David Mitchell
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
Well I have gone and done it, ive bought myself a Nikon D3100 with the 18-55mm kit lens (slight mix up with the exchange rate meaning that this camera was much more expensive than the UK but never mind!)
For all the newbies on here (me included) I thought I would do a few photos of a 'whats in the box' and 'whats it like'? sort of review for everyone to see
One box
Compartments - left is the camera, middle is the accessories, right is the lens
Important bits it comes with - charger (with battery), strap, cable magnets for data transfer and a different view finder rubber
Here is the camera - all angles
Setting - auto plus the presets, then there is a manual, shutter preference, aperture preference and a program setting.
Here is the rear screen with a diagram of exactly what the lens is doing and a light meter reading around the edge
Now the 18-55 lens, it has manual and auto focus as well as vibration reduction
Here it is all together:
I took it out into Canterbury today, took some nice shots - note that the camera doesn't come with an SD card in the box. Please also note that all the manuals I have are in french, I havn't read an english manual, which is good as I can then show everyone how user friendly the camera is for a brand new beginner to DSLRs etc.
Pros:
Cons
Conclusion
Im very happy with the camera and I feel that its been designed by someone who knows where the most commonly used buttons needed to be - everything is in easy reach, especially impressed with ease to change shutter and aperture settings easily. I recomend this camera a lot if you are just starting out, I watched a review on the Canon 1100D which is the equivilent model in the Canon range and apparently the buttons weren't as well layed out and it felt cheap and plasticy. This Nikon is fairly cheap - even cheaper now the D3200 has just come out! but the textured grips and the solid construction gives you confidence with it but without it being bulky of heavy to take with you - a good 'point and shoot' DSLR!
Here are a few examples of what I have shot - I have converted a few into B&W but these are the colour images with NO touchups of any kind ie exactly as it comes off the card - these are shot in standard jpeg so the detail will be even higher if set to RAW etc
Well I have gone and done it, ive bought myself a Nikon D3100 with the 18-55mm kit lens (slight mix up with the exchange rate meaning that this camera was much more expensive than the UK but never mind!)
For all the newbies on here (me included) I thought I would do a few photos of a 'whats in the box' and 'whats it like'? sort of review for everyone to see
One box
Compartments - left is the camera, middle is the accessories, right is the lens
Important bits it comes with - charger (with battery), strap, cable magnets for data transfer and a different view finder rubber
Here is the camera - all angles
Setting - auto plus the presets, then there is a manual, shutter preference, aperture preference and a program setting.
Here is the rear screen with a diagram of exactly what the lens is doing and a light meter reading around the edge
Now the 18-55 lens, it has manual and auto focus as well as vibration reduction
Here it is all together:
I took it out into Canterbury today, took some nice shots - note that the camera doesn't come with an SD card in the box. Please also note that all the manuals I have are in french, I havn't read an english manual, which is good as I can then show everyone how user friendly the camera is for a brand new beginner to DSLRs etc.
Pros:
- Light weight (but still feels solid and rugget)
- Quite compact (but still find to keep hold of)
- Nice display on the rear showing what the lens is actually doing
- Good flash
- Nice easy way to shoot full manual - thumb wheel on the back changes the shutter speed, then hold down the aperture button (just next to the shutter button in the perfect place) and move the thumb wheel and that changes the aperture - I found this to be very intuative and I havn't read any manuals yet!
- Live view flick very easy to use and nice display
- 11 focusing points make it easy to see whats being focused
- Easy lens fitting and solidly locked together
- Well weighted
- Info in view finder useful - ISO, Aperture etc shown
- Apparently the lens doesn't focus very well on very close things - this isn't the case!
- Info/guide button helpful, there is a guide setting, but there is also an 'info' button that makes a comment about which of the preset you should use at certain times (when not shooting manual)
Cons
- Lens cap isn't tethered - dropped it twice so far!
- Strap quite hard to get fitted - quite fiddly
- Flash can still pop up when in auto mode even if its sunny
- No case with the kit
Conclusion
Im very happy with the camera and I feel that its been designed by someone who knows where the most commonly used buttons needed to be - everything is in easy reach, especially impressed with ease to change shutter and aperture settings easily. I recomend this camera a lot if you are just starting out, I watched a review on the Canon 1100D which is the equivilent model in the Canon range and apparently the buttons weren't as well layed out and it felt cheap and plasticy. This Nikon is fairly cheap - even cheaper now the D3200 has just come out! but the textured grips and the solid construction gives you confidence with it but without it being bulky of heavy to take with you - a good 'point and shoot' DSLR!
Here are a few examples of what I have shot - I have converted a few into B&W but these are the colour images with NO touchups of any kind ie exactly as it comes off the card - these are shot in standard jpeg so the detail will be even higher if set to RAW etc