The D3500 is the lightest camera on this site at 365 g, and it has the best battery life of any entry body anywhere: 1,550 shots on a charge. It also has Guide Mode, which explains what each setting does while you are changing it.
It is a beginner's camera and it is honest about that. Everything below is written for someone learning on it.
What it is good at
365 g. The lightest body we cover. A third of a D850, which is why it gets carried.
1,550 shots on a charge. Three times what an entry mirrorless manages. A week of holiday on one battery is realistic.
Guide Mode. The camera explains aperture and shutter while you change them. It is a genuinely good teacher and unique to Nikon's entry bodies.
Best settings, by situation
These are starting points calibrated to this camera's actual range. Adjust for your lens, your light and how fast your subject is moving.
Learning the exposure triangle
Guide Mode → Advanced operation
This is the feature worth buying the camera for. Guide Mode shows what happens to the picture as you change aperture or shutter, in plain language, on the screen. No other body here teaches while you use it.
Portraits
Mode A · f/1.8–2.8 · ISO 100–400 · AF-S, centre point
Eleven focus points means the outer ones are far apart, so focus with the centre point on the near eye and recompose. At f/1.8 recompose slightly rather than swinging the camera, or the eye drifts out of the plane of focus.
Travel and daylight
Mode A · f/5.6–8 · ISO 100 · matrix metering
At 365 g this is a camera you carry all day without thinking, and 1,550 frames means the charger stays in the bag. Bring one spare card rather than one spare battery.
Indoors and evening
Mode A · widest aperture · Auto ISO, cap 6400
Native ISO runs to 25,600, but on an APS-C sensor of this class the honest working ceiling is lower. Cap Auto ISO at 6400 and use a wider lens rather than pushing further.
Three things to know before you buy
All three are verified, and each one matters to a different photographer.
No 4K video, at all
Full HD 1080 at 60p is the ceiling. If video matters even a little, this is the wrong body.
Eleven autofocus points
Compare that to 51 on the D7500 and 153 on the D850. For a still subject it is fine; for a running child it is not.
No weather sealing
Nikon does not seal this body. Rain means a bag, not a wipe.
Who it is for
- Absolute beginners
- Travel and hiking
- Students and first-time buyers
- Family and everyday photography
- Not for sport and wildlife, anyone shooting video.
Carrying it all day
At 365 g this is among the lightest bodies you can buy with a real viewfinder, which is exactly why it gets carried rather than left at home.
A cushioned shoulder pad spreads that load instead of concentrating it on one point, which is the difference between a camera you carry and one your back remembers the next morning.
Our strap comes in two lengths, 32" and 44". Same strap, same quick-release clips, same safety tether in both — the XXL is simply longer, for photographers who are tall or broad and find every standard strap rides too high. It is a measurement of you, not of your camera. See it on Amazon, backed by a 3-year HiiGuy warranty.
Nikon D3500 — key specifications
| Sensor | 24.2 MP APS-C |
| Lens mount | Nikon F |
| Native ISO | 100 - 25,600 |
| Burst | 5 fps |
| Autofocus | 11 points |
| Video | Full HD 1080/60p |
| Card slots | 1 |
| Battery | 1,550 shots (CIPA) |
| Weight | 365 g with battery and card |
| Dimensions | 124 x 97 x 69.5 mm |
| Weather sealing | No |
| Announced | 2018 |
Specifications verified against the published data on 7 September 2026.
The full comparison table, an honest read on who this body suits and who should look elsewhere, and the manufacturer's own video are all on the Nikon D3500 page.
If you are also considering
Almost nobody is choosing between this camera and nothing. These are the bodies it actually gets compared against.
- Canon EOS Rebel T7 — the Canon most first-time buyers compare it against
- Nikon D7500 — the natural next Nikon, with 51 focus points instead of 11
- Canon EOS Rebel T100 — if the budget is tighter still
Every camera we cover is in the camera guides, and the specifications above can be checked against the independent database at DPReview.
Where to buy it
We do not sell cameras. If this is the right body for how you shoot, check the current price on Amazon. Prices move often enough that publishing one here would only ever be wrong.
As an Amazon Associate, HiiGuy earns from qualifying purchases. The camera link above is an affiliate link; the HiiGuy strap is our own product.
