Rookie here. Talk me into or out of buying this camera:
Nikon D810. Used. Excellent condition. $1200
Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 lens. Also used in excellent condition. $1200
Both are from Precision Camera in Austin. Reputable shop as far as I am aware. Both pieces have been inspected and are warrantied.
I want to take landscape photos. Mountains, sunrises, night sky, Milky Way, rivers, etc... I'm tired of going to amazing places and coming back with iphone and GoPro pics that don't do it justice. Not too interested in portraits or sports. I'm a complete rookie and have never owned a nice camera. I'll need to take some classes and I don't mind the learning curve. The D850 is out of my budget and not an option. I became interested in the D810 based on interweb searches, articles, etc.. and it was confirmed to be a solid choice by the guy at Precision Photo. I have the money, but if I could buy something that would be almost as good for half the price I'd rather do that. One thing that I keep coming back too is the fact that there weren't cameras this great just a few years ago and yet people were taking amazing photos anyway. How much dropoff in quality would there be if I bought a lower tier camera, say $600-$700 range? What else should I be looking at?
This will be a camera I'd like to own for a decade, use on 3 or 4 trips a year, and pass on to one of my teenage sons later on as he learns more about photography. It will never be my biggest hobby but I'd like to get decent at taking great pics of the places I go.