Nikon D3100 DSLR Camera with 18-55mm VR, 55-200mm Zoom Lenses (Black) (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

The camera is in good condition. I liked it. However, there is a material inside the lens which is making sound when the lenses are moved as if a part of the lenses is ripped.Plus the Lcd screen is obscured within seconds if not used and I need to start from scratch in case of adjusting settings. I havent been able to figure out yet but it may be stemming from a former setup to maintain battery life longer.

Show more

There are a lot of great small cameras out there on the market right now in the $400 price range, like the Canon G 12 , or Sonys small new point and shoot. Most of them are amazing computers with still photographic and video capability. So why get an SLR when the trend is getting smaller and higher megapixels? And why this one. I bought mine used on Amazon for a super deal and it came w/ warranty. Im so happy with it. I did one job with it and more than paid for the camera, lens etc. I wanted to use big lenses for one, and this camera is so lite that it compensates for the weight of the camara. Pick this baby up and there is nothing to it. Its 14.5 meg and plenty of camera for professional needs- see Ken Rockwells review. Its got everything you will ever need for a few years unless you are a serious movie maker and even then with a tripod its amazing. Practially foolproof- unless you drop it. So far I havent tested that, but I did get caught in the rain recently and the camera came out fine! Check out using this camara with the Yunguno RF 603N Remotes I also got on Amazon---so amazing and no vibration...keeps the long lenses sharp as a tack!

Show more

Before people start freaking out I am not comparing this to a Canon 1DX when I mention "PRO" in the review title, rather, that I use this consumer targeted camera for a very specific professional task. I own 4 of these "kits", basically the D3100 and the 18-55 lens. My company does high volume photography, mostly sports, schools and events (we will photograph over 90,000 kids this year) and I thought I would give these a shot to see how they would hold up for some of my basic sports portraits shoots and I am pleasantly surprised. Make note of the word PORTRAITS after sports, we do not use these for action. I actually compared this, side by side, shot by shot with the Canon T2i when deciding which way to go since I was going to be purchasing so many of them. It was actually a pretty big decision since I was deciding on a Nikon camera when my personal camera is a Canon 7D. When comparing the 2 cameras I literally set them up on tripods right next to each other, took shots in the exact same settings, conditions, etc. First, I compared everything in Manual mode, then I let the camera do the work in Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority and full Program Mode. Without running through every single shot I can simply say the Nikon D3100 beat the Canon t2i, much to my surprise. This was a VERY close comparison and, in the end, the price of the Nikon helped tip the scale in that direction. Image Quality The D3100 wins here. How, you say, is that possible? The Canon is 18 megapixel and the Nikon is only 14.2...true, but Nikon has a secret weapon, the 18-55 lens! Believe it or not, the 18-55 Nikon lens, the KIT lens that comes on this camera and many others, is actually one of the sharpest images Nikon makes. I wouldnt believe it if I hadnt taken hundreds of shots, blown them up to 100% and compared them side by side. Now, if you are looking for something where you plan to change lenses from time to time, then the Canon is the better choice. However, in the case of my very specific needs, where I will never need to change out the lens on this camera because it is for sports portrait shoots only, you cannot beat the D3100. I actually chose the Canon for another area of my business out of state where I needed more durability and flexibility...more on that in another review. As with any product, it will ultimately boil down to how you plan to use it. If you are a consumer who is just getting into Digital SLR cameras, this is a great way to start. It is cheap and it takes great images. It has video, which is nice, although I do not use it so I cant give an in depth review of that functionality. Make sure that you get the kit with the 18-55 lens though, that makes a big difference in image quality. It also has a great little feature that would be really helpful to beginners trying to understand how Aperture works. It has a little animation on the LCD screen that shows an actual camera iris opening or closing as you adjust the aperture, which is helpful for beginners trying to understand the lower number being a bigger aperture concept. So, to sum it up: PROS: Price: You cant beat it, if you watch Amazon closely you will be able to catch it in the $500 range or maybe a bit less if you are lucky Image Quality: Really amazing image quality WITH the 18-55 lens especially. Good for Beginners: Has some really good tutorials to help beginners understand the basics of DSLR. Great "Auto" settings: Produces really nice images on many of the standard settings for Shutter and Aperture Priority and full Program. (although I recommend to beginners to try to learn how to shoot in Manual mode at least to understand how it works and NEVER use any of the silly settings like "Sports" or the other ones.) CONS: Not very tough: It feels a lot cheaper than the Canon Really small: It looks ridiculous with an SB900 flash on it! (This is a con for me but might be a pro for others) Overall, I definitely recommend it for a beginner or someone with a very specific professional need like I have. It earns 5 stars for how I use it.

