Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Nikon D3400 DSLR Camera with AF-P DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR and AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED

Top positive review

Still my most-frequently-used camera

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2024

I purchased this in 2020 as an "entry-level" DSLR, but four years later, it's still the model I reach for most frequently. It's beginner-friendly but it's also an excellent camera in its own right, and the only other cameras I've purchased since are niche vintage models. My experience with this camera has not influenced me to seek out other DSLR makers or other Nikon models; it's a completely lovely daily-driver.

The default lens that comes with it is incredibly versatile, and Nikon (in addition to several other manufacturers) makes many excellent lenses that are suitable for this model.

I'm not a professional, and I primarily shoot food, portraits, and landscapes. In case it's useful, my most-often-used lenses for this camera are:
- Nikon 85mm f/3.5G AF-S DX Micro ED (VR-II)
- NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-P DX VR
- Nikon AF S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G Fixed lens with AF

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Needlessly difficult to use

Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2018

I have had an Olympus E520 for years but I needed a camera with more pixels for my landscape prints. After doing a LOT of research I decided on this D3400. Really excited, greatly disappointed! Pictures in low lit interiors I need for real estate photography, even in manual, the camera won't let me take it at the settings I set. It gets stuck on 1/30 and won't let me go longer than that. I need to combine various images and this camera just screws it up. I also need to to take continuous 2S delayed timer settings but in this camera I have to set that up for every picture since it won't just stay on 2S delay. And this is really annoying when I am shooting nature photography. The extra time it takes to get into the camera to set it on 2 S delay can lose the scene. And when it comes to focus, what my other cameras allow me to do easily, like quickly adjust where the focus is, is next to impossible. Again speed is the factor and if you need speed this camera is a loser. I have watched countless videos on this camera and they are not much help. It's like using a shovel to cut down a tree. Wrong tool. I have sold my pictures for years but this camera has wasted this last year. Also, having one lens a 55mm and the other 58mm so you have to buy two sets of filters is complete BS! Overall a very discouraging camera.

2 people found this helpful

3,017 total ratings, 1,720 with reviews

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From the United States

Margot MacGill

Still my most-frequently-used camera

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2024

Color: BlackStyle: w/ 18-55mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase

Helpful

V91-Bleach

Great first DSLR

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2019

Color: BlackStyle: w/18-55mm +70-300mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase

After a bunch of research, I landed on this camera as my first DSLR purchase. For price point, ease of use, and including two lenses.

I have owned point-and-shoot standalone cameras over the years, but their auto-focus and stabilization was pretty terrible. This camera is just on a whole different level. You can snap off several shots a second continuously, and the pictures are almost always crisp, clean, and beautiful. Shooting at 24 MP results in images that are 6000x4000 pixels in size, so when you pull them onto your computer you can just zoom and zoom and zoom in, to a point where is is frankly creepy. Take a portrait photo? You can see every single pore on their face in the computer. I'm sure people who are big into photography have rolled their eyes and moved on at this point, but it really just blows my mind how good the pictures turn out with essentially no prior knowledge, skills, or lighting experience. Just plug in a battery and an SD card, put a lens on, set it to auto mode, and go to town.

So far have taken some nature photos, a bunch of sunset/sunrise photos, some photos of the ocean, and a bunch of fireworks on the 4th. I wouldn't say that anything I've shot is 'publication quality', but it is plenty good enough to send to friends and family. The fireworks even turned out way better than expected with no fancy lenses or even a tripod.

Also, the battery life on this camera is just unreal. I've had it for several months, and have taken roughly 2000 photos at various times and locations, and I finally, just now, need to charge the battery for the first time. If you are used to having to charge your phone every night, it's a really nice change of pace to only have to charge your camera once in a blue moon.

