As a beginner DSLR, this camera definitely takes a good quality image with strong colors, and is quite affordable. If it's your first SLR, it is a great introduction.I began with Nikon's D40 and moved to this when the size limitations of a 6 MP image became a hindrance to my expanding photography (and print) interests. Given that this model is newer by several years, I expected improvements across the board, but this was not the case.
Things I was surprised to see lacking in the features list:
Bracketing--an easy feature to implement, not included on this camera
Videography--now becoming a standard on SLR still cameras, this one supports full 1080p video, but only for 10 minute clips. 10 minutes is plenty of time for taking a quick video at a family gathering or vacation, but the limit gets in the way of experimenting with more serious work. The limitation is silly, and removes this camera from practical commercial use.
Remote camera control--not the rf trigger; it supports that. I mean shooting tethered for things like stop-motion photography work. Every single Nikon SLR camera (including the old D40) supports this feature, except the D3000 and D3100.
Things I was unpleasantly surprised by when shooting:
The Auto mode on this camera does not perform as well as the old D40. I found that photos taken on auto were very frequently less saturated and closer to blown out or plugged than I am accustomed to. Setting the camera manually gave me great results.
The camera's choice in ISO is ludicrous. Outdoors, noontime, in full sunlight, at 55mm, F5.6, the camera handed me ISO 2200. It very consistently strove to ramp up the ISO to unnecessary levels, favoring sensitivity over shutter speed.
The noise. Partly because of the tendency to bump the ISO higher, but in general, I found that every one of the thousands of frames I've shot so far in *every* lighting condition, has a lot of noise. Perhaps this is a product of the 14 MP sensor, compared to the 6 I am used to...but it is a severe chore to set everything manually every frame or clean up all of the noise in post. (Noise reduction has been turned on throughout)
So, to sum up: The D3100 has all of the basic SLR functions, none of the advanced ones, creates bland looking photos 70% of the time on auto, and is capable of taking great looking pictures but is noisy. If you're looking for a first SLR camera, the price is right, and it's definitely a camera that can be reasoned with. But as an upgrade to a camera that did everything well but was showing its age? Not an adequate replacement.
Review by James Monaco "Multimedia Production Specialist"
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