Show more

As a mom of 3 little ones, I was so frustrated with the pictures I was getting of them with my old camera. I decided it was time to step up to a dSLR. After reading all the reviews and researching, I decided on the Nikon d3100. I have been SO thrilled and happy with my decision! This camera is awesome. Right when I took it out of the box, I was so happy with the weight of the camera (doesnt seem as bulky as you would expect a dSLR to be). It takes beautifully crisp and clear pictures even if you are just using it on Auto mode. No matter the lighting, the pictures always come out great for me. Anyone with young kids knows this is a MUST because sometimes you cant manipulate lighting, etc. when you need a spur of the moment shot of a big first or something cute they are doing. One night I took a picture of my baby on Auto in a completely dark room, and it came out very clear and clean looking. I have been learning how to use the camera in manual mode, and am getting BEAUTIFUL shots. It has been pretty easy to learn how to use this camera. I am not trying to be a professional, but I feel as though I am able to get semi-professional looking shots of my kids with this camera. I absolutely recommend this camera for any beginner! I couldnt be more satisfied with my purchase. THANKS Nikon for a wonderful high quality camera!

Show more

Ive had a few digital cameras so far (not Nikon) and have had nothing but problems with them for whatever reason. This camera with the two SLR VR zoom lenses is nothing short of fantastic! There are tons of features on this camera that I will probably never use, but the flexibility is tremendous and the pictures are just simply crystal clear, wow!! It doesnt come with a flash memory card, so you will need to get one. It will handle anything up to 64GB, but I got the SanDisk Extreme Pro 32 GByte SDHC Class 10 UHS-1 95MB/s flash card and it not only has more than enough room but it also simply rips with speed!! So far, this is absolutely the best camera Ive ever had....probably the last one I will ever need!!! You will love the range of these two lenses; from the zoom 18mm (fish-eye) to the normal view 55mm lens, and from the 55mm normal view to the 200mm telephoto lens that basically covers everything you need!! And, the VR (Vibration Reduction) versions of both lenses are a must to give you super clear pictures. Yes, this is a little expensive, but worth every penny....highly recommended for ANY type of photographer.

Show more

This is the first time I have ever bought a used camera "sight-unseen", it arrived on time and was as advertised, and I am not disappointed with it. Despite my reservations about battery life, this camera is good for about 5 hours of continuous random shooting with the OEM battery, and having come with a 32GB card already in it, I can get about 300 pictures before I have to recharge the battery (1.03A/hr) and still have plenty of room left over before I use up the memory. I have since bought two additional batteries and the charge time from dead to full charge is short enough where I can use another battery and the old one is recharged before the new one goes flat. As these are Lithium Ion batteries, I can also recharge a partially drained battery after a shoot and not have to worry about battery memory problems. Having the ability to work fully manual or automatic is nice as well, although frequent use of autofocus and shooting in raw .jpeg files significantly reduces the battery life and the number of shots per charge - but raw jpegs can give exceptional results. This is a trade-off that did not pertain to film cameras. Interchangeable lenses is also a big plus as I do a lot of macro-photography and, contrary to normal lenses - which have a curved depth of field - macro lenses have a depth of field that is more like two flat planes making it a lot easier to deal with depth of field issues when photographing small objects. In the past, I have owned a Hasselblad 500, Rolleiflex, Pentax Spotmatic, Canon F-1, AE-1, Olympus OM-1, OM-2 - all with multiple lenses - and a D-500 digital - and all were excellent performers. With the exception of the Olympus D-500 all were film type cameras and after every photo shoot, I would have to spend hours in the darkroom developing slides, mounting them and then have to edit them over a lightbox with a magnifier and cotton gloves and canned air. With this camera, which is fully compatible with Linux Ubuntu and GIMP Image Editor, all I had to do was buy a USB cable (Which I feel should be supplied - sheesh!), or remove the memory card and insert it into my laptop, download and edit, delete and save my images as desired. I can also delete images, from the computer, using the file management utilities inherent in Linux. Yes I would recommend this camera and vendor to others. I am getting high enough quality images for both printing and internet and other digital formats and rarely go over 8"X10" on prints, which have the same quality as prints from 35mm inter-negatives from Kodachrome 25 or prints from normal 35mm negatives. While the D3200 has about 4 more MB of pixels, the format of this is large enough where I generally reduce the image size to the standard formats and I can go as high as 500pixels per inch in jpeg formats so the image quality is not a factor. My shooting method has always been to shoot a larger background than I need to allow me more freedom in cropping the final photo as I can increase the pixels per inch in the process and not lose any image quality. All-in-all a 5-star performer. To quote Bogie..."This may be the start of a beautiful friendship."... Two cons I should mention. The camera came to me with a lot of photos in the memory. I would think that the prior owner or the seller should have formatted the card prior to selling the camera. It only takes seconds to reformat the card. Just a heads up for anyone contemplating selling their camera and the vendor I bought this from. I really do not need, or want, someone elses work on my camera. I am also a bit miffed that this requires a plug-in remote shutter release that plugs into a port instead of the old style shutter cables. Meh... Progress marches on. Maybe the Smithsonian would be interested in my old shutter cables. But this is more of a matter of personal preference anyway - and is only a handicap when shooting wildlife where I set upon a tripod and work from a blind. The manual shutter releases do not require a battery and the cordless do - and are subject to RFI.

