Justify the Buy - Nikon D5600

I'm always going on about repairing, borrowing, or buying used (see Sarah Lazarovich's Buyerarchy of Needs) and yet I've just bought a new camera which to a great extent duplicates the one I already have. 

Why?

The answer lies in Nikon's consumer-camera strategy. Nikon in its wisdom has decided that the way forward is the mirrorless camera, as opposed to the digital single-lens-reflex (DSLR). In theory, the mirrorless camera should be smaller and lighter than the DSLR, and indeed in the world of pro cameras, with full-frame (FX) format sensors, this is the case. But it isn't the case for Nikons with the smaller DX format sensors.

I am absolutely delighted with my Nikon D3500; it spends many hours a week dangling around my neck as I go for my long daily walks. It is utterly dependable and takes great photos; one charge of the battery is typically good for three to four weeks.

This week I bought a Nikon D5600, the next model up from the base-model brilliance that is the D3500. For an extra 700zł, the D5600 has several features that above all will save me time:

• Self-cleaning sensor. Sadly missing from the D3500 (the older D3300 had one). This means that after a while, changing lenses in the field, dirt builds up on the sensor, leaving spots which are visible mainly in skyscapes. These can be removed in Photoshop, but it takes time. Cleaning the sensor is tricky, requiring 95% spirytus rektyfikowany and a lint-free swab. And a very steady hand. Not something you want to be doing often.
• A viewfinder grid option. I am a stickler for straight horizons and parallel verticals. Again, I can do this in Photoshop, but grid lines in the viewfinder help enormously with composition. The D3500 doesn't have these, the D5600 does. Saving time on rotating the image in Photoshop (by a fraction of a degree, often).
• Tilting rear touch-screen. The tilt feature comes in handy when taking overhead shot, when the angle needs to be as high as possible - you can live-view and compose the image on the screen tilted down towards you. Handy for crowd shots, and offers a more interesting point-of-view in landscape photography.
• A better autofocus system with more points, and using the touch screen and live view it's easier to pick the where on the picture you want the focus to lock. The D3500's 11-point system is fairly rudimentary by comparison; an out-of-focus photo is not something you can do anything with in the digital darkroom. I have lost quite a few photos, or else they are publishable, though sub-optimal.

And that's about that! The D5600 shares the same sensor as the D3500.

So why did I buy a new camera?

The simple answer is that Nikon has ceased production of the D3500 and D5600. They have been discontinued on the Japanese market, you are unlikely to walk into a MediaMarkt, Euro RTV AGD, Saturn or MediaExpert here in Poland and find either. Online, the offers come and go, a stocks are gradually run down. Nikon is now heavily pushing the mirrorless Z50, which has a DX-sized sensor with fewer pixels than the DSLRs it will eventually replace; the Z50 has far less battery life, it is actually heavier than the D3500 - and costs twice as much! So buy them while you can. Click to read more easily.

Below: the box arrives - courtesy of MediaExpert,  delivered by InPost in Zamienie.

Open the box - inside D5600 body, Nikkor 18-55mm AF-P DX VR lens, EN-EL14a battery and charger, and strap. Needed - an SD memory card (avoid those microSD cards with adaptors - they are prone to malfunction, I've found. The full-size SD card words best for me. Also needed a 'clear lens-cap' aka filter, a basic Skylight 1A protects the front element of the lens and you won't have to be popping the lens-cap off before taking a shot. I also have a rotating polarising filter to accentuate blue skies on sunny days, which also serves to cut out/accentuate reflections from water, windows etc.

And that's it - ready to go - good photographic tools, so much better than what you'll achieve with a smartphone (see comparison pic below, D3500 with Nikkor 18-55mm lens and polarising filter, left, Samsung Galaxy S20, right). Click to enlarge.

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