I'm going to respectfully disagree with my friend Tom a little bit..
I agree that if you are interested in an entry-level/mid level Nikon, the D3300, D5200 and D5300 should all be considered.
The guts of the D3300 is pretty much the same as the guts of the other cameras. So in terms of pure image quality, even in terms of burst shooting, you can get the same results from the D3300.
But the 5000 series does have advantages over the 3000 series. Perhaps none of the advantages are make or break critical advantages, but they do have value. And how much value is subjective.
If you are going to use the camera purely for P&S, I might get the 3000 series. But if you are going to grow in your photography, the 5000 series has some advantages.
So here are some of the advantages of the D5300 over the others:
-- This is seldom listed, but to me, it's the biggest. To my knowledge, the D3300 does NOT have auto-exposure bracketing. This is where you set the camera to automatically take 3 different exposures in continuous shots. Underexposed/Normal Exposure/Over exposed. This is a big feature IF you want to ever do HDR photography. For HDR, you use computer software to merge those 3 images. The effect is greatly increased dynamic range, and the effect can also be stylized as well.
Here is a recent example of HDR:
Grand Central Tourists by
Havoc315, on Flickr
University of Virginia by
Havoc315, on Flickr
Personally, I would not buy any camera that didn't have Auto bracketing. Because I enjoy HDR.
Can you do HDR without Auto bracketing? Yes, you can get around it. You would need to put your camera on a tripod, and manually re-adjust the exposure between 3 shots.
But when it's Auto-bracketed -- You can do it handheld and quickly. That makes a big difference, especially if there are subjects/people that might move!
Second, it's my impression that the D5300 has a slightly better layout of controls than the D3300, though neither will match the D7____ series and above. Might not seem worthwhile to pay extra just for extra buttons, but as you master manual controls, it becomes very helpful.
For example, on my old entry level camera -- to adjust ISO, I had to go to the main menu, scroll to ISO, select it, then scroll to the ISO I wanted. Now, I have just 1 button to press --- makes it much easier to make the change on the fly.
Now the D5300 has GPS and WIFI that are both lacking on the other models. To me, neither is make or break. But they are both helpful.
I have GPS on my camera. Especially handy for travel photos -- Automatically tagging the photos with location. When loaded into Lightroom, etc, let's you organize by location. Want to find the pictures you took at the Eiffel tower? Just go to the world map, and zoom in at the Eiffel Tower!
Lack of GPS would not *stop* me from buying a camera, but it does add some value.
Wifi -- I've never owned a camera with wifi except for my phone. But it's pretty easy to see that it would present value. Often, I'm taking family pictures with my good camera, while my wife will take a quick shot simultaneously with her phone, just so she has something to instantly post to facebook instead of waiting a few days for me to upload pictures.
I shot a dance recital for a friend a few weeks ago.. On the way home, they asked me if I could email them some of the pictures "right now." To the extent people want instant sharing of photos, social media, etc --- Wifi can certainly add some value. I live perfectly fine without it, but it's not worthless.
The D5300 has a better Autofocus system than the D3300. If you simply use center point AF, then they will behave the same. But if you want to shoot with all AF points, helpful for action, sports, etc -- The D5300 will be able to focus more accurately.
Articulated screen! If you shoot in live view or movies, it can be helpful to tilt the screen. I was taking some macro flower shots the other day... Instead of breaking my back to get my body low to the ground, I tilted the screen and held the camera down.
(Though I shoot Sony, which has a great live view.. live view on Nikon is sub par).
So you can certainly live without an articulated screen -- But it does add value.
Taking out the low pass filter? In theory, this leads to a tiny increase in resolution. If you are not shooting with expensive lenses, you will probably never even notice it. So to me, it's really not a big issue. But if you plan on increasing your lens collection, if you see yourself really growing in photography, then yes--- you may eventually see sharper images without the low pass filter.
So those are the advantages of the D5300 as I see them. Only you can decide how much these advantages might be "worth" to you.
Lenses: I absolutely positively would get the 18-55. It's a very very good lens particularly for only $100 extra. That's about the same price as you would get the lens used.
It's a very useful range. Most photographers do need a wide zoom in their bag. (It's wide, but it's not ultrawide).
It really is a very well reviewed lens. No, it's not as good as a prime lens, and it's not as good as a $500+ lens.
But for a novice photographer, it's useful and will give great results when used properly. It's super sharp in the center at all apertures.
You are better off later buying a telephoto zoom, than getting an "all in one" lens.
