Nikon D3100

<p>I am new to photography and really enjoy it. I currently use a Fujifilm fine pix S with 30x zoom. When i zoom pictures can come out blurry, no matter how focused. I am looking to upgrade, and am wondering how good this Nikon D3100 actually is. I want something that takes nice clear pictures, Nice macro , Nice coloring etc Within an affordable price (up to $800 aus) - so please let me know :) <br /><br /> Alana <br /><br /> Mooi Photography ,on FB. ( you can see on there what i mean when i say some photos come out blurry)</p>

<p>Alana, it's not as simple a question to answer as it may seem.<br>

Yes, the D3100 is superior in many ways to your Fuji, but certainly not all. To get the equivalent of that 30x zoom range that your Fuji has, you will end up with 2 or 3 seperate lenses on the Nikon and it's going to be more costly. On the other hand - you can get one lens at a time, and each single one will be able to deliver better quality. Through in special lenses or accessories for macro, and the price goes up further....<br>

By default, the D3100 comes with a 18-55 zoom, which is comparable to the widest angle on the Fuji, and then 3x zoom (so, yes, you'd loose a lot of "zooming power"). This is a very good lens to get started with, IF you can accept that you can zoom a lot less. Having less zoom is not necessarily a problem, unless you love to make photos of birds and wildlife.<br>

<br>

However, the problem of the blurring is more a problem of technique (=you) than it is of the camera. Upgrading the camera may help solve some of it, but in the end, the biggest upgrade you can do, is investing in a course on photography, or a few good books on photography, and learn more. It will help you understand what can cause your images to be blurry (80-90% will be because the shutterspeed is simply too slow). Regardless of what camera you use, this is the investment that will pay off in better images.</p>

<p>So, two sides to the story. Yes, the camera can help, but in the end it's whoever operates the camera that makes a huge difference. The Fuji S series aren't bad cameras, I'd keep it and start a course, and see how you get on.</p>

<p>Also, you can do a lot with software. Your example seems to be a black and white jpg straight from the camera. It could be much improved, in my opinion, by some software sharpening and increased contrast.</p>

<p>For example, here is your original image, unchanged except for downsizing to 700 pixels wide for inline display.</p><div></div>

<p>And here it is with some sharpening and more contrast. I used Photoshop CS6, but any image editing software could do pretty much the same kind of thing.</p><div></div>

<p>What the brochures and website fail to tell buyers of superzoom compacts is that unlike at the wider angle end of the zoom, taking really long telephoto pictures with any camera requires keeping the camera very steady, preferably on a tripod. This even overwhelms what in-camera optical stabilization can do.</p>

<p>Just to see if you can improve things without spending a lot of money, try using your elbows as a tripod with the camera in your hands (using a fence, ledge or whatever). Or, buy yourself a little gorillapod.. that's all you need.</p>

<p>The nice thing about the Finepix and other compact superzoom cameras is that you get a lot of zoom for your buck... which is very expensive to replicate with a DSLR. I tried a Canon SX270 with a 20x zoom recently, and I got some decently sharp pics at the long end of the zoom. I took this picture with it at the 500 mm equivalent long end...</p><div></div>