Yeah was just gonna ask you that. I have a pair of D300's and a D70. D70 was my 1st DSLR I got new in 2004 right after it came out. The D300's do everything I need them to.
So for those you're going to want two lenses. Portraits you want fast glass, something in the 1.4 or 1.8 aperture range. And 50 to 85mm. Sports especially bikes you'll want a lens that is a zoom from 100-400mm or probably even 150-600mm the aperture doesn't matter as much for sports especially starting so something in the f4/ f5.6 range should do
Come on buddy. I'll pay your way in and slap you on your ass just cause I haven't seen you in awhile.
This was me (D80) until I went to the D810. Superior upgrade. My D80 just died so I don't have the second body for multiple lens shooting trips. I'm looking to upgrade the D810 pretty soon but am also considering getting the Nikkor 500mm f5.6 lens. The lens will probably win out in the budget battle.
Except the nifty 50 which is a bargain. The fixed 100 is nice also. I have the 50mm F1.2 for my mirrorless. Pricey but you can stop anything with it. Of course its ability exceeds mine
I don't know anything about the Nikon line. I've always used Canon, but it doesn't really matter. Sub 1k, stick to the Rebel line. If you're ok with buying used stuff (refurbished) something like the 70 or 80D with a used 17-55 F2.8 and a 70-200 F4L IS would run right up to 2k. Those lenses are keepers that she'll never grow past, they're both fantastic and will cover 90% of all shooting needs. The body will eventually get replaced, but either of those two will feel like a cosmic leap forward compared to a T2. Whatever the Nikon equivalent models are, are just as good.
I have a T3i and have been researching new bodies for a while now but all the feedback is to get better glass. I've been using a cheap 18-250mm sigma variable aperture lens, just bought the sigma 70-200mm sport lens (almost half the price of Canon 70-200) and it's a world a difference in image quality. Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
If she should stick with the rebel line at sub 1k. Then wouldn't it be smart to keep the one she has and just get good glass?
If she's happy with the body, then yes. Does she already have an idea in her head of what the final image should look like before she pushes the shutter button, or is she just taking pictures? Is the camera body making it difficult to get the image she wants? If she can reliably get the images she's looking to get now, there's really no reason to buy a new body. As an example, I might want to take a photo during sunset time (better light, but tougher on autofocus) of a bike going around a corner from the left to right side of the image, with the background blurred but rider in focus and the rider in the left 1/3 of the frame so that the picture shows a sense of speed and direction. I'd have auto focus, fps, and image stabilization desires that would make that image easier to make.
I ended up with the D500 because it was being replaced by something new and even if it lacks a flash (didn't care about that) it did everything I thought I wanted it to. Plus I had a few pieces of glass and didn't want to start completely over by switching to Canon. I got my D80 slightly wet (didn't wrap it) and it was acting up a bit. Still works more then well enough and I was going to give it to the kid as a hobby but she has no interest (my iphone has a camera ). When I can I'll just bring both bodies with the lens that works best with that body. I'm flirting with that Nikkor 200 - 500 AF-S lens.