Nikon D3200 low-light performance

Is the Nikon DSLR camera still good in 2021? Testing its low-light capabilities with its 18-55 kit lens

Nikon D3200 was released many years ago but many consumers are still using this entry-level DSLR camera. To be honest, we were really surprised by the performance of this camera, even with its AF-S Nikkor lens. 

Today we will be focusing on the D3200 low-light performance and share with you some sample photos we made indoors. 

We reviewed the Nikon D3200 about 6 years ago and we still have it, so one thing we can confirm - it is well-made and durable.

Nikon D3200 sample photos - low-light

In the next couple of photos we tried to get some background blur and achieve minor bokeh effect:

As you can see these images are pretty good but far from great. And yes, these are the good examples, more than half the shots I took with the D3200 in low-light conditions were out of focus and came out quite blurry. 
Please note that these 3 images are not edited and look a bit soft and yellowish which is easily fixable for just couple of minutes: 

Here are few other images where we just aimed to have a specific object in focus. The results... images are definitely usable, with some opportunities in regards to the focus, ISO performance is quite adequate: 

  

  

  

Well, I believe these examples are more than enough to get a better idea of how the Nikon D3200 performs in low-light. 

Is the Nikon D3200 still good enough in 2021?

Well, yes of course, especially for a DSLR that you can find with kit lens for under $300 second hand it definitely is good enough. If you use it outdoors for landscapes and some portraits it does the job more than fine. 

Nikon D3200 DSLR camera 2020 feedback - video

We would also recommend you to check our Panasonic Lumix GX9 tests we made for this small and very capable MFT camera.