Nikon D3100

Nikon D3100

31st October 2011

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Introduction

Nikon's D3100 is the company's latest entry-level DSLR. Announced in Lordly 2010, it's the successor the primo-selling D3000 and makes several key upgrades to that model. Most notably the newfangled D3100 now features Live Regar and video recording facilities – indeed it becomes the start Nikon DSLR (heatedly followed by the D7000) to offer 1080p picture transcription in add-on to 720p. To satisfy market demands, the resolution has also received boost from 10 to 14 Megapixels and there's a number of tweaks to the controls and ergonomics.

Like the D3000 before it, the D3100 features a Guide mode which asks lancelike questions about what you'd like to take before setting in the lead the camera appropriately. Information technology's a great option for beginners which likewise teaches you about camera settings, and the D3100 builds upon its predecessor by sensibly showing example images before at last asking if you'd care to frivol away with the viewfinder or sieve, operating room film movies or else.

Live View and movies are the two major new features on the D3100, which were sorely lost on the earlier D3000. Rather than only lifting the existing capabilities of models like the D90 and D5000 though, the D3100 offers a superior of HD resolutions and frame rates, and a Thomas More efficient encoding system which allows longer transcription multiplication. Major still, information technology's one of the first DSLRs which takes a in good order stab at continuous autofocusing while filming, dissimilar most rivals which in effect become manual focus at one time you start recording.

The screen, viewfinder, main AF system and continuous shooting may be unchanged from its predecessor, and enthusiasts still won't discovery photo bracketing, an sense organ profundity-of-field preview or a built-in AF motor to drive old (non AF-S) lenses, just the new high resolution CMOS sensor coupled with Live View, HD video with continuous autofocus and an HDMI interface, not to name everything from a guide-based auto mode to plangent manual means there's much to like about the unaccustomed D3100. It brings the somewhat dated D3000 bang stylish, while trumping most rivals in this category.

Indeed while many unveiling-level DSLRs try out to hit the lowest price distributor point, Nikon's applied its mid-mountain chain and articulated lorr-pro strategy present of oblation a increase in features for a slightly higher Leontyne Price. In and of itself, the D3100 is more dearly-won than many rivals and to cover itself it at the budget end, the earlier D3000 bequeath continue to betray piece stocks last.

But the D3100's price and feature-situated clearly proves that Nikon is trying to charm new buyers into spending a little much they may have originally intended. It's a strategy that worked a cover for the D90 and D300s before it – and looks set to make the new D7000 another best-vender – but will it work for entry-level buyers with often stricter budgets?

Find out in our Nikon D3100 review where we'll compare its features and tone against key rivals and answer the question of whether it's worth outlay the extra.

Testing notes

We reliable a final output Nikon D3100 running Firmware versions A 1.00, B 1.00 and L 1.002. Following our convention of using nonpayment factory and high-grade quality settings to test cameras unless otherwise stated, the D3100 was set to its superfine timbre Large Fine JPEG mode with Auto Tweed Equipoise and the default Modular Motion picture Ascertain, with Racket Reduction and Active D-Lighting switched on (both the default settings on the D3100); note Active D-Lighting was disabled for our High ISO Make noise tests.