BUFTRAVELS GETS AN UPGRADE

I used my Canon Powershot SD1000 (left) for over 10 years. It was with me from the snow laden mountains of Pennsylvania to the vast expanse of Oklahoma, and across the world to the fjords of Southern New Zealand. I even took pictures of my first car with it, captured my marriage proposal with it, and my commissioning into the military. The time had come to retire it to the drawer only to appear for house parties and family occasions. With that said, the pictures on buftravels  got a lot more interesting since I upgraded to a Nikon D3300 back in 2015. If your in the market for a camera I humbly recommend the entry level Nikon D3300, 400, or 5400 series of DSLR. Here are my top five reasons why.

1. It's Intuitive

The Nikon D3300 is easy to use with multiple automatic settings to allow you to not only go fully automatic but to adjust only select variables like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO while having the camera adjust everything else. Or you could go completely manual with the turn of a dial. The camera also has (quick keys) which as almost like cheat options to tailor the camera for specific situations like, action shots, portraits, night shots, or landscapes. Personally I find the action shot or "running man" setting the most useful and have used it during game drives on my trip in South Africa.

2. It's Affordable

Remember, it is a much smarter to get a camera that doesn't drive you completely broke after purchasing it. The whole purpose of buying a DSLR is to provide you the capability to acquire images that you simply cannot capture with an iPhone or a GoPro. The thing that makes this possible is not just the camera itself. It is the lenses, filters, lights, and other accessories for the camera which imbue it with this quality. Cell phone cameras are competitive when looking at shorter distances but to capture the details of a bird, lizard, or a penguin at over 100 meters away you will need not just a DSLR camera but a telescopic lens to go with it. In general you should factor an additional $400-$500 for basic kit lenses after purchasing the camera. The Nikon D3300 can be had for under $500 and includes a 18-55mm lens with it.

Your not going to be able to get shots like this one without a telescopic lens (i.e used a 70-300mm) lens for this shot. The price of the D3300 allowed me the extra money for these lenses.

3. The Specs are Competitive

The Nikon D3300 has at least 24 megapixel capability for photos. There are cameras listed for thousands that have the same or less capable specs. This may seem unnecessary considering standard photo prints (4x6/5x7) don't even need all these megapixels. However if you plan to adjust your images to much larger sizes this will be critical. The quality of pictures found in the D3300 can rival even the flagship models of Nikon's lineup. So even though it may have some plastic components, and even though it is not waterproof to the level of submersion it is more than capable at getting the best shots out there, especially when using the right lens for the task.

4. It's Light

I am not going to get technical about this but I wanted to specifically highlight this spec as the D3300 is one of the lightest DSLR camera's out there. This is an extremely valuable attribute to have in a camera. If you do a lot of major travel like  buftravels does you will need to have your camera at the ready and preferably on a sling. The heaver the camera is the more obtrusive it becomes. Although DSLR cameras are not necessarily small the D3300 is a great size and weight to fit in a small daypack or sit on a sling for long periods of time. This allows for better opportunities to capture the moment when it arises.

5. It's Well Known

Because this is one of the most popular and best selling models of DSLR there is a wealth of knowledge and support information available for the D3300. More expensive and more obscure models have a much smaller customer bases and consequently there is less online source material about them. You can find endless videos and writings about the D3300 and how to troubleshoot issues directly from other owners rather than having nowhere to turn except Nikon customer support channels.