much better body has really helped me get a LOT more from my lenses. I kid you not, friends. The 35mm f/1.8 from Nikkor remains sort of a disappointment, but still shows improved image quality on the end of the D5300. The "Fantastic Plastic" Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 really shines though on this camera! sharp sharp sharp!!! Lots of light through that big 58mm thread size. It was a performer with the D3200, and really pairs well with the D5300. My old 55-200 VR likes my D5300 as well and has also shown a sharpness bump. If you can believe it, even the kit lens 18-55 from the D3200 takes better pics on the end of the D5300. We all know good glass is important, but often times it seems that good quality bodies get down played even though they are also a very important part of the overall photographic equation. 5. You are going to have to make some out of the box adjustments. The irritating focus lock chirp for one. I had to shut that off. The AF illuminator is irritating as well and also had to be manually turned off. 6. Control lay-out: For God's sake, take the time to learn the differences if coming up from from D3100/3200 series cameras. It takes a while to learn the new placements and new hand motions to adjust on the fly. David Busch's guide to the D3200 was great for me, and I have purchased his D5300 guide and expect similar excellent tutoring as well. I highly recommend, and you can buy here on Amazon and read on Kindle. 7. ISO is a LOT less noisy on this body. Seriously. 1600 ISO looks great compared to many D3200 shots at that sensitivity. Even the one 3200 ISO shot I took for giggles was way quieter than I expected it to be. Overall my fellow Nikon geeks, this is a great upgrade still within most of our financial means. Next gen performance free of the OLPF, and just a real joy to work with. Some people complain about slow Live View, but I could care less. The good friend who got me into photography suggested I learn to get it as right as I could in the camera first, and to stop using anything but the view finder. 3 years later, I am glad for the wisdom he shared. Live View needed maybe for video or some other sorts of shots...but for us View Finder clickers who peep it later, this camera is going to be a happy surprise for you. Bottom Line: If you can afford it (new or used from a reputable seller here on Amazon)...do it! You won't be disappointed in your next step up the DX ladder. The D3200 got you hooked, and now the D5300 is going to take you to even better places and greater enjoyment and satisfaction from our chosen hobby.

My first DSLR and I'm loving it. Fairly easy to use with lots of nice features for someone just getting serious about photography. My only regret was buying it with the 18-140mm lens. It's a very good lens with AF-S VR and takes very sharp pictures; it's just not the focal length for me. I enjoy taking wildlife photos and probably would have enjoyed the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 ED IF AF-S VR zoom more. If you are new to photography I would suggest buying this camera with a kit lens and then when you know what kind of photography you want to do you could explore better lenses. I used this to take my first fireworks photos and had a blast though with the 18-140mm lens! I used the RAW setting and the highest resolution and even though my photos looked liked they would be too small to enjoy, I was able to crop them and get some pretty sharp pictures. The swing-out LCD screen is great. It rotates 360 degrees and can be used to take photos from any angle; even selfies, but it's great to be able to angle it when the sun is glaring and you are trying to line up a shot. The camera body is fairly light in weight; the extra weight will come from the bigger lenses. I bought a used 50mm prime lens for taking family shots and the camera weight is not noticeable. When I change to the 18-140mm lens, the weight is a very noticeable and supporting the camera to take a photo gets tiresome. That's when I use my tripod (a MeFOTO Roadtrip which supports it nicely) with a remote and everything is steady and doesn't wear me out. I don't know enough about photography yet to review all the specs but I know this has a DX format which will allow me to use FX format lens. This means that even though I won't get the full benefit from the FX lens on this camera, when I advance my skills and decide to buy a full FX format camera I can use the same lenses. I know that the camera is fairly easy to use and with the programmed settings you can take a great picture with your first shot. It also has extensive settings for those wanting to learn manual settings and take complete control over their camera. If you are starting out and want a really nice camera to develop your skills I would recommend the D5300. It even has built-in WiFi and GPS and a great video feature. Nikon is a great brand and produces wonderful products; I don't think you can go wrong with their cameras!

Have always loved Nikon products and decided it was time to get a DSLR. This camera is a disaster and I would not recommend anyone purchase it until they solve their auto-focus problem, assuming that's what it is. I purchased this outfit from Amazon and after setting it up, I decided to take some pictures in the auto mode to get used to the camera. It wouldn't work right out of the box. I turned the camera on and hit the live release button and prepared to take a photo. A red box appeared on the screen. I pushed the shutter release button down half way and nothing. Did that a number of times, nothing. Tried it again later, same shot and as soon as I turned it on and hit the live release lever, the flash popped up and the box turned green and I was able to take a photo. Tried to take another and nothing. Tried numerous time to take an outside shot and nothing, couldn't get rid of the red box. Sent the camera back and got the replacement from Amazon the next day!! (Amazon is great!!) Went through the process with the replacement camera..................same problem. However, sometimes I could get it to work, both inside and outside, but very inconsistent. Who wants to own a camera that works sometimes and sometimes not? Very disappointed with Nikon. I will now do my research again and choose another camera from another manufacturer.....,maybe Canon. Very sad that a company that I was so fond of will probably never get my business again. Something has happened to their quality control, since no product should leave their factory without knowing that it works. Especially two back to back.

Great camera no visible defects takes great pictures overall exactly what I was looking for