Just remember that a Nikon D7100 is a CROP frame sensor with a 1.5 magnification. SO a 50mm prime is REALLY a 75mm prime. My 35mm 1.8G prime is REALLY a 52.5 mm prime. That is why I just sold TWO 50mm 1.8D lenses and bought ONE 35mm 1.8G lens to replace them. Hence my suggestion.

Before you spend money on a D7100 look at the D7000. It can save you some money. Don't get hung up on the megapixels. The D7000 can be had for cheap right now and it is a get camera TOO!

Lenses. I shoot with a D90. I have two lenses that you want.

18-55 VR - $100 refurbished from Nikon.
55-200 VR - $130 refurbished from Nikon.

Next lens to buy

35 mm 1.8 G for portrait and low light. $196 New.

All three are GREAT lenses. All three are DX lenses. All three are all the lens you will ever need unless you get into a speciality situation.

I shoot action photos (dance) in dark theaters and use a 80-200 f2.8 for that. Four lenses. That is ALL that I own. Three is all you need. These three lenses are cheaper than one of some others.

I recommend JPG FINE SMALL (Nikon) or your equivalent. These produce 1 MB file sizes. That makes them emailable, but they are still large enough to do great prints on the far side.

Before you spend money decide if you want to go FULL frame or CROP frame. Most will disagree with me on this, but I view Canon verses Nikon as a Ford vs Chevy debate. Both are industry leaders. Both make good, mainline equipment. Deciding this Canon vs that Nikon comes down to what you want, what you are going to shoot, what lenses, if any you currently have, etc., etc.

I am a Nikon guy myself, so I know its product line better. If I were going out to spend money today on a Nikon camera, it would be a refurbished, D600. If I wanted to spend less money, and keep my stable of Nikon crop frame lenses, I would buy a D7000 as you can get these NEW for cheap. The deal of the CENTURY was Best Buy has the D7000 with the 18-140 lens for $799 on Black Friday. Almost jumped on that! If I was going to switch brands, it would definitely be to a FULL frame camera and I would go with either a Canon 6D or a Sony A7. Determine your budget first. Don't be afraid of refurbished and then enjoy then hunt!

You have to IMAGE a drive. This is NOT a simple file copy. The operating system in the control panel has a utility to create a set of RECOVERY discs. This set should be REFRESHED EVERY time you put in an update or an a program. So, of course, as lazy Americans we don't do that and then whine because our RECOVER discs are out of date. Create yourself a FRESH set of RECOVER discs and you are good.

I am a computer guy since 1976 and switched over to digital video in 2004. This is definitely an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Lightroom does tether but it transfers very slowly if you are shooting action like a dance routine. I have found it necessary to use Nikon Camera Control Pro 2 get the direct to computer performance needed for action photography.

I go with www.crucial.com as well. This is the marketing arm of Micron Technologies out of Boise, ID. They make good stuff AND you are supporting the home team for no more money.

Check out Commander Mode on your camera. I use a D90 and a SB700 and an SB600 to create a three light set up. For $80 off of ebay, I got TWO light stands, with soft boxes, and a specialized mount to hold the two Speedlights. Put the camera in Commander Mode, switched the SB600 around 180 degrees so that sensor was on the correct side. Put both speedlights in slave mode. Click, shoot, on camera flash, and two speedlights fired in sync and NO MORE SHADOW on the backdrop. It took me about 10 minutes to read up on this and set up the flashes. Just remember to take the Speedlight OUT of slave mode when you put it back on the camera otherwise it will not work at all. OOPS!

Depending on HOW you use the camera, give the D7000 are REALLY hard look. On Black Friday, Best Buy had the D7000 and an 18-140 lens for $899.00. Don't get lost in the megapixel debate.

I can shoot full day, uninterrupted dance competitions. The D7000 has a REAL AC adapter. The cord comes out or a switch get flipped, the camera switches to battery without missing a beat, no pun intended. The D7100 uses a battery REPLACEMENT. You have a battery replacement that goes in the battery compartment, the AC adapter plugs into the battery replacement. Now you have an extra connection. If you pull out your cord, you now have a dead camera in your hands and you are search around for a cord on the floor in the dark WHILE you are missing client photos!

I DESELECTED both the D7100 and the D600 for this reason and currently shoot with a D90.

I will add my 2 cents in as you have not gotten a complete answer.

What you are seeing is called BACK FOCUS. I experience this a lot with photographers trying to shoot dance competitions. Somewhere on you camera is a control for WHERE the auto focus looks to focus. Yours is probably currently off to one side instead of in the center. You tap the shutter and it focuses on the wall to the left or right of your subject. You click the shutter and the picture on the wall is in crisp, sharp focus, but your subject is in very soft focus. This is BACK FOCUS. Since I am a Nikon photographer, I can't tell you the specifics of your Canon camera but the solution is the same: find which AUTO FOCUS sensor is active and make sure that it is on your subject when you tap the shutter release to auto focus. Problem solved.

No.

Lots of experience doing this. Although it is not a GREAT program, it does do this: Using Nikon's Camera Control Pro 2. It will save the image directly to a computer. The moment the image file is written out, the editor will have access to it. The image ONLY goes to card if the USB cable to the computer gets pulled out of the computer or camera. WAAAAY MO BETTER than messing with an HDMI capture card and probably WAAAAY MO Cheaper too!

It also depends heavily on what you are going to do with your camera.

I am a videographer who has been teaching himself photo for the last two years. My business partner, the photographer in the company, shoots with Nikon because of Nikon Professional Services and their ability to send us a loaner.

If I was starting with a blank slate today:

If I were doing to shoot LOTS of DSLR Video: Sony
If I were doing to shoot FULL FRAME Still: Canon
If I were looking for value still: Nikon

I suggest that you go out to www.kenrockwell.com and read camera reviews for several models. I would also suggest a "training wheels" camera that was not overly expensive, such as a used or refurbished camera. I bought two Nikon D90 off of ebay, got good gear and saved a bunch of money. You don't need to buy a NEW camera any more than you need to buy a NEW car.

NO!

Funny you should chose the 70-300 lens as your example.

One of the CHEAPEST lenses Nikon make is the 70-300 G lens. It retails for $172.95 and the VR version is $589.95. NO! They are NOT the same lens! Lens cheap lens is a starter lens that you put in the hands of a student. If you can shoot good pictures with a poor lens, you will do great with a good lens.

A much better comparison is the 18-55 DX and the 18-55 DX VR. These are similar lenses, both of good quality. The retail on the plain 18-55 is $119.95 and the VR version is $199.95. The VR feature gets you about 1 to 2 extra stops hand held. That is all. If you are shooting off a tripod or at a high shutter speed, the VR feature does not come into play. VR is a good to have, but it is only ONE feature in a lens whose quality is made up of many parts.

DON'T be fooled by price. The 24-85 lens lists for $599.95. It is a good lens that has been kitted with the D600. The kit lens 28-80 G is rated as one of Nikon's 10 best lenses by Ken Rockwell and can be bought for $60. The range difference is very small.

Like I said, MANY features go into a lens. VR is only one conponent.

Buy LIGHTLY used ones or the CHEAPEST available holiday point and shoots available.

These are LED lights. No heat issues. SHOP lights put out LOTS of heat. They WILL burn you to the touch after only a few minutes.