Michael E
The D3400 and the kit lens I love, the 70-300 DX lens, not so much. The D3400 is a great entry level DSLR, its usable at high ISO in low light settings, great for outdoor photography with the kit lens, the kit lens is stabilized with VR technology so you can use it for 1080P 60FPS video recording and wont have any jitter. The image quality with the 18-55mm VR lens is spectacular, and you can go from no experience with photography to taking some pretty epic shots in no time. The only weakness I find is that I have been drawn into the world of long exposure photography and the D3400 does not have a remote cable release, so youre limited to the IR remote control, which does not act as an intervalometer so if you intend to do timelapses, this is not a great camera. The 70-300mm DX lens is a waste of space. Given that there is no vibration reduction (VR, Nikons optical image stabilization), its unusable for sharp hand-held shots below 1/250th of a second shutter speed. So in overcast conditions, you have to bump up to ISO or use a monopod/tripod to get decent shots. Its a decent lens from an image quality standpoint, but youd be better off saving the $100 here, and getting a used 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 VR FX lens on Ebay. That lens has vibration reduction, has a larger max aperture (faster lens), better image quality, and its an FX lens so if you upgrade to an FX camera at any point youll be set with it (note the 18-55mm will only work on FX cameras in crop mode, which only uses the center of the image sensor). I got my 70-300mm VR off of ebay for $225 used, its in stellar condition, and I can get tack sharp shots with it at 300mm with 1/70th of a second shutter speed.