I am an amateur, but I can happily say that I am blown away with the quality of photos this camera can take at this price point. Would recommend to anyone else looking to dip their toes into the expensive world of photography.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Dan

I'm exceptionally happy with this camera

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2016

Color: BlackStyle: w/18-55mm +70-300mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase

Bought the D3400 with 18-55mm and 70-300mm lenses, along with the free "Starter Bundle" including a sling backpack and 16 GB memory card as a Cyber Monday deal for $500. At that price point, I'm exceptionally happy with this camera. The body is comfortable to hold, as well as the strap. Battery life has been good so far, although I haven't tested that fully. The picture quality on automatic settings is very good. This is my first DSLR, and the controls took a little getting used to, but they're pretty intuitive. The lenses are nice. I do wish the 70-300mm lens had image stabilization, but I've been able to take some nice pictures without the stabilization.

A lot of reviews have been pretty critical of the SnapBridge functionality. It's not the greatest, but I've found that the automatic transfer of 2 MB previews happens reliably. Sometimes it doesn't pair with my phone right away, but it will do the whole pairing/transferring in the background - may just need to wait a minute. Being able to post a photo you take to FB or Instagram right away is a nice perk.

The free sling backpack in the starter bundle is great to have. I've just been keeping all the camera hardware and charger in there - no need to store them separately. The compartments are reconfigurable, and the padding is pretty sturdy. It won't survive being run over by a steamroller, of course, but I don't have any concerns about breakage if the pack drops on the ground from shoulder height.

Bottom line: for the $500 price point for the 2-lens deal, I'm extremely happy with this camera. At the non-cyber monday price point (currently $600), it's still a good deal - if you're not interested in the 70-300mm lens, you could forgo that to save some money.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

Andres L.

Phenomenal Camera

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2018

Color: RedStyle: w/18-55mm +70-300mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase

I purchased this camera almost a year ago (came with camera, battery/charger, two lense caps, 300mm zoom lense, and surprise! a strap) and after having used it for all that time, I still am absolutely in love with it.

First off, it is a beautiful looking camera. I bought the red simply because it was the cheaper of the two options, but I have fallen in love with the cherry red color. When I first bought it, I was a bit surprised to see how much of it was plastic, and I was a bit apprehensive as to how well it would hold up, but if you take good care of it, it'll last. Just wish the build quality was a bit more premium, but you get what you pay for, besides you forget about the plastic after awhile.

The pictures are crisp and clear and performs wonderfully in low light. If you know how to use a camera beyond point and shoot, you can get some fantastic images from this. The built in SnapBridge Bluetooth app is a pretty neat tool (it wasn't a factor when deciding to buy or not) and if you aren't shooting in RAW, then I'd say it's useful. I haven't used the feature in ages, but from what I remember, it performance varies. Some days it worked very fast and like a charm, others it was painfully slow, it's a coin toss really.

Battery life is really good, usually last a few of hours when taking pictures, and days on end when not in use. I only wish I didn't have to take the battery out of the camera to charge it, but that's fine, not really a deal breaker.

Overall, I love this camera and look forward to using it for years to come. If you're looking into buying a DSLR, I couldn't reccomend a better one.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

GabeTC

Great camera highly recommended

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2016

Color: BlackStyle: w/ 18-55mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase

