Nikon D5100 16.2MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens,5.0 out of 5 stars The D5100, an Outstanding, Solid Camera, November 25, 2011

I have been shooting with the for a year and a half and have been more than satisfied with the results. It originally came with the 18-55 lens and I also got a 55-200 but those were upgraded to and over the past year. I have now had the D5100 for four weeks, received for a milestone birthday, and I absolutely love it. For me it provided everything I needed without having to reach up to the D7000.

The image captures from the D5100 using either the 105 or the 300 are very very high quality. The D5100 has the same image sensor as the D7000, which is a nice benefit. When I go out to shoot, I shoot. It is nothing to snap two or three hundred clicks in very short order. And very few of them do I ever have to delete while still on the memory card in the camera or discard later once downloaded to my pc or laptop.

The settings and functions are easy to learn and easy to use. The additional "Scenes" and "Effects" I am still playing with but the ones I have used have delivered as Nikon promises. I still do an awful lot of landscape photography, as well as sunrise and sunset images, and the D5100 executes exceedingly well with both the 105 and 300. Very rarely do I ever end up with an under- or over-exposed image regardless of the setting or function that I use.

As mentioned in my D60 review I enjoy the use of a viewfinder and even though the D5100 has liveview I still now prefer the viewfinder. Of course, using the built-in "Selective Color" function means I have to use liveview and that is fine. And, speaking of which, selective color works just great. I have experimented with it on various types of scenes, all hand-held without a tripod, and the results are quite remarkable considering the unit snaps two photos. That, in itself, says much about Nikon's VR capabilities.

I greatly enjoy the 3" display, over my D60's smaller one. Not just for the size, but the color clarity is superb. The addition of the articulating display was brilliant on Nikon's part as it assists framing difficult shots with relative ease.

The performance of the D5100 in low-light situations, with either the 105 or 300, is outstanding. I have not yet experimented with the "Active D-Lighting" function that works to improve the dynamic range between low and high light, so cannot address that. Once I have done so, I shall update my review.

As a final note, I am, at this point, keeping my D60, and have the 105 on one of the cameras and the 300 on the other because I just hate to take the time to change a lens and I do still get great images from the D60. However, depending on what I plan to shoot the D5100 gets first choice of lens and the D60 takes the backseat.

For the money I do not think the D5100 can be beat for quality of performance.