Nikon D3500
It’s a modest update of Nikon’s best-selling beginner DSLR but the D3500 is aimed at new users not upgraders. Rod Lawton tells us if it hits the nail on the head
Nikon updates its beginnerfriendly camera – is this the bestever DSLR for new photographers?
The Nikon D3500 is the latest version of Nikon’s entry-level DSLR. It’s effectively an update to the D3400, a long-time favourite for beginners. There haven’t been many changes, and it’s unlikely you’d want to upgrade your old D3400 (or D3300) to the new D3500, but this refresh does keep Nikon right at the head of the game for anyone choosing their first DSLR.
The D3500 isn’t just Nikon’s cheapest and simplest DSLR, it’s also its lightest, weighing just 415g, body with the battery and a memory card. It will usually come with a lightweight 18-55mm AF-P kit lens, which has a retracting mechanism to make it more portable when it’s not switched on.
The D3500 has Nikon’s tried-andtrusted 24.2-megapixel APS-C sensor. It also has a great 5fps continuous shooting speed – most rivals in this price bracket can only manage 3fps.
Nikon has also managed to uprate the battery life, now quoting a pretty amazing 1550 shots on a single charge – that’s very impressive and great for all-day shooting.
Build quality and handling
Nikon has redesigned the body so that the D3500 has a deeper grip and better-placed buttons on the rear. The screen is not touch-sensitive, so you’re reliant on the physical buttons and dials, but that’s no great hardship. The screen is fixed, without even a tilting mechanism for low-angle shots, but the display quality is very good, with sharp detail and bright, clear colours.
The main mode dial on the top of the camera is
The Nikon D3500 is lighter and has better battery life compared with its predecessor
clearly labelled and has a solid feel. Right alongside is the camera’s single control dial, which also has a fantastic feel. The power switch is around the shutter release button, where it’s easy to flick with your index finger when you want to switch the camera on and off, and both the main mode dial and control dial are within easy reach of your right thumb.
The viewfinder might only be a cheaper ‘pentamirror’ design, rather than the pentaprism found in more
expensive DSLRS, but it’s bright and clear. Meaning you can see right into the corners of the frame without shifting your eye and there’s no colour fringing at the edges.
Performance
The D3500 feels very responsive. In viewfinder shooting, the 11 AF points are clustered towards the middle of the frame, but if your subject is near the edge it’s easy enough to focus and then reframe before shooting. In Live View mode you can select a focus point anywhere on the screen. In the absence of touch control you have to use the four-way buttons on the back of the camera to move the AF point, which is a bit slow. The Live View autofocus itself, though, is quite fast – swapping to one of Nikon’s AF-S lenses confirms that it’s the AF-P system that’s providing the speed.
Our lab tests confirm what our real-world shots suggest, with the D3500 delivering sharp, vibrant and well-exposed images. Additionally, the 18-55mm AF-P lens performs nicely for an inexpensive kit lens, with sharpness across the focal range and right to the edges of the frame.
It may be a beginner-level camera, but if you put its images alongside those from the best APS-C cameras out there you might struggle to tell which camera was used.