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I want to buy babby's first DSLR. That said, I'm not a total "babby" to DSLRs. All my family uses Canon (dad has 6D, mom has T6, uncle has 5D, brother has old 20D). I'm not particularly partial to any one brand, and I wouldn't likely be borrowing lenses from family members because they all live in another state, just saying that to disclose bias. I've used all of these cameras and I feel like a used Canon 70D would be a good option, but I don't want to limit what I'm looking at.
I had a Pentax film SLR with a couple basic cheap kit zoom lenses as a kid, which I doubt I would reuse on digital, but I'm open to other brands than Canon. I've used digital point-and-shoots for the past ten or so years, and always wanted better image quality, better low light images that don't look all grainy, and the ability to change lenses for a good telephoto for wildlife or a fast normal/wide for astrophotography or landscapes. I would mostly be taking the camera on backpacking trips and photographing nature.
I have about $1000 for a body and one great lens or two very good ones to start out with. I have no familiarity with Nikon at all, but what's wrong with a used D7100 or D7200? It seems like both Pentax and Nikon have better weather sealing in their mid tier cameras and lenses than Canon's mid tier cameras. Nikon seems to have a more diverse and better lens selection than Pentax, particularly in the realm of fast normal/wide lenses and affordable telephoto lenses (Sigma and Tamron are options for Nikon and Canon too, but not as much with Pentax). I don't want to decide based on weather sealing as a huge deciding factor, and I understand Canon mid tier cameras aren't just going to die at the first sign of moisture, but what else differentiates a D7200 from whatever I could get from Canon or Pentax in the same price tier? I'm thinking maybe $500 for a body and the other $500 for lenses.
Thanks for any feedback?
