Biased Gear Reviews

Would you rather use a smartphone or DSLR for your main camera?

A little before I bought my D7200, I knew the photographer’s philosophy that the best camera is the one you currently have on you. I actually didn’t have a smartphone before 2017, but I already knew of smartphones’ immense capabilities. My first smartphone was actually the LG G6, praised for its unassuming design, having an 18:9 screen aspect ratio, and sporting a dual camera setup with a normal lens and wide angle. Versatility as both a phone and camera were very important to me, and the LG G6 also became my main video camera since it was surprisingly capable of shooting 4K video. All I needed from then was an external microphone I could plug in to its 3.5mm audio jack. I gave up on the phone after a while, where hardware issues like the vibration motor, general performance issues, and horrible battery degradation came up.

I’ve been eyeing Google’s Pixel phone line for some time, and even bought the LG G6 over a Pixel 2, mostly because I needed a smartphone as soon as possible, and the G6 released a few months prior to the Pixel 2. Luckily, Best Buy had a massive discount on the Pixel 5 which was only a few months old when the sale came on. Its original price was about $700, but if I activated an unlocked Pixel 5 through Best Buy, I could purchase the phone for just $200. This was probably the best piece of technology I’ve purchased in a while.

Google Pixel 5

If I remember correctly, I purchased my trusty Nikon D7200 sometime in late 2017 after receiving my very first paycheck. Literally 100% of that paycheck, along with some money from my savings since I was a kid, went to the D7200 body and two prime lenses. Even now in late 2022, I’m still rocking with the D7200 and probably still will after a couple years. According to my last picture’s EXIF data, I’ve taken almost 20 thousand photos, which to me is an incredible amount, but will probably last so much longer given that many modern DSLRs are rated to last around 100 thousand clicks given its been cared for well.

A month or so before buying my Nikon D7200, I was internet windowshopping nearly every night and watching dozens of YouTube reviews regarding the cameras that were on my list. This was mostly because I was excited to spend my first paycheck on a tool which I absolutely knew would last me many years in the future. Aside from the D7200, I believe I was also looking at the Sony A6000 since my total budget with lenses and gear included was just around $1000. What made the A6000 more appealing is because mirrorless cameras by Sony specifically were starting to become very impressive given their introduction with the Alpha 7 sometime in 2013 or 2014. Its small, lightweight body made for utmost versatility in both photo and video. However, the deal breakers for me were the infamous mirrorless battery life, where the camera would be notorious for having pretty poor battery life paired with overheating in the middle of a busy shoot. Furthermore, I knew I’d be out for 6-8 hours doing shoots regardless of weather, and the A6000 didn’t have weather sealing as well. In fact, I was even considering the Sony A7 too, but the camera body alone would have exceeded my budget.

In considering the Nikon D7200 compared to the Sony A6000, the D7200’s pros far outweigh the cons. When comparing any APS-C crop sensor image quality between pretty much any other crop sensor camera, most enthusiasts and reviewers raved the D7200 as having the highest overall quality.

Nikon D7200