The other day a friend gifted me an extended loan on an unused camera–a little Nikon D3500! I dislike labels, but this camera tier has always been branded as “entry level” by manufacturers, reviewers, and folks that do not shoot that much or get the most out of their tools. This super light traditional DSLR has much more technology than all the cameras that I first starting using in the early 2000s.

The D3500 is one of the last Nikon DSLRs to be produced. At one time it was ubiquitous, often showing up in bundles with the 18-55mm AND 70-300mm AF-P kit lenses for something like $400? I’m sure folks bought these for births, graduations, vacations, and then immediately put it in the closet to return to the ease of using a phone.

But guys, the D3500’s special abilities is that it is super light, the battery lasts a long time, and AF-P lenses give it almost mirrorless like quick Autofocus in Live View. Who cares if it doesn’t get style points on the internet? We’re here to get good looking photos after all!

I know this is too little too late since everything moved to all electronic cameras a decade ago, but for some situations this hybrid is a good choice. Think vacations and travel where you want to bring a proper camera and don’t want to worry about dwindling battery life. While point and shoot digicams have made a trending comeback, even on the used market some cost double what this little D3500 does.

The sensor is a 24MP APS-C one that is similar to the D5300 (Review Here). With these two cameras and kit lenses it makes for a pretty brainless and easy loadout for fun photo outings. If you’ve been taking photography seriously for any amount of time and not spent it listening to Youtube camera salespeople, ANY DSLR from 2000-2020 is capable enough for many types of photos.

The Nikon Picture Settings in this last gen DSLR can be tweaked to produce some really nice color out of camera. To be honest it’s always been that way with my preferred brand. Combine the light manipulation you choose yourself with exposure comp or by shooting manually and you can get some rich and contrasty images that look more like a photograph as opposed to a digital capture of a video stream (like some OOC Sony files).

Since the camera was the bundle version it also came with the common Nikon camera bag! Sure it doesn’t look cool and screams amateur/old man but let’s not forget the sheer utility of this bag! It actually holds a surprising amount of stuff in its compartments. You won’t know the true value of this or any bag until you’ve been caught in a Georgia summer downpour. If anything the bag works better for drinks and snacks and hand wipes. Which to be honest is one of the best essential support items a photographer can have.

You can build this camera body out to be more “pro” if you want. Here’s the setup we used for a work gig the other day at the Aquarium. The D3500 + 17-55mm f/2.8 DX (which was once an $$ lens back in the day) + SB-800 as a trigger for a couple SB-600’s in a Mola Beauty dish. I know that’s a lot a gear to take simple backdrop photos, but it’s really not that bad. Easy setup to get the results that I’ve always preferred for these step and repeat red carpet photos. Of course any DSLR is not as easy as a phone, but that’s not why photographers choose dedicated tools.

The D3500 is not that much bigger than the E-M1 or an old film camera.  Too bad they came out with this refined last gen DSLR when its popularity was definitely waning.

I really like this little Nikon D3500.  Two of these on a hike somewhere wouldn’t be bothersome at all.  Too bad Nikon never released a 35mm equivalent DX prime during the DSLR era.  You can use this camera one handed with the kit lens, everything is on the right hand side of the camera.  With the AF-P lens you even have quick AF in live view AF and you can treat this like a semi mirrorless camera.  Maybe in ten years or so cameras like this will be sought after due to their relative simplicity and responsive DSLR nature.

(Most Product shots of the D3500 shot with a Nikon V1)

---

Nikon D3500 + 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 AF-P Sample Photos

This is a pretty underrated lens. It has an almost a hollow type of weight, and works pretty good when you have enough light.  The aperture deficiencies can be made up for by just bumping up the auto iso minimum shutter speed and ISO cap.