Looking to get into photography, or maybe looking to upgrade to full frame without breaking the bank? Here is the setup we recommend that will rival the photo quality of any $6k equivalent setup. And as always, we prioritize the photographer over the gear. Because someone with a good eye, who knows how to use their equipment, will ALWAYS get better shots with any equipment, than someone with the best gear who doesn’t know how to use it. So in this edition of NT Recommends, we look at cameras and lenses that are over a decade old but still compete with today’s best in terms of features and image quality.
Camera Body
We start off with the camera body. This particular camera body is one that was announced and began production in 2012 . It packs all the technology that is standard today and then some. Enjoy one this beautiful piece of gear, the Nikon D600.
Nikon D600
Take your photography to another level with the D600. From true wide-angle to super-telephoto, the 24.3-megapixel FX-format sensor delivers incredibly detailed images across the camera’s broad ISO range. The autofocus system is as sensitive as Nikon’s flagship D4 D-SLR, offering precise subject acquisition down to -1 EV and compatibility with lenses up to f/8 combined open aperture. If video is your medium, Multi-area Full HD D-Movie offers all the flexibility you need for broadcast quality footage. Weather-sealed to the same degree as the professional Nikon D800 and surprisingly lightweight, the D600 is the perfect way to capture the full perspective.
Predecessor - d610
The year after the D600 was put out, Nikon released its predecessor the D610, with a few slight upgrades. If you are interested in the upgraded camera body, it can be found via the link below.
Lenses
Along with a great full-frame camera body, we need the right lenses to get the perfect photos. The trick to getting high-quality photos with any camera is having the right lens. So with this recommendation, we pair the camera body with two incredible lenses at unbelievable prices. The 28-75mm F2.8 zoom and the classic 50mm 1.8 prime lenses.
Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8
The smallest and lightest standard lens of its class. Its luminosity makes "Available Light" photography an absolute pleasure. It belongs to the Super performance ( SP) class of Tamron lenses distinguished by ultra high optical and mechanical quality. It has very good resolution capability, strongly reduced light fall off up to the edges, Sharp and excellent pictures are the result. Furthermore, the depth of field which is rather wide due to the construction of the digital image sensors can be reduced by the big diaphragm aperture.
nikon 50mm F/1.8
Perfect for low light performance; the Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 lens provides brilliant quality at a reasonable price. The fast f/1.8 aperture ensures you can always record without compromising image quality. The lightweight nature of the lens makes it the perfect travel companion.
Which lens is for what?
Like most people, we don’t care much for the technical jargon about gear. At the end of the day, all we want is to know what the lens will do and when we should use it. So here is what you need to know about these lenses.
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8
The Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 is a budget equivalent to the age-old classic professional lens, the 24-70mm f/2.8. If you don’t know what that means, no worries, it just means that for a couple of hundred dollars, the Tamron lens can get nearly identically high-quality photos as the professional $2000 dollar lens.
The F/2.8 aperture means that all of your photos taken at F/2.8 will isolate your subject well and create a beautiful blurry background. The contrast of your sharp subject on a blurry background makes this lens produce incredibly sharp photos.
This lens being a zoom lens means it gives you a great range. On the full frame camera body when zoomed out at 28mm you are as wide as you would nearly ever need to be for any type of lifestyle photos you may come across in your everyday life. And at the long end of 70mm, this lens will get you close enough to capture most anything you may need to zoom in on. And while it isn’t the zoomiest of zooms, it does a great job at getting you close to the action when needed.
While this lens is not considered a macro lens, the relatively short minimum focal range, coupled with the 70mm zoom focal length, can really get close to details in your everyday life in a way that brings the small-scale world to life in your photos.
In summary, this lens will be what you have on the camera most of the time, because it has such a great range, amazing depth of field for those blurry backgrounds and sharp subjects, and just overall excellent image quality. This will be your everyday run-and-gun lens.
AKA: This is your go-to everyday lens :)
Nikon 50mm f/1.8
The Nikon 50mm f/1.8 is one of the all-time classic lenses that belongs in every photographer’s arsenal. While it has no ability to zoom, as it is a prime 50mm focal length, what it lacks in versatility it makes up for in creativity and image quality.
The 50mm focal length is the equivalent focal length of the human eye when on a full-frame camera body. This means that with the 50mm lens, you are able to take photos that capture a true-to-life, and incredibly natural feel.
The F/1.8 aperture means that all of your photos taken at F/1.8 will isolate your subject very dramatically, to the point where you can have the tip of the nose sharp and in focus in a photo and the eye can be out of focus.
As you can guess, this means you need to be precise with your focus with this lens, but when you take the extra time to be precise and focus right where you want, the images you get out of this lens are exquisite.
The “professional” feel of most pro photography comes from the extremely shallow depth of field achieved by these types of lenses. So if you want the type of photos that separate you from the standard cell phone photographer, this is the lens you want on your camera.
In summary, this lens will be what you have on the camera when you want to take creative, personal, and intimate photos that highlight a very intentionally selected part of the photo. The shallow depth of field creates extremely blurred backgrounds that pull your subject off the background and create the dreamy and highly focused photos sought after by most professional photographers.
AKA: This lens will make your images look professional :)
Canon equivalent
As any photographer knows, when it comes to DSLR cameras, it is not a monopoly. Nikon and Canon have been battling it out for decades, and therefore, each brand has similar spec’d camera models. There really are not many pros or cons in picking one brand over another, Canon is more popular within the professional photography scene, but not by much. It comes down to personal preference and choice of lenses, which again, are almost identical across the brand lineups. If you are interested in the Canon equivalent of this camera setup, we have put that together for you as well.