The place of my D3100

<p>I got it as a travel camera. I admired the D40x for a while, small, IQ, controllable. I waned one as a travel walk around camera. D70s' were heavy for that. Good for the work I do though.<br>

Now I work with a D7000 usually with a 16-85 on it and a D300 with a 105 2.8 on. Works will but for some things I also want to pack my Sigma 10-20. I am thinking of mounting that on the D3100 and carrying it in a small camera bag. No need to shoot fast or focus well with it.<br>

As a walk around, I am thinking of getting a p7100 around xmas time (when I earn $ on a santa shoot in a mall), By then I hope there will be a D7200, who knows? Even the 7100 with the kit lens is getting heavy for me day to day.<br>

So the 3100 has turned itself into a work camera. It is a great little machine. </p>

 

<p>There is the whole mirrorless camera segment you might want to tap into. They are lighter and smaller than dslrs, some with better IQ yet smaller than the p7100... </p>

<p>I have a D90 and a D3100, and I find my self using the D3100 much more because it is so much lighter than the D90 and its IQ is better.</p>

<p>Errol- as a long time Nikon user with both dslr and point and shoot cameras, I suggest that you consider getting a Canon s95/100 instead of the 7100/7200.<br>

I have had several problems with my p7000 and the 7100 seems to have problems as well.<br>

I bought the s95 (my first ever Canon) and it's a great walk around camera; I'm convinced that Canon makes better point and shoot cameras than Nikon.</p>

<p>cb :-)</p>

<p>I will look into the Canon. The 7100 takes the same battery as the 3100 and uses the Nikon flash system. So I may b stuck with it.</p>

<p>Just looked at the Canon. It does not have an optical vf. </p>

<p>"Just looked at the Canon. It does not have an optical vf."<br>

That used to be a factor for me until I just got tired of the dinky little optical viewfinder on my point and shoot and the fact that I really couldn't frame my shots like I could on my dslr. Once I started using the p7000's lcd screen instead to compose/frame, I got better results.<br>

If I were looking for a walk around camera, I wouldn't be influenced by whether or not it used the same battery as my dslr or didn't have an optical viewfinder; I'd be looking at the quality of the images it produced, the lens, and its portability. As a long time Nikon shooter, I found the Canon s95 to be superior to any Nikon point and shoot and am very pleased with it.<br>

If your priorities are different, you may not want the Canon; your call.</p>

<p>If you want a viewfinder you should also consider the Canon G12 which is in the same price range as the P7100. If you want to go higher in price there's the Canon G1x, the Fuji X10, and Fuji X100 that have viewfinders.</p>