I purchased this a few days ago here on Amazon. I brought a slightly used one with just over 3, 000 shutter actuation’s. Saved a LOT of money. I came from the delightful rank-beginner D3200 camera to this upgrade. Here are my thoughts after 2 years of shooting with a D3200 and upgrading to the D5300:
Stellar upgrade in sharpness! Without a doubt, the most noticeable thing. 39 autofocus points over the 11 on D3200 really helps! That irritating OLPF is gone! I use a 37" monitor to develop in Lightroom, and pixel peeping on the D5300 is a delightful experience. My friend who owns a D7200 thinks the image quality is identical. It is close, my friends. Too close to call.
Smaller and lighter than D3200, but still substantial enough in the hand. Anyone with slightly smaller hands will really enjoy this camera. Me? I am 6 4" with big hands, and it still felt just great. No issues there as far as I can see.
Your EN-EL-14 batteries will work in it. The D5300 is recommended and comes with EN-EL-14a. Battery life is just fine. To make a guestimate from the 150+ images shot and no budge on the battery meter.500-600 may just be possible without heavy flash use. I should not admit this, but even an aftermarket battery I used in my D3200 for 2 years works perfect in my D5300. No issues at all.
A surprising find: This much better body has really helped me get a LOT more from my lenses. I kid you not, friends. The 35mm f/1.8 from Nikkor remains sort of a disappointment, but still shows improved image quality on the end of the D5300. The "Fantastic Plastic" Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 really shines though on this camera! sharp sharp sharp! Lots of light through that big 58mm thread size. It was a performer with the D3200, and really pairs well with the D5300. My old 55-200 VR likes my D5300 as well and has also shown a sharpness bump. If you can believe it, even the kit lens 18-55 from the D3200 takes better pics on the end of the D5300. We all know good glass is important, but often times it seems that good quality bodies get down played even though they are also a very important part of the overall photographic equation.
You are going to have to make some out of the box adjustments. The irritating focus lock chirp for one. I had to shut that off. The AF illuminator is irritating as well and also had to be manually turned off.
Control lay-out: For God’s sake, take the time to learn the differences if coming up from from D3100/3200 series cameras. It takes a while to learn the new placements and new hand motions to adjust on the fly. David Busch’s guide to the D3200 was great for me, and I have purchased his D5300 guide and expect similar excellent tutoring as well. I highly recommend, and you can buy here on Amazon and read on Kindle.
ISO is a LOT less noisy on this body. Seriously. 1600 ISO looks great compared to many D3200 shots at that sensitivity. Even the one 3200 ISO shot I took for giggles was way quieter than I expected it to be.
Overall my fellow Nikon geeks, this is a great upgrade still within most of our financial means. Next gen performance free of the OLPF, and just a real joy to work with. Some people complain about slow Live View, but I could care less. The good friend who got me into photography suggested I learn to get it as right as I could in the camera first, and to stop using anything but the view finder. 3 years later, I am glad for the wisdom he shared. Live View needed maybe for video or some other sorts of shots.but for us View Finder clickers who peep it later, this camera is going to be a happy surprise for you.
NIKON D5300 BEST CAMERA