This is my brief review of the Nikon D3400, a bit of background, so I am photographer at a theme park I also do events on occasion and they supply us with mostly D3000 series cameras so I have 7 months of experience with D3100 D3200 D3300 and now the D3400 and all of them have proven to be durable and reliable with fantastic image quality. Now to go a bit more in depth with the D3400, so immediately I noticed how much quieter and faster the AF system was but it also had one issue right out of the box that scared me at first when I swapped lenses from the kit lens to a 35mm f1.8 lens I have the AF stopped working all of a sudden, I turned off the camera prior to swapping and I carefully removed the lens cap along with the inner cap for the 35mm and the AF worked fine but when I put the kit back on the AF was frozen like I could see it selecting the focus points but nothing happened, so I thought nothing at first and I switched it on and off and nothing happened so I removed the lens and put it back on and nothing happened and on the third attempt to remove the lens and put it back on it finally worked and hasn't occurred again, so its not a big issue as it resolved it self but at the same time it may happen again. Image quality is amazing very very good even with the kit lens but low light is a little rough its a tad noisier then id like it was very similar in low light to a camera with a 1 inch sensor so i was quite surprised with the low light having the noise it did with it being a APS-C and a 1 inch sensor camera doing better. So going from a D3300 (Which we normally shoot with) to the D3400 you don't see that massive of a upgrade actually its barely an upgrade I would personally just get the D3300 with the kit lens of the D3400 and you would be golden, however as a personal camera the snapbridge is amazing I used to hate the wifi from most cameras it was slow I had to fiddle through menus to get into it and it would never work but this is something else I simply turn the camera on take the shot turn it off and boom its already in my phones photo gallery automatically and since it saves a 2MP to your phone its not massive and wont take up much space but you can turn this setting off if you'd like but I can't live without it now. Its super simple to use for someone just getting into photography and it works great for me as a backup cam for when I dont have my 5Dsr with me its also easier for travel being a tad smaller and having unbelievable image quality. It feels very solid in the hand the material its made of feels great and durable I would not think its weather sealed or shock proof but its not crappy and doesn't feel cheap. So all in all its one great little camera I give it a 7 out of 10 kudos Nikon for making this little beauty. Now if you have a D3300 I would not suggest you upgrade to this you wont notice anything new other then the snap bridge and lack of a mic jack and slightly better battery I would consider your next upgrade to go up and beyond a D7200 because its the same sensor and processor the image quality will be the same.

188 people found this helpful

Helpful

Oscar

The D3400 Honest review.

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2019

Color: RedStyle: w/ 18-55mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase

Okay ....this is an entry level DSLR that might not have the highest tech available on the market today but it does a TREMENDOUS job at what it was designed for.

Yes.. it has only 11 Auto focus points and doesn't offer things like multiple exposure shooting (for HDR photos) and/or support XQD card formats but this light DX camera is very much capable of taking incredible photos and delivers great image quality, and sharpness.

If you're new to photography and are looking for something that will not break your budget don't look any further this camera is everything you need to get better.
It doesn't have an overwhelming amount of config options so it gives you a chance to learn the basics without feeling intimidated.
I've been shooting portraits with this baby for quite a while now and I'm fairly certain there is no sub-1200 camera there that can compete. Having said that i believe this camera is more for still images than film making. For the latter I'd probably go with Canon as their continuous autofocus is superior to Nikon's.

Tip for absolute beginners: Unless you simply want to take snapshots without much composition and lighting don't be discouraged if the photos you took don't have the sort of quality and "pop" as those in magazines or online.. There is usually quite a bit of post processing to be done before that photo becomes truly remarkable.

Your 18-55mm kit lens should be just fine for the first few months until you get a hang of your camera and photography basics. After that you can experiment with different focal lengths and lenses. There are quite a few nikkor lenses specifically designed for DX format cameras ( like the 35mm f1.8 ) and a few full frame lenses ( like the 85mm f1.8 ) below 500 bucks that will deliver amazing results.

Have fun and remember you can't learn this great art by sitting at home and reading amazon reviews or watching YT videos... grab this fine piece of gear and go play with it. Practice makes perfect... keep on shooting!

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

AMM

Excellent camera choice - Love it!

Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2018

Color: BlackStyle: w/18-55mm +70-300mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase

We are loving this camera. This is a long overdue upgrade from a 10-year-old Panasonic Lumix (that is a great camera and still working, btw; just technology got better) for a teen who has been shooting for about 3 years now. We got the two lens and camera bag bundle. Shockingly, it actually shipped with a hardcopy manual (I personally can't stand it when you have to download a manual to your computer just to get started. I know I know...trees. Whatever. It's nice to have a hard copy when you're trying to get everything set up. I plant a tree tomorrow.)

