Nikon D3100 is what I wanted (was: Nikon D31000 is what I wanted)

[errol young]

<p>I have spent about a week with my D3100 and am impressed so far. Not that I have done any serious shooting with it. (I was too busy shooting Santa pics in a mall using my D70 and recovering from the mass of crying 2 year olds and their sadistic parents.)<br>

Just handling it, it is seems to be the camera that I wanted to get for years.<br>

For serious gigs, I use the wonderful D300 now but I will be taking the 3100 along as a backup.<br>

The first thing that I like about it is its weight. I wanted to have a D40x for years for that reason. I can’t stand Point and Shoots for a lot of reasons but I want to have a camera with me a lot of the time and the 300 is a brick. Also I am going to do a bit of traveling in Central America and I will not be going first class so a light, small, camera that can give good IQ is what I want.<br>

The 3100 seems to be it. The 7000 looks great but it is as heavy as or even heavier than my D70 which I lugged on my last trip. (It did do a great job out shooting more modern and higher MP cameras.)<br>

The 18-55VR cost only C$80 with the body and while I did not need another kit lens, it was too cheap to resist. I think that I will take it on the trip because it is light compared to my 16-80 and my 18-70. I hear that its IQ is very good too.<br>

Of course I will miss some of the features of my 300 and 70 like dedicated function buttons. There is not that much room on the 3100 deck for many more but I wonder why Nikon has 3 buttons to turn on the LCD. Could they have not just made one a FN like the one on the top? It seems like a simple software fix.<br>

So that is it so far. I am going to shoot a portrait session soon with it so I will see how it handles in real life.</p>

 

[mark_drutz]

<p>I have my D3100 for two months and I love it. It has the IQ of my D90 and the small size and light weight of my D60. It doesn't have the dedicated buttons of the D90, but it has the i button that allows you to change most settings quickly and easily without going into the menus. It does have an Fn button right under the button for the flash. I set mine for setting the ISO.</p>

<p>My only problem, and it's a minor one, is that being so small and light, it doesn't balance well with heavy lenses. On the other hand it keeps the weight down when you use a heavy lens.</p>

[evilsivan]

<p>How is the high iso performance?</p>

[errol young]

<p>I use the Fn for WB. that is what I change the most.</p>

[wpahnelas]

<p>it's a good little camera. i routinely set auto ISO to 1600 and never wince at the results. the only things that bother me are the slow AF acquisition -- sometimes i'll have my subject clearly in the VF but the camera can't lock on and won't release the shutter. if i was shooting something bigger than birds (say people) this might not be such an issue.</p>

[elliot1]

<p><em>"it doesn't balance well with heavy l</em>enses." This issue will be resolved once battery grips become available. I use one with my D40 and it really helps in this department.</p>

<p>Errol, enjoy your new camera!</p>

[nishnishant]

<p>Ok, so you buy a camera because it's light, then add a heavy lens and the camera loses balance, so you add a battery grip to make it heavier! *grin*</p>

[mdma]

<p>Ive had my D3100 for 3 months and while Im annoyed by missing dedicated buttons for common functions (yet having 3 for turning the lcd on - come on!), its portability and IQ is just superb. ISO 3200 pictures are quite usable in my experience, at least as much as any other camera.<br>

I also used the camera in a fairly heavy snowstorm without any protective gear, and it worked fine. Later on I found water around the lens mounting however, so Id still be careful when using it in wet environments. Nikon of course make no claims about weather sealing anyway.</p><div></div>

[nishnishant]

<p>At that size, it's impossible to judge how good the noise is on that image. At higher resolution, it is usually not as impressive as the smaller size fools you into thinking it is. At least that's been my experience here.</p>

[nishnishant]

<p>By "experience here" I mean how people post high-ISO images with the intention of showing how good they are and then post a significantly resized image where it's too small to pass judgement on.</p>

[eric_arnold]

<p>glad you changed the title--i was wondering about the d31000. but you'd really need to see a crop to judge the iso 3200 with any acuity. looks ok, if a bit smeared. if i had one of those tiny wonders, i'd probably only use it with similarly-diminutive glass: 35/1.8, 50/1.8, 18-55, etc.</p>

 

[mdma]

<p>Fair point - Here it is again. And remember I said "usable", not brilliant!</p><div></div>

[nishnishant]

<p>The full res image is indeed quite impressive for ISO 3200.</p>

<p>Out of curiosity, where is that location?</p>

[nishnishant]

<p>Oops, never mind, you've mentioned the location in your original post.</p>

[mark_drutz]

<p>When Shakespeare said, "What's in a name?" he really blew it. When you call a camera like the D3100 or Canon T2i "entry level" you brand it as fit only for beginners or other inferior beings. Even if one knows how good these cameras are, they are still stigmatized. I bought my first SLR in 1967 so I'm hardly a beginner, and I can afford any camera made (that I know of). I use a D3100 because it has excellent IQ, at least as good as my D90, and it is small and light weight, two things that are very important to me.</p>

<p>I prefer to think of my D3100 as a "compact DSLR". I think that is a better term than the more limiting,"entry level". I think that entry level is more of a marketing term. It tells the beginner or the person moving up from a P&S that this is a camera that they can feel comfortable using. It also implies to the more advanced photographer that he/she needs a more advanced, that is , more expensive camera. Since it's mostly about marketing, the term "entry level" is probably here to stay.</p>

[nishnishant]

<p>The "entry" in entry-level is about money. Entry-level usually indicates that lower to lower-middle class photographers (like myself) can afford the camera without screwing up their credit *grin*</p>

[mark_drutz]

<p>Nish, I agree that entry level indicates a lower price, but I think that in marketing it's more than that. I think the term is meant to suggest to advanced photographers that this camera is for beginners, but you really need a more advanced (expensive) camera. It is meant to be reassuring to beginners and to be a subtle put down to advanced photographers.</p>

<p> </p>

[richard_a5]

<p>It's too bad that Nikon has not included some helpful functions in the D3100, such as bracketing, mirror lockup, viewfinder gridlines and better ISO reporting in the viewfinder.<br>

These functions would be very helpful for those of us looking for a compact DSLR rather than an entry level DSLR.</p>

[amyedwards]

<p>I am very happy to see so many satisfied D3100 users. I acquired mine about a week ago (my first DSLR) and although I've been very pleased with the few quick shots I've taken thus far, I've been second guessing my decision. You have all made me breathe a sigh of relief!<br>

Cheers.</p>

[mark_drutz]

<p>Richard, it does have mirror lock-up. I agree it would be nice to have auto bracketing, grid lines, and especially the ISO in the viewfinder. The bracketing though can be done quickly and easily with the exposure compensation (which I do) or by switching to manual exposure.</p>

[mark_drutz]

<p>It's probably done to keep the price down. It's about $200 less than the Canon T2i which is probably its main competitor in terms of sales. Their market research tells them what the optimal price is relative to the competition. They then put in and leave out features based on what their market research tells them their target buyers want and allows them to reach their target price.</p>

<p>We'd like to think it's all about photography, but it's a business, and it's all about marketing.</p>