I just got the Nikon D5100 for Christmas which I am very excited about. I am anxious to learn how to use it. The problem I am having is when I zoom in to take a picture and push the button to capture the picture was not zoomed in on it is back to the regular setting. IT does it with both the lenses I have. Lenses I have are DX AF-S 18-55 and 55-200. Thanks
Stephdmyren- just for clarification. The D5100 or any DSLR do not zoom in. It requires you, the operator, to zoom in or out by rotating the lens zoom ring. Once you zoom in to the framing that you want when looking at the view finder, press the shutter button half way to allow the camera to acquire the correct focus of your subject.
You must realize as you zoom in with your lens, the aperture also increases all the way to f5.6 which now requires you to increase your ISO, lower your shutter speed or use a flash to get the proper exposure. P mode works well also for indoor and outdoor.
Set your Auto ISO to