Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

You might want to look at the D90 and D7000. A little more money. But you get what you pay for. And all the older lenses will work. I have been shooting Nikon a long time! And all my old lenses still work. I have a D300s.
Erv

jjestar Loc: Savannah GA

I think if I was looking at a DX 1.5 crop I would spend a little extra money and buy the D7000.

Hando Rei Loc: Long Island New York

To quote ... Mac !

Bethj Loc: Northwest Ohio

I found my Nikon D300 and some lenses on ebay and saved a great amount of money. You can find out how many shutter clicks were triggered on camera with opanda web site by sending one of their pictures taken with that camera. Download program and go from there. Low light lenses (1.4-2.8) are also more versatile than other lenses but you will pay more for them. Do not buy anything from China. (The paying for return shipping isn't worth it.)

ward5311 Loc: Georgia

I didn't understand the difference in lens quality until I forked over the dollars for a Tokina. Now I hate my kit lenses. Go for a camera with high MP, body only, then invest in good glass.

George H Loc: Brooklyn, New York

Cathy,
Buy the camera used, and get yourself quality only quality Lenses. Cameras change often, not so with the lens. Lens is much more important to quality photos.

George

MtnMan Loc: ID

I'll give the alternative view on this. Purchase a kit: the Nikon kit lenses are fabulous and an outstanding deal. They are very flexible and will accelerate your learning with the camera so when you decide to invest further you'll know what to look for.

I bought the D5100 kit with a 18-55 and 55-300. The latter is fabulous. Below are a couple of pics I took yesterday.

I prefered the D5100 over the D3100 because it comes with the same sensor as the much more expensive D7000, allowing better pics at high ISO, and also because of the articulated LCD. I have found that I use the latter much more than I thought.

My daughter-in-law bought a D3100 at the same time with the same smaller lens and the 55-200. She is happy with hers as well and takes as good pictures as I do...so far. I am poised to pass her by soon.

Wood Duck: handheld with 55-300mm


Widgeon: same settings

ward5311 Loc: Georgia

I thought the same thing. I have those lenses. You won't really understand until you shoot with a good quality lense. I'm glad you are pleased with the kit lenses.

Greg Loc: Maryland

Only if you want autofocus. I still have several old Nikon/Nikkor lenses from the 70's that work fine on them as long as you don't mind doing EVERYTHING in manual.

NIKONUT Loc: San Diego

That is why I have used Nikon cameras since 1963. Many bodies and lenses both film and digital and all are interchangable.

camerabuff58 Loc: Ontario, Canada,

Cathy: Go to dpreview.com for good reviews on all equipment
As mentioned before it's not so much the camera as it is good high quality glass. Brian

ShooterOR

If you are "techie"-- go to slrgear.com and look at the lens tests. I'm surprised this site doesn't get more run on this forum.

boncrayon

I still say that the human eye is the best instrument that compements the lens. Great shots are in the holder of the camera and lense. On the equipment, the lense is the key element, and the camera body with it's digital components will capture more of what the human eyeand mind grasps. Comfort allow the human eye to bracket and grab the image. A "bad eye" cannot grab a masterpiece, where a "good eye" with a so-so camera can write a story in the light grab.

A pin-hole camera is a serious tool to those who have never bought a high-end devise.

MtnMan Loc: ID

dpreview is a good suggestion.

You also might find snapsort.com useful in your quest. They make it easy to compare any two cameras, or to look at their rankings of particular kinds. You might not agree with their ranking criteria but they give the side by side information you can select from.

One misleading thing many of these sites will tell you is that the Nikon D3100 and 5100 do not have image stabilization...which Nikon calls Vibration Reduction (VR). In one sense it is correct: there isn't a mechanism in the camera body. Instead Nikon and other manufacturers of lenses for Nikon put the VR motors in the lens. Thus a better statement might be "requires VR/OS/IS lenses for image stabilization". The Nikon lenses with VR work very well.

While I am beginning to agree with the glass fanatics (I have my first "prime" lens and agree it is better) I don't think it good advice for a first DSLR. A zoom lens provides much more flexibility and fun when you are getting started. In the beginning you will be the limiting feature, not the lens. The Nikon kit lenses are very good. You can invest in other lenses after you get a better idea of what you really want and need.

I recommend getting the newest camera model you can afford. It isn't the megapixels that matter as much as the date of manufacture and physical size of the sensor. Every new generation of sensors has substantial improvements over the earlier. The newer generations of cameras also have improved electronics elsewhere and software. For example the D5100 gives you in camera HDR. Not a great implementation of it but an example of substantial new feature. Perhaps the greatest improvement in the D5100 and D7000 sensor/electronics/software is that they handle substantially higer ISO with less noise. You'll learn what that means...it is important in many cases.

digiman Loc: Brooklyn, NY/Greenville, SC

I have a D3100 which I bought recently and really enjoy this camera. I would definitely get this one over the 5000 due to the range in price difference. They are practically the same camera with a few differences. Any Nikon is a great investment and their lenses are phenomenal.