Nikon D3500

it sucked lol. Using a D3500 with a nikon 17-55 2.8 lens. I couldnt auto-focus on anything because it was so dark, and the lens wasnt letting me manually focus! I switched it to M instead of MA on the lens but when I was spinning the dial it wasn't focusing, I was trying to make it infinty focus.

The D3500 is a fine entry-level camera, especially for use at home. It has plenty of automatic features for family historians who care more about preserving memories than learning the ins and outs of f-stops, and also has the Guide Mode for those who want to take some creative control, but aren't quite sure how to get the look they want from a photo

Its autofocus system is quite limited and does a poor job tracking faces. Get the Canon if you want 4k video capability and a fully articulated touchscreen, but if you're new to DSLRs, the Nikon is a great alternative budget option.

The image quality is just as good as some of the other, higher end bodies so that isn't something you need to worry about. I started on a D3500 and I still have it as a backup to my D500. ​. The biggest caveats are that some of the settings can be buried in the menus a bit, and there is no dedicated Fn button that would allow you to quickly change ISO.

It delivers impressive overall image quality, with excellent dynamic range to bring out a greater range of detail and good noise handling capability.

They will not autofocus with AF and AF-D lenses because these lenses need a focus motor in the camera, and the low end Nikon cameras no longer have an inbody focus motor. That is a real disadvantage. For example, you can buy a used Tokina AF 400mm lens made in the 90s for the Canon and enjoy autofocus but the Nikon D3500 will only focus manually with the same lens in Nikon AF mount. There are other terrific lenses made for Nikon but the D3500 just won't autofocus with them.

It's also one of the lightest DSLRs we've tested, so it's easy to take on the go and carry around for longer periods.