Nikon D3100 Review: Should you or Shouldn’t You?
The Nikon D3100 is aimed at those who are just starting out with photography and are debating about which camera to buy. It boasts a state of the art 14 megapixel sensor, a Live View mode, a sensor dust buster, an interactive Guide mode, autofocus and one touch recording module. Easily adjustable to most lighting conditions, the Nikon D3100 is a great companion for those who need to use it in a variety of environments.
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The first thing this Nikon D3100 review is going to talk about is how easy to use the camera is. It is rather small in size, but it is equipped with a right hand grip in order to make it easier to shoot stills or videos. However, if your hands are larger than normal, this can be a bit uncomfortable. Also, the grip is only on the right hand side, rendering it in effective for left-handed users.
It is very lightweight, and improves upon the sleekness of its predecessors. Yet someone who is switching will find the interface and the positions of most of the controls in the same place as before. There are some changes however. For example, the infrared remote sensor previously found in the grip of the D3000 is now missing.
The front plate now includes an internal monaural microphone and the drive mode lever now present on the top is a great boon for simplifying the checking and setting of the current drive mode. A newly included spring loaded lever situated at the back will now make switching to Live View mode a piece of cake. This lever also encloses a button that functions as a movie shutter release which makes video recording in Live view mode only a matter of pressing a button.
By adding on a shooting mode dial on top, the Nikon D3100 is not a radical departure from traditional DSLR design. This enables you to select your scene mode very easily. Those switching over from the D3000 will also find that the Guide mode has been not only retained, but also enhanced so that one can clearly see reference photos to demonstrate how each change in exposure setting will affect the photographs. As with the D3000, newbies can use the Guide mode to easily figure out what settings to use when, and study the effect of these settings on the final result. On pure ease of use, we award Nikon full marks for this, since this a great feature for beginners to learn about basic camera and photography settings, a welcome change from the Auto mode. In fact, one can find a glaring flaw in the Auto mode of the Nikon D3100: it does not seem to modify the ISO speeds correctly according to the lighting, either with or without the flash.
In this Nikon D3100 review, we will also talk about exposure control. When shooting movies, the camera does not have much to offer. You can set the aperture prior to filming, but the camera itself controls the shutter and gain speeds. When you are shooting a movie, the subject luminance determines the exposure in the default setting, but you can use the AE lock button to lock exposure. There are no special focus feedback features, and no “zebras” as in professional cameras, nor can you control audio levels manually. In order to record sound, you need to make use of the internal monaural microphone, but there is no way that you can connect an external microphone in order to improve the quality of the audio. A H.264 codec is used to compress the videos, and the movie quality is actually quite good. The only drawback is that videos may demonstrate some “rolling shutter” side effects if you are moving your hand too quickly or when you use a telephoto lens to shoot with your hands.
As the above Nikon D3100 review clearly shows, the camera results in excellent image quality, in spite of being a beginner level camera. Intended as an upgrade to the D3000, the D3100 is far superior to its predecessor when you consider the pixel count as well as the picture quality on high sensitivity settings. Looking at handling, many positive changes can be seen. The drive mode lever and the separate movie record button for instance. These features have resulted in improved functionality and handling. An additional mode known as the Quiet mode also allows a delay in the mirror return until the shutter is released. The movie record button helps to ease the transition from the D3000. As far as implementation is concerned, there could be a lot of improvement on that front. For example, we would love to see a live histogram implemented with the live view mode, along with a better resolution live feed. By the same token, the movie mode also needs a working full time AF feature, as well as complete exposure control.
Of course no Nokia 3100 review would be complete without talking about ergonomics. Looking at it from the perspective of a traditional DSLR, full marks could be awarded has it not been for the fact that the ISO and WB do not have separate buttons. Both of them can be used on the Fn button, but they can’t be used simultaneously. The kit lens unfortunately is also not the best when it comes to focusing speed and accuracy in low light conditions.
The Nikon D3100 also newly introduces a 1080p Full HD mode. If you set it to the highest possible setting, movie speeds are possible at 24 frames per second. At lower resolutions, multiple speed options are possible. For the first time ever, the Nikon D3100 adds on a full time autofocus feature in the DSLR, but our recommendation would be to keep it switched off, since the microphone detects the noise. Also, it comes with a glaring flaw: if the subject decides to go out of focus by a sudden sharp movement, this feature fails terribly. It is therefore advised to limit DOF effects to more or less static subjects who are not prone to sudden movements.
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We have included a great video review below of the Nikon D3100:
