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Hello all, I'm looking at making the jump to my 1st DSLR.

Back in the day I had extensive experience with photography (had a Canon A-1 and AE-1) when we had to spent half of our time in a darkroom.

I'm looking at a Nikon D3300 package. I've settled on this particular camera based on trying to get the best sensor and image quality for the fewest dollars. I don't need articulating screens and wifi.

Of the 2 choices in kits, one lens is 18-55mm vs 18-140mm. The longer lens seems like the better value but my previous experience tells me that if telephoto lenses have shallower depth of field will this be a disadvantage in shooting close ups of 1:43 models?

I'm wondering if I would be better off going with the standard kit lens of 18-55mm and spent the extra $200 on a better prime lens, if so what would be a suitable focal length?

Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated, thanks for looking.

I'm no authority of DSLR cameras or lens, so I'll throw in my 2 cents... I recently moved from the Nikon D40 to D3300 Kit. I was quite happy with the D40, BUT I wanted the HD video option so I sold the D40 and put the money towards the new. In my opinion if this is your first camera, buy a used D40 with standard kit lens. The len's are upwards compatible so in the future if you want to upgrade you could buy the camera body only.

KRAFTIG, thanks for the advice.

groupCin1.43 wrote:KRAFTIG, thanks for the advice.

No problem. I'm sure others may provide perspective.