To that end...the lithium battery fully charges in a couple of hours and held its charge all day through hours of shooting. Still, it's always nice to have a second one, so we have that on order.

This is bare bones...not a problem when you just pop it out of the package. Nevertheless, I have the usual items on order: UV protective filters (1 for each lens), lens hoods, an extra SD card (note, it doesn't come with one but we already one from the other camera; we're upgrading to a 64 mb pro since this camera shoots video.), a second battery, a remote.

Others may want to consider a USB cable to connect to a computer just in case you want to use ViewNx-i to download your pics (nope, that wasn't included but it's not really necessary if your computer has an SD card slot). It does support SmartBridge and it took us a bit of finagling to get it to work...because the fine print says you have to be higher than iOS 11.2.5 for it to work. As it turns out, they weren't lying. XD Get current on your iOS kids.

The camera shipped mostly up to date. There have been a number of firmware updates for this model and ours is only 1 firmware update behind on the F component. But really, it's an unpack it and shoot. The attached pictures were day two of the camera, no filters, no editing, just straight shots by the teen.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kevlar

SNAPBRIDGE BROKEN, PLEASE FIX

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2018

Color: BlackStyle: w/ 18-55mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase

EDIT: Snapbridge's functionality was fixed after the latest iOS Update, but it was broken for 2 months between updates. Incredibly frustrating, but I guess Nikon never intended on fixing it themselves. So brace yourselves--it might stop working with the next iOS update. Review updated from 2 out of 5 to 5 out of 5.

All right, so the camera itself is 5/5, don't get me wrong. If you're trying to learn how to shoot with an SLR like I was when I bought this a little while ago, it's a great starter camera. There isn't anything I can say about the picture taking ability of this camera that isn't already stated by other reviewers here.

HOWEVER, what I see as a key functionality and what sold me the D3400 over the D3300 was Snapbridge--the bluetooth connecting app/functionality that allows you to transfer pictures from the camera to your smartphone. Yeah, that DOES NOT work on iOS right now. Your camera will connect to your phone, but the actual photo transferring is broken. So, it's just enough to tease you that it might work, before totally disappointing you by telling you it failed to connect. For somebody who just got the camera, you might think it's your fault, your phone's fault, or you have a faulty camera that needs to go through the warranty process. Nope, it's just a broken app and Nikon not fixing it.

It's been 2 months since Snapbridge stopped working. And while Nikon has been decent enough to acknowledge on the app's download page, they're still selling cameras while their app is broken...and I cannot understand why it hasn't been fixed yet. The only explanation I have is that they aren't putting the resources towards fixing it, which is unacceptable. They're still selling these cameras on what basically comes down to false advertising when it comes to Bluetooth functionality.

There are plenty complaints about the app on the app store, but I'm guessing the negative reviews won't make a difference unless it affects actual camera sales. So, I'm doing my part to drop the rating here enough that people might take a glance at Canon cameras whose bluetooth functionalities are still nominal.

23 people found this helpful

Helpful

Paul Pardee

A great camera for newbie hobbyists

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2017

Color: BlackStyle: w/ 18-55mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase

While this is a great camera, it shows that it is the bottom of the line on Nikon DSLRs.

As far as image quality is concerned, in perfect conditions, it will take AMAZING photos. It struggles in low light, though. The autofocus struggles to find a target in even slightly dim conditions, and while the camera can go up to 25600 ISO, I started seeing noise that I would consider unacceptable above 800 ISO.

The kit lens is really impressive. As you'd expect from a kit lens, there is a lot of distortion and vignetting, but it's nothing Lightroom can't fix automatically for you. I haven't noticed any serious chromatic aberration. The lens focuses absolutely silently and essentially instantly. The build quality is without fault. Some people may not like the manual focus-by-wire, but I found that I prefer it after using it for a while. The only thing that really bothers me about the lens is that there is a button that allows you to collapse it down when it's not in use. This is fantastic when it's not in use, but I find myself accidentally pressing it when shortening the focal length, moving past the 18mm mark and locking down the shutter (which thankfully won't release when the lens is collapsed).

The features is where this camera really lacks. The sparse number of autofocus points feels very limiting very quickly. I find myself focusing and shifting more often than not. You cannot connect a shutter release cable, so you're limited to IR remote trigger, and the IR sensor is a little flaky (or the remote I got is). It does not auto bracket. It could really benefit from a tilting LCD screen.

It has some usability flaws as well. The LCD cannot be viewed while wearing polarized sunglasses unless you turn the camera or your head sideways. I have a difficult time seeing the entire image in the viewfinder because of how far back it is set into the camera. This may be a failing of my fat head rather than the camera, but it makes it difficult to see if I have a shot or not and see the settings at the bottom. The only way to change the ISO outside of the menu requires that you press the Fn button on the left, while scrolling the wheel on the right. It would be really nice to be able to operate the camera with a single hand. Unlike other Nikon cameras, there is no shortcut to format your memory card. You have to dive through the menu.

Overall, it IS a beginner's camera, and in that role, it is nearly flawless. Anyone serious about the hobby might want to save and take the next step up, though.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Alex

Great Camera

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2016

Color: RedStyle: w/ 18-55mmSet: BaseVerified Purchase

A Bit of Background:
I upgraded to the D3400 after the auto-focus on my D3300 died and getting my old refurb repaired was likely to cost half of what the new one would. I loved my D3300 as a beginner's camera. I wanted to develop my photography skills, and be able to take a shot at astrophotography without spending too much. For these purposes it worked really well, but when it started to malfunction, I knew I still wasn't ready for something with more settings I probably wouldn't use.

This Camera:
This camera is very similar to its predecessor, which in my opinion is good, if you liked your D3300. The only real differences I have detected as of yet are as follows (I will update these as I use the camera more):

Bluetooth: I really like the Bluetooth. Being able to post my photos to Flickr or Facebook because the camera sends them directly to my phone is pretty satisfying. I read some complaints about the app, SnapBridge, but have not run into any issues myself yet and had no trouble pairing my devices.

Different ports to connect to PC: UPDATE, I do not know what the exact difference in ports is, but they are different than the ports on the D3300 and the micro USB cord I used to use to connect my camera to my PC is no longer compatible. (I posted photos of the difference between the ports on the two cameras. The D3400 is the shiny red one.} Not only are the ports different but the camera did not come with any cables that would allow me to connect it to my PC. Also something of note, and this is part of why I gave the D3400 4 stars instead of 5, is that while the camera does come with a battery charger, it does NOT come with a battery or a memory card. Luckily for me, the battery from my D3300 was compatible. If I had ordered this camera without having owned my D3300 previously, I would have been really annoyed at the absence of these.

Image Quality:
The D3400 does not disappoint when it comes to image quality. If you are upgrading from the D3300 you can expect the same beautiful image quality as you had before. The attached photos were taken with the 18-55mm lens that comes with this package. I love the lens as an all purpose default lens to have on my camera. It can zoom up really well for great detail, which are my favorite shots.

In Short:
This camera is great and doesn't disappoint, aside from the lack of peripherals that are really required for getting going taking photos. Not coming with a battery, memory card and necessary cables really rubs me the wrong way, especially considering how much we are paying for the camera.
I will likely update this as I play more with this little beauty. If you want something similar to your D3300, but are not expecting a lot of upgraded bells and whistles, this is the camera for you. If you are coming from no camera, or a different one altogether, I still recommend the D3400 for beginners or casual photographers that want good image quality, especially in low light conditions, at a reasonable price. Just remember to order your peripherals, as all you get in this package is the lens, the strap and a charging port.