Nikon D5300 24.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with Built-in Wi-Fi and GPS Body Only (Black)

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Been waiting to upgrade from the D5100 which has been terrific in itself. Have been apprehensive in the upgrade for the specifications are significant I have put it off. Now the good old D5100 is good (& worn) and the D5300 being new, (along with a price drop since the roll out of the D5600) So, I purchased a body only for all the DX lens and accessories sync right into my usage. Glad I waited and glad I have bought something of improvement. Wi-Fi, GPS, 24.4 meg, Sharper images and a smaller, lighter body and I win! In addition, now I have an additional battery & charger. Rocs Shop as the Amazon dealer was also terrific receiving my camera in less than 35 hours! In addition, today I used the camera and its new layout of controls and on-screen menus are greatly appreciated and already have become second nature. The wi-fi connection to my LG android does work and didnt take to much to set-up. Still looking around for the perfect app for this etc.

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So, heres the scoop. This camera arrived broken. Some of the features did not work. So from that standpoint I should give this only one star. However I contacted Amazon and they had the vendor contact me, which they did very quickly. The vendor paid to have me ship it back and reimbursed me the full price. So, no harm, no foul. I am giving the vendor the 4 stars, not the camera itself. I did purchase the camera again from a local photo store, same price, and this one works great! So I can also say that this D5300 camera is wonderful and gives me the photos I expect. I sold my Nikon D60 to buy this one. Although the D60 was a wonderful camera, this new camera lets me take videos with sound and the screen on the back can be folded in many directions. I had this kind of screen on my Nikon Coolpix800 and loved it. I do a lot of nature pictures and it is sometimes helpful to put the camera on the ground to take a picture and with this screen I can still see what Im taking a picture of without laying on the ground. Same thing when I need to hold it overhead.

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I got a refurbished unit from a reputable vendor at a great price. It is a rather light camera and smaller than I thought but has such a nice rubberized grip. I bought it with the 18-55 mm VR kit lens since Im just starting out and I graduated from a mirrorless Sony NEX-3N. I then bought the 55-200 mm zoom lens, and the 35 mm 1.8 prime lens. After a week of figuring things out (it really did take that long to get a decent shot), I am won over by its amazing sensor, the lovely articulating screen, solid yet light construction, peer-to-peer wifi, fast autofocus, and many more adjustment features that were lacking in my Sony NEX-3N. I took pictures from my old camera and new and there is a significant difference in quality in low lighting situations especially. Also, the additional 8 megapixels to 24 from 16 clarifies the images considerably and a reasonable post processing cropping does not degrade the image. Ive taken some pretty amazing images and with the right settings and lenses you can get professional quality photos. I was not wowed by the camera initially, but once I got the hang of using it, I am very happy with it. I feel it has enough headroom in which I can grow as a photographer. This is not a professional camera by the lack of more refined adjustments (like front and back autofocus adjustments), one control dial and only one SD card slot-but its not a basic model. I would hazard to say it has enough for an intermediate level photographer, but it might be too complicated for a beginner. In short here are my likes and observed weaknesses with this camera: Pros Its the right size and weight to fit in my bag so its always with me. "The best camera is the one thats with you." Chase Jarvis It feels great in my hand A view finder with a diopter adjustment and accessories shoe (totally lacking in a lot of mirrorless cameras). An articulating display thats pretty detailed and bright. An advanced 24 megapixel APS-C 1.5 crop sensor Phase-detection autofocus and contrast in live-view with up to 39 points The removal of the optical low-pass filter for a higher level of detail (that wont be realized until I get some optically superior lenses that can fully resolve the 24 megapixel detail). 2016 pixel RGB TTL exposure meter sensor Peer-to-peer wifi to transfer photos to my tablet and smartphone, and also remotely fire the camera. Availability of lenses at relatively dirt-cheap prices that are pretty sharp and autofocus quickly Battery lasts pretty long when using viewfinder An actual wall charger for the battery (it was in-camera charging with the Sony) Cons No touch screen so toggling feels a little dated with everything being touch screen now Dial function operates shutter speed and you need to depress other buttons at the same time to adjust aperture and ISO Some strange locations for certain buttons like shutter release settings and programmable function button. Poor documentation about more advanced features No built in motor so many legacy f mount lenses are manual focus only The viewfinder is a little small and has 95% coverage Live-view is slower than molasses GPS function is junk You cant make adjustments to the camera settings while controlling it from your tablet or smartphone A little on the high side if you pay full price Battery drains quickly when using wifi and in Live-view mode. Some iffy focus issues with the Nikon 35 mm 1.8 prime lens at the widest apertures in low light. Some have complained online about this combination presenting minor problems. My advice for beginners is to buy the d3300. Its considerably cheaper, has the same sensor, removal of the optical low-pass filter, and has a built in lens motor. Granted it only has 11 auto-focus points, a 420 pixel RGB light meter sensor, a smaller fixed screen, and no wifi or crappy GPS. You can buy the wifi module separately but it does protrude from the side of the camera body.

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I love this camera! Ive had it for about half a year now, and it works perfectly for the style of pictures I take. It takes high quality photos without a $2,000+ price tag, and there are a lot of different lenses you can get to experiment with different styles. I would absolutely recommend it to beginners or intermediate photographers who are on a budget. I attached some photos Ive taken as examples of how Im using it. I have a Tamron 70-300 macro lens, and a Micro-NIKKOR 40 mm f/2.8G I use quite often.

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I really like this camera. The D5300 has far more functions than I can take advantage of, but I am learning as I go. I have the camera set to Manual, so I must choose all the settings (ISO, shutter speed, Aperture etc.) myself, There are a ton of pre-programmed functions that you can take advantage of, and if you go that route you will take great pictures, and not understand how photography works. I choose to go the other way, so I have to learn the fundamentals. Either way is valid. The camera takes great pictures, and I am using it as I acquire lenses, and to learn the hobby before getting a more professional setup. I chose the D5300 over the D5500 as it is cheaper, and I dont really need the options of the D5500 for the additional price. Quite happy with the purchase

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I had a passion for photography since high school. 2years of classes. Where I fell in love with photography The Camera though is very great. Once I got my lens. The photos I took were crystal clear. Right now I only have the one lens. Still waiting on my zoom lens. Im looking forward to doing nature shots animal shots. But so far all the photos ive taken came out perfect. My only downside is the wifi isnt simple. I got it to connect to my phone but really wanted it to be on my desktop. If I figure out the computer wifi thing Ill leg you know or if you know please help me figure that out But yes overall I would highly recommend this camera to anyone if your willing to learn all the features the device had to lffer

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I love this camera! I am just a beginner who finally decided to take the plunge and get a DSLR. I went back and forth between this and a Canon T4i and finally chose this after a lot of research and reading tons of reviews. I mostly liked how small and comfortable it is, and the reviews seem to point to better image quality over the Canon, with no anti-aliasing filter and better low-light performance. I liked that it had built-in WiFi and GPS. I did struggle mostly with not wanting to give up the touch screen on the Canon, and that is something I really wish this camera had. Overall I have been very pleased with my decision and have been taking tons of pictures. I find the battery life to be quite decent- I have gotten a couple of spares and always keep one handy. I did get the 18-140 kit lens based on the reviews. I was fairly satisfied with it for a while but did find I wanted more reach and ended up buying the 50-300 telephoto which I really do love and find I can get much better close-ups and detail than with the kit lens. I mostly like to take pictures outdoors of ducks, squirrels, birds and nature in general. The picture quality is outstanding. Colors are gorgeous and the pictures are sharp and beautiful. The auto-focusing is quick and precise and even when zoomed in or heavily cropped I am still thrilled with the results. I do have arthritis and ergonomics is important to me. I love how this camera feels- It feels solid and well-built but it is also lighter in weight than a lot of comparable models. The grip is perfect for my hand and I can swing this camera by my side just holding it by the grip and it feels perfectly secure. I take it pretty much with me everywhere because it fits easily inside my purse as well. I did have an issue with something smelling like burning rubber and the unit was quickly and easily replaced by Amazon so that was no problem, really. I have owned this camera for over a year and have been quite happy with it. I am not thrilled with the video but cant say Ive really given it much of a chance. The internal focusing noise drives me crazy but I am told an external mic would alleviate that. The flash works OK but I rarely use it because I just prefer natural light. I will hopefully be getting a speed-light, but just not in the budget yet. I have found that if I go into the menu and change the flash compensation to -2 or -3 that the pictures come out a lot better. without looking so washed out. I have come across a few issues but there are a lot of things I need to learn, so dont know how much is the cameras fault and how much is user error, but sometimes I press the shutter and nothing happens! This drives me crazy because I feel like there is plenty of light and why wont it take the picture?!! I also have found that it is sometimes because I am too close and it is not able to lock focus, which again means nothing happens when you push the shutter button. I think as I said, most of that is because of user error or improper settings, so I just have to keep learning. I often will just throw it in to auto mode and then I am able to get the shot. I guess this camera refuses to take a bad picture! I will say that auto mode does work quite well and I have taken some beautiful pictures in auto. This camera is way beyond point and shoot but if someone wants to use it that way, I think they will be thrilled with the results they get. I do want to address the problem of WiFi connectivity that most reviews say is fairly dismal. It will pair, load a few pictures, then disconnect. It is quite maddening, because you have done everything the manual says to do and it just doesnt work. l am happy to say however, there is a simple solution which I came across randomly while searching the web and it works like a charm. You must first set your phone with airplane mode ON and then turn WiFi ON. This is not covered in the instructions given by Nikon but it totally works and WiFi connects perfectly and stays connected as long as you need it. I have not tried to use the GPS because of the negative reviews. They all seem to point to it being mostly useless and a huge battery hog. I havent tried it and probably wont, so you are on your own with that one. I think overall this camera is fairly user-friendly. One thing I really like is that Nikon has this handy dandy little ? button that is extremely helpful. Pressing it brings up a mini-tutorial on whatever function you happen to be messing with at the time. I have found this to very useful indeed, and for a newbie it is fabulous to just be able to get an instant explanation without having to go searching through the menus or look something up in the manual. The rest of the buttons seem well-placed and easy to learn for the most part. The only problem I have with button location is that I often hold the camera in a way that my right thumb hits the right arrow of the "trackball" and causes my focus point to move to the right. I do this ALL the time and it is quite annoying. It is a simple matter to hit the middle of the trackball and bring the focus point back to the middle but it is frustrating how often this happens. The auto-timer/burst/remote shutter button is kind of hard to locate as it is in an obscure spot hidden down on the left hand side of the front, but I am getting faster at finding it when I need it. I can say I am quite happy with the image quality and color rendering as well as ease of use and handling. I do not have enough experience to do any kind of meaningful comparisons, but for me it is the best camera I have ever owned and the more I learn, the more I enjoy it. I think it makes a great beginner camera, although it might be overkill for a beginner. Possibly the d3300 would be a smarter choice due to being much cheaper and a little lighter. They both have the same 24.2MP 23.5x15.6 mm APS-C sensor and expeed 4 processor. I do like the articulating screen on this camera, which the d3300 doesnt have. The D3300 does have in-camera panorama stitching which I think would be cool to have, but Nikon has omitted it on this camera. It can of course be done in post, but I still would like to have it in camera. There are a number of creative modes available which might be fun, but Ive not played around with them so cant really comment on them. I did see a video made in the "toy" mode which was kinda cute, so I might try that. I do have to say that I am quite pleased with the beautiful pictures I have taken with this amazing camera, even with my limited expertise. The quality blows away any camera I have used in the past and being able to capture something beautiful to enjoy and share is after all, the whole reason for all of it. I am now and intend to always remain an amateur who just wants to capture the best images of life as I see it, and this camera has shown itself to be a good partner in that endeavor. I am extremely pleased with my decision to buy this camera and very happy with Amazons customer service and promotional financing. I expect to enjoy this camera for many years to come and would recommend it to anyone trying to learn digital photography. I only wish it had a touchscreen!

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I got this camera as an upgrade to my beloved D5100 so the bar was pretty high and so this review is often D5100 vs. D5300. Ill be frank. The D5300 outclasses the D5100 so substantially that it has utterly obsoleted the D5100. Ignore those who say that the D5300 merely provides an opportunity to pick up a D5200 or D5100 for a bargain price. No. The D5300 is now the ONLY camera in the Nikon D5xxx line. It has changed the game. Dont bother counting pennies, this camera is underpriced at full price. The fact that I am sincerely comparing images from this $800 camera body to my D800Es images truly says it all. Please allow me to just get into the Pros and Cons: PROS: 1) PHENOMENAL IMAGE QUALITY! AT LOW ISO THE D5300S IMAGES ARE ON PAR WITH THE BEST CAMERAS IN THE WORLD AND THAT IS NO EXAGGERATION WHATSOEVER. I cant believe there is still a debate going on about the efficacy of Anti-Aliasing filter removal. Im sorry, but the difference is so noticeable there is no debate. And moire was a myth even on the D800E, which I do also own. I guarantee you that you will find more moire in a D5100s or D7000s images than you will on the D5300. Color and saturation from the D5300 are exceptionally good versus ANY camera at any price point. Now, I will still take the D800Es images over the D5300s but it is not at all night & day. They are actually surprisingly close at low ISO. EDIT 2013-12-09: Photographing cats a lot I am catching a little false color on shiny fur. Nothing of concern to me though. 2) Focus point spread (area of image with AF sensor coverage) is MUCH greater than in FX ("full-frame" sensor size) cameras. The D5300s AF point coverage extends left-right top-bottom much farther than FX cameras. I would estimate the D5300 covers probably double the area that FX cameras do and this is an ENORMOUS advantage. I always leave my D800Es focus point glued to Center because the AF coverage is only in the center area anyway so why bother with the other 50 AF points when they just dont cover anything? I actually do use my focus points on my D5300 because they cover the frame pretty well. Id still like to see even more coverage, but vs. the FX bodies, APS-C cameras have a tremendous advantage. 3) Minimum shutter speed in Auto ISO now has AUTO setting that adjusts based on focal length! This is SO much better than a fixed shutter speed regardless of lens length. 4) Hard to quantify but the HDR images look much nicer than the D5100s and the Extra High setting is intense and beyond the D5100s abilities. I have not been able to verify this but it *appears* as though there is now image alignment for the 2 photos used for the HDR image as my handheld HDR shots nearly never look like 2 images whereas they often did on my D5100 at full or nearly full magnification. HUGE improvement! 5) Great-for-DX and pretty-good-versus-FX ISO performance. Ill put this to bed right now; the D800E smokes the D5300 for high ISO performance. Sorry, this is a different league. However, the D5300 substantially outperforms the D5100 at ISO 1600+. The improvement in the D5300 over the D5100 is readily noticeable. 6) Much more intuitive i Menu. The D5100s i Menu being J-shaped was ridiculous and totally awkward. I never got used to it after thousands of photos. The D5300s standardized 2-lines-across-the-bottom Nikon style is a drastic improvement. 7) GPS! I dont know what Nikon was thinking with that clunky expensive GP-1A. Did anyone ever buy one? The D5300s internal GPS works great and hooks up quickly and Im big on geotagging so I am super stoked to have this on a REAL camera! EDIT 2013-12-09: I spent a day in the country (wide open clear sky) with this camera outside of my normal metro town area and despite using A-GPS data, it took somewhere between 30-60 minutes to get GPS lock. Surprised, disappointed. But that was the only time I have had trouble with hookup. 8) Nikons had truly exceptional built-in flash performance since at least the D90. The D5300 does not disappoint and bests or matches its predecessors at any price point. This could be a result of image processing more than flash performance but whatever it is, using flash is a joy, not something to dread. 9) The red body paint color is super-gorgeous! Its like a candy apple red Corvette color and it is way sexy. 10) The new bigger, higher-pixel screen is REALLY nice. It is not insignificant like many reviewers dismiss it as. I like it a LOT. :) 11) EN-EL14a battery with 19.4% more capacity is a nice treat and helpful when running GPS and/or the silly WiFi. I have not spent a full day shooting hundreds of photos with the D5300 yet but I have shot perhaps 100 shots in a day with GPS on and flash here and there and a lot of reviewing and in-camera editing and not gotten below 2/3 battery level in a day. EDIT 2013-12-09: GPS was on from about 8:45am to 5:30pm, WiFi was off all day, I shot 362 photos (almost all were 14-bit RAW+Large Basic JPEG so roughly only about 170-190 shutter clicks) and probably 15 of those photos had flash, 2 minutes of video, edited 6 photos and had a couple of review sessions during the day. Battery level fell to 1/3 remaining. Not bad but could be better. If youre a heavy shooter and will use GPS and/or pop-up flash, carry a spare battery. 12) Heres a gem for the old-school film guys like me. ;) Or a little "secret treat" for digital-era photographers with a true creative streak. In Manual exposure mode, the "T," or "Time" setting has returned! Want to take a 5-minute or 5-hour exposure but you left your plug-in intervalometer/timer at home? Lol, as if you even have one... No problem. Turn your shutter speed dial all the way past 30-seconds, past Bulb and click on into good ol Time at the end of the dial. Press the shutter button to open shutter, let your wristwatch or phone tell you when exposure time is up and then press shutter button again to close the shutter. Seriously?! Yes, seriously. How cool is that?! I miss this so much and guess what? Even my D800E does not have T and the D5100 does not either. According to the Nikon info page for the D5200 (Yes, D5200. Not a typo), T is there but you need the ML-L3 remote to use it. CONS: 1) EDIT 2013-12-09: I have found that focus points other than THE Center focus point are somewhat frequently inaccurate. Focus points at or near the left and right edges are rarely accurate and almost never dead-on. If you use ONLY the Center focus point, focus accuracy is quite good and consistent. As Center AF point AF-S is almost always how I shoot, this is not a deal-breaker for me but it is certainly a handicap. If you use multi-point AF tracking or regularly venture away from Center AF point, you had better experiment with different AF points at a local camera store before buying one from any store, Amazon included. I am beginning to think my camera may be defective and will likely send it to Nikon for repair or exchange it with Amazon for a new one. Honestly, I expect this to be a performance trade-off that Nikon will not remedy. Though $800 is not cheap, this caliber of image quality for $800 is going to come with trade-offs and I bet being forced to use Center AF point is one of those trade-offs. 2) EDIT 2013-12-09: I had a chance this past weekend to use Live View in some beautifully sunlit countryside. Sorry, even with truly ideal lighting Live View is horribly slow and constantly hunting. Dont use it for anything other than manual focus confirmation with screen zoomed for precise focusing. And focus VERY slowly as screen update time has substantial lag. Im not really concerned about video, but this camera cannot focus worth a darn for video. It really is that bad, sorry. 3) When reviewing a photo on my D5100 and even the D5200, I could just press the OK button to get into Retouch Menu and then get into RAW processing of that image in another click of OK. Boom, 2 presses of OK and I am RAW processing the image Im looking at. Well, not anymore. Now I have to press the "i" button to get into Rating/Retouch/Send Menu and then click OK to get to Retouch Menu and then another click of OK to get to RAW processing. Hardly a nightmare but takes an extra button press and, more importantly, is ergonomically awkward and more prone to mistakes. 4) Noisy Multi-Controller. I like having solid clicks, but man, clicking Up, Down, Left or Right on this Multi-Controller is literally enough to wake someone up. My gf grumbles at me for reviewing/RAW processing in bed because of that. Its also not so great in public areas as it intrudes on the conversations of neighboring tables, etc. Its really an irritating higher pitch that grabs attention. I know this complaint sounds whiny, but it truly is an intrusive noise problem. 5) WiFi is rubbish. You cant upload full-resolution images to your smart device via WiFi. And I dont believe (but I could be wrong about this) that you can WiFi upload at all to a PC. I wanted to have instant constant file backup via WiFi. Nope. 6) Slow RAW process Menu navigation. Perhaps its the sheer file size but things like scrolling Picture Control modes in RAW processing is very slow relative to the D5100. 7) Slow photo review after taking a picture(s). Takes too long for the D5300 to gulp down one or a few RAW+Large Basic JPEG shots (my standard resolution). 8) After assigning HDR function to the BKT button (D5100)/Fn button (D5300), activating HDR now requires holding the Fn button and turning the dial until you get the setting you want before letting the Fn button go. On the D5100 you set your HDR preference one time in the Menu and then activation via BKT button only took a single press. Now its a process. And my favorite setting (High) takes the most clicks (3 to the left or 3 to the right) to get to. The Auto HDR mode should simply be removed so we just scroll Low, Normal, High, Extra High and should be permanently Menu-set to facilitate 1-press activation a la D5100. 9) To get autofocusing you MUST use an AF-S or AF-I lens. D5300 body has no focus motor for AF or AF-D lenses. Metering requires a CPU lens. CONCLUSION: The D5300 is not a camera for sports, when rushed or in demanding conditions and you are gambling when you change away from Center AF point. Many consumer cameras like to claim performance in this fast-action realm, but no. If its not pro gear it will suck at sports and tracking a subject. Always has been and likely always will be the case. However, for general photography, landscape, portraiture/still life, macro, time-lapse, etc. the D5300 creates stunningly sharp and colorful images able to be painlessly enlarged to enormous proportions. I wouldnt hesitate to print 3-foot x 2-foot (that is 36x the size of a 4-inch x 6-inch) prints. And that would be essentially pixelation-free. 6-foot x 4-foot would still look fantastic.

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I bought this to replaced my 8 years old D80. Im a very picky person, and I am impressed by this camera. Ive been considering SONY A6000, D5500, D7100, D7200. And finally decided to go with this camera. This is not a perfect camera. But budget wise, this is for sure a camera that have superior performance-to-price ratio. I use it with my one year old Nikon 18-200mm VR II lens. For the price of $496, I cant find another camera can compete with it. The A6000, its a very nice mirrorless camera. I pay serious attention to it. And I went to Bestbuy to test it out. What I like A6000 is its light weight and size. What I dont like much is when its length changes, it take like 1/4 second to show up in the OLED view finder. And A6000 doesnt have articular screen which equipped with D5300 that makes family portrait a lot easier. D5500, I dont see much different to D5300. The touch screen on D5500 is a nice but not must have. The higher ISO up to 25600 is technically nicer than the 12800 in D5300, but I doubt if I would shoot at such a high ISO. Other than that, I dont see much difference, and I know I aint paying $200 more for touch screen and higher ISO. D7100, it has Expeed 3 processor while D5300 has Expeed 4 processor. Yes it has better manual control and functions. But after having D80 (which has top screen and dual dial and better manual control than D5300) for 8 years, I have to admit that Im not a professional photographer but an enthusiast that enjoys the possibility to take photos thats better than a point and shoot camera. D7200, well, it has the same Expeed 4 processor while it comes with better manual control. But with $600 price difference, Id give up those extra manual control and get a all around D5300 for the ease of my pocket. Bottom line, D5300 is a decent camera for the price that no one can deny, yet its been announced for 2 years already but still maintains a 24MP clear and sharp production and relatively light and with functions that can make entry-level to enthusiast happy. The only thing I dont appreciate much is its GPS function, I wish it had a faster and more accurate lock up performance that doesnt require a A-GPS file to be updated very 14 days.

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Coming from a Canon, this camera took a bit of getting used to, but I love it! Ive researched cameras for a few months before buying this one, and found it to be the best balance between affordable and professional. It feels solid in my hands, produces excellent quality images that are sharp even at 100% magnification and it has decent low light capabilities. Im very happy to have decided on the zoom lens too. While it does make the camera quite heavy, its a joy to have a greater variety of options available. Ive covered a 3 day national conference with it shortly after buying this camera, with lectures in rooms with widely varying light levels, and great majority of the images came out great. Im sure that once I get to know all the settings better Ill be able to get the tricksier shots in a perfect range too. Out of the box, the dynamic range is wonderful, and color realistic and well balanced. Didnt have to charge it even once during that entire time either. Ive originally bought a Sony in a similar price range because of the lure of a Zeiss lens, but had to return it because of the really bad image quality... not sure if I got a lemon or all of them were that bad, but Im glad I did. Ive been a loyal Canon customer for decades, but their mid range cameras dont seem to have kept up with times regarding the quality and capabilities, and Im not a millionaire. I have a feeling Ill be holding on to this lovely Nicon for a long time to come, only to replace it with a newer generation when the time comes.

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