Hey, this is Scott of Photography Banzai.
Today we're taking a look at the Nikon D3500.
Thanks to Camera Craft in Rockford Illinois for letting me try this out at their shop!
I mostly focus on ergonomics and other related features, but I'm gonna go
over the basic specs. Got 24.2 megapixel sensor.
No stabilization in the camera. ISO 100 to 25,600.
1/4000th of a second maximum shutter speed. 1/200th of a second maximum
flash sync speed. All these cameras in the 3000 lineup do not have
the auto FP sync. So you're not gonna do high speed sync with a external flash in
this camera. It's rated for five frames a second maximum in stills mode, but you
have to be a manual focus to get that maximum speed. Of course, this is a
standard DSLR. That means you have an optical viewfinder in there.
95 percent coverage for the viewfinder, so the edges you won't
necessarily get perfect composition with your photos when you use that viewfinder.
With DSLRs you have an external metering sensor and an external autofocus sensor.
So with the metering sensor it's a 420 pixel array on there, full RGB. It has an
11-point phase detect autofocus system for the standard DSLR autofocus.
In Live View on the camera it has a contrast detect autofocus system. Not as
quick and fast as a phase detect system. There is a 3-inch or 7.5 centimeter
back screen on there. It has around 921,000 dots on the screen.
most camera companies have switched to kit lenses
that are able to compact down and lock so they're good
for travel. In this case, same situation. The bayonet mount on the kit lens is
plastic, so just keep that in mind. It does have the image stabilization in that
lens. Some of the biggest changes for this camera line are the actual physical
size and the dimensions of the camera. They've thinned it down quite a bit for this
model. However, I think the grip is the best I've ever used in a camera of this
lineup. Really nice in the hand. Of course, that's personal preference but in
my case I really like the grip. I think that's the best feature of the camera.
Of course, with this model of camera it does not have the built-in autofocus motor...
What that means is that older film era lenses the D-type lenses and maybe a few
previous, do not have motors inside them. So basically you will not get
autofocus with those old lenses. Now, the G-type ones will work just fine. Anything
newer will work just fine on this camera. No surprise here, there is a built-in
flash which is nice to have. Definitely good for
simple photography. You don't have to buy an external flash. So you've got
something in there. With this type of ergonomic layout you've got the on/off
switch. You've got a lot of the buttons you need to control on the right side.
That's very nice for that one-handed operation. There is one adjustment dial
in the back of the camera. With only one dial that means it's going to be more
difficult for you to just certain settings if you're in manual mode. It is
a drawback of all these cameras in this general price range. So you don't
get two or three dials to adjust the full exposure triangle. On the top there
is a video record button and the EV comp button that you will hold down
and use the back dial with. The main mode dial has a large selection of items...
From the guide mode, creative effects, to full manual photography. The back
consists a pretty standard layout. You've got the d-pad to move the autofocus point
around. Now, the screen on this camera is not a touchscreen. So you have very
limited control of autofocus points. And that's what you're gonna do is use that
d-pad. I did notice all the buttons feel a
little flat on the back. It's probably because they've been shrinking these
cameras down so much that there's just less space to have really deep pressing
buttons on there. This camera follows Nikon's more recent control scheme with
the i button and the info button. They're pretty generic sounding, but they
are important to use. the i button brings up a quick menu to adjust
important settings like autofocus mode, flash, ...metering. This screen will change
based on if you're in photo or video mode. In video mode you can adjust white
balance, autofocus mode, ...microphone. The info button cycles between information
displays in photo and live view video modes. You do have that switch on the top.
This camera has two ports on it on the side. You have the micro USB and the mini
HDMI. It's kind of funny that it has mini HDMI instead of the micro one. that's a
really small port size for the HDMI. One nice feature of this camera is that
the SD card is on the side near the grip. It is great because you don't have any
issues with quick release plates and just stuff getting in the way. So nice
there. On the bottom of camera we've got the battery door.
It is far away from the tripod socket, which is very nice. That means quick
release plates won't be an issue with this camera.
Nice design there! Battery is the En-EL14a Rated 1230 milliamp hours.
Considering this is a standard DSLR, you should get definitely a good amount of
frames... Over a thousand at least. Back screen is covered by a hard reflective
material. Might be a little challenging to see in
bright sunlight. Live view mode is made up of old technology. You access it
through that switch on the top. Does not have phase detect, it's a standard
contrast detect to autofocus. So it's gonna be relatively slow, but it should
be decently accurate. It really depends on your use. I didn't get a lot of time
to try the autofocus systems out in detail, but it is contrast based. So with
video autofocus it will probably not be especially consistent. This camera works
like other recent Nikon cameras with autofocus tracking in live view. You will
select an objects with the ok button and it will track. You press ok button again
and it will stop the tracking on that. One of the nicer features, especially
considering this level of camera is it has a guided mode. The menu system is
easier to understand. It's larger icons. It's just generally better for entry-level
users on there. In the ISO settings you have the ability to set the minimum shutter speed.
This is a very important feature with aperture priority and similar modes.
Basically it doesn't let you go below a shutter speed. The goal is to not have
the shutterspeed go below what you think you don't want. So if you're shooting in dark
conditions, you want to rather sacrifice the general exposure of the photo
compared to the shutter speed. So you don't get blurry photos. That's what you
can do with this mode. The camera is pretty limited in video mode. So you have
up to 1080p 60 frames a second, which is just fine. That should work good for a
lot of people that want to do some type of video. But probably want to use this
camera in manual focus honestly because it is contrast based. Probably won't have
very consistent autofocus results in video mode. Of course it is in there and
it's nice to have some type of video in the camera. And this is not good for any type
of vlogging. You're not gonna have a pull-out screen. Now, I did try the camera
with the snap bridge application. It's very limited. It's basically working
as an external shutter release on the camera from your phone. You do not get a
live view as far as I can tell. Now, you can't push some photos to your phone if
you want, which is a nice feature. But basically that's all I saw in the app
for this camera. Of course, there are a lot of creative modes.. special effects...
Looks to your photos and all those applied to the JPEG photos. But it's in
there if you're into those things.
With cameras of this level, they're becoming very stagnant feature-wise, in
this case, that is true. You do not have an articulating screen. You do not have advanced
autofocus system. The viewfinder is limited. Of course, you want to consider
the price. Look at different options, but it's a relatively decent camera. It's
gonna do the job, which is important. And basically almost any camera out these
days, new especially, will do the job just fine.
You have a decent sensor in here so your photo quality should be nice.
I think the ergonomics of this camera, in general, especially the size and feel the
grip is very nice. It has definitely an improvement actually in a way of the
really tiny mirrorless cameras. In this case it's a nice solid decent sized
camera. It's not too big not too small. Considering the price I think it's a
relatively decent option to get started. But there are a lot of other options out
there you want to consider. So that was a look at the D3500. Again, thanks to
Camera Craft in Rockford Illinois for letting me try this out at their shop.
Much appreciated!
I'm Scott of Photography Banzai.
Hope you enjoyed the video. If you did,
please consider subscribing. That helps me out a lot!
Likes and shares help out a lot as well. Thanks again!