Current options I'm considering:
- Craigslist Canon Rebel T5 w/ 18-55 & 75-300 lenses, bag & SD card (1 year old) - $350
- Sam's Club Canon Rebel T5 w/ 18-55 & 75-300 lenses, bag & SD card - $500
- Craigslist Nikon D7000 w/ Rokinon 35mm manual lens, Voigtlander 20mm manual lens ("2100 shutter actuations") - $500
- Craigslist Nikon D5100 w/ 18-55 VR kit, memory card, bag - $340
- Craigslist Nikon D5100 w/ 18-55 lens, extra battery, bag - $350
- Craigslist Nikon D3300 w/ 18-55 & 55-200 lenses, bag (150 photos taken) - $500
- Craigslist Nikon D3100 w/ 18-55, 55-200 & 35 manual lenses, bag, (assuming memory card) - $450
- Craigslist Olympus OM-D E-M5 w/ 12-50mm lens, hardshell case - $520
I will need to make my decision by this afternoon.
Being able to get
into photography is something I would like the option to do, something a bit difficult with abridge camera afaik, not to mention I will likely be sharing this occasionally with my S/O and her mother who are artistic and fancy themselves as photographers. I'm pretty well locked into a DSLR or a Mirrorless, though most mirrorless with decent features (viewfinder, etc...) are a bit to expensive, and I'm OK with the weight of a DSLR.
I wasn't impressed with the Canons when I first went D-SLR shopping a few years ago and that's the kind of time period you're buying from. Doesn't help that they name them differently in the USA, in the UK the T5 is the 1200D is a rock-bottom entry-level model. I've never seen a 1200D but if it's anything like the 1100D, it's predecessor, I'd stay away and choose something higher-end but slightly older instead if you're on a budget. If you want a Canon then maybe look at the 650D or the 700D.
If it were me I'd choose the D5100 overall, but look at the D3300 or the D7000 if I had the money. The D3300 has more megapixels but the D7000 is a more 'prosumer' body with nice features such as weather-sealing, a top-mounted LCD, higher burst rate and so on. The D7000 is bigger and heavier which you may prefer if you like a camera that fits the hands and you can get a Nikon grip for it to extend the battery life (you can get grips for the D3300 too, I've got one on my D3200, but they're all third-party, a bit tacky and you have to use a flying cable to use the shutter button on the grip). The D3300 is smaller and lighter so more ideal for travelling. I have the D3200 and it's great so I don't have a problem recommending the D3xxx line, especially given that the D3200 and D3300 are so similar.
I wouldn't choose the D3100 though given that you can get a D5100 for less which is a higher-end camera. The D5xxx series are kind of mid-way between the D3xxx and D7xxx. The D5100 has a tilting screen which is nice for video and some other things. It's got the same 16 MP sensor as the D7000 if memory serves me correctly (whereas the D3200 and D3300 are 24 MP).
Basically:
- Best bang for buck has to be the D5100 and that's probably the best all-rounder offering some nice features in a small and light body.
- If you want to spend more on megapixels then get the D3300, but really 16 MP is going to be fine.
- If you want to spend more on a more 'prosumer' body then get the D7000, but it's possibly overkill for what you need and it is 6 years old now with a lot of the newer lower-end cameras like the D3300 surpassing it in some aspects now (for example video recording).