Show more

First off, Im a beginner with DSLR photography....or any photography for that matter. I dont count my old point and shoot pics as "photography" ...because well, they just dont compare. This camera is amazing. It has so may options that you can get some of the sharpest, coolest pictures. Granted, you have to actually try to learn how to use it. It isnt a point and shoot camera, and requires a little more work to master. But once you learn the basics of Aperture, ISO and Shutter speed, you should be armed with everything you need. The lens that it comes with is great. It doesnt zoom too far though, so I bought the 55-200mm lens as well. Im actually kicking myself for that decision now though, as I would really have loved to try out a Prime lens ("non zoom-able" for you newbies like me) since they are faster and able to shoot in lower light, with larger aperture. If you search on Flickr, you can actually filter pictures that use certain lenses, so you can get an idea of what you want. Once you get the hang of it, the camera takes such beautiful pictures, youll start to think you are a professional. Now, everywhere I go, I find myself thinking, "oooo that would be a cool shot".

Show more

Quite a number of years ago I had experience with 35mm SLRs, and just didnt have patience to wait several days for my photos to be processed. Over the past 6 months I was casually reviewing options for DSLR cameras. I wanted the ability to take photos of fast moving objects and to generally take "better" photos than standard point-and-shoot cameras. I looked at several Nikon and Canon "entry" DSLRs. Specifically I looked at the Nikon D3000 and D5000 - the D3000 had poor reviews on several photography sites. The D5000 seemed to be more than a "starter" camera, and more camera than I needed. I briefly looked at the Canon, however based on previous experience I didnt care for their menu system. Ive now had the D3100 for several weeks and am completely satisfied. I took the camera on a family trip and was able to take exceptional photos essentially "out of the box". For a DSLR beginner (or SLR for that matter) the guide mode is fantastic. Guide Mode walks you through "English" (or your native language) menus of the type of picture you want to take. Once in guide mode, you arent locked into preset settings (Aperture and ISO) you can customize these further - again using language descriptions of what you want to accomplish. This capability, combined with the scene modes (portrait, landscape, kids, etc) and full programming modes should last most beginners (like me) for quite a while. Pros: - Excellent pictures (duh) - great battery life (full day, 200+ shots) - light weight, lighter than the D5000 Cons/FYI: These arent necessarily negatives about the camera or kit, just more of general FYIs: - Short focal length lens. The 18-55 lens is common on most kits and works fine for indoor or wide-angle shots. However youll quickly want to add a lens that will focus out beyond the 55mm capability. I purchased the 55-200 Nikon VR lens and am completely satisfied. Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR [Vibration Reduction] Nikkor Zoom Lens - No SD card included. I purchased the Transcend 8GB class 10 card and so far it has worked flawlessly. Transcend 8GB Class 10 SDHC Card (TS8GSDHC10) - Youll need a camera bag/case. I would recommend skipping the Nikon starter bag as it is only useful if you intend to carry your camera kit like a briefcase. If youre going to be on the move, look into a camera backpack. I picked up the Lowepro Fastpack 100. It stores the camera, extra lens and still has room for several small items. If you need to carry a tripod, you may need something bigger. Lowepro Fastpack 100 (Red)

Show more

I bought this camera to take better pictures of my son on the soccer field. For that, I would give 10 stars. The bigger lens (55-200 mm) is great for sitting in the stands or at the end of the field and capturing individuals on the field while still capturing bigger field shots as well. The camera itself is fantastic. There are so many things I can do with it. I took a camera class so that I could use it like its really made for - on the modes where its not just a giant, expensive point and shoot camera. Turns out, the smaller lens (18-55mm) is pretty junky and I need to replace it (thats why I gave 4 stars). My teacher says this is pretty typical in these kinds of sets. But it just isnt fast enough inside. Outside, pictures are great. Inside, even with proper settings, it just doesnt work - weird coloring, blurry, etc. If its on the automatic setting, it does ok inside. Outside: amazingly gorgeous photos. The battery lasts a good long time. I can easily get through a soccer game (so over an hour and I take a ton of pictures). It recharges quickly too. Overall great camera. I gave 4 stars because I have to buy a better lens for inside shots.

Show more

I have used this camera for three months and I like it very much. It has a cheap feel but after a while you get used to it. My best results have been with the 35mm prime AF-S Nikkor; the kit lens seems to consistently return images that need to be sharpened manually. I find some of the items on the menu a little difficult to navigate, for instance the lcd screen displays a lot of information along with a small square where the image is displayed and I have not found a way to change this display. It should be easy. Also I have observed that live view sucks the battery out very fast. I guess if I were to buy another camera today I would chose one that has a movable lcd screen that does not suck the battery dry so fast. A beginner photographer can start using this camera with the automatic modes then switch to programmed mode where based photography concepts are explained. For instance, if you tell this mode that you want to use blur running water it will put the camera in shutter priority and tell you to chose a shutter speed lower than 1/60. Changing both shutter speed and aperture in manual mode requires use o the exposure compensation button to change on of those two settings. Other than that, I think you can take very good pictures with this camera if you observed some basic photography principles, work with the light rather than against it, and more importantly, have some creativity. It is a great dslr budget camera and I might never upgrade from it because there is so much to learn and so little time.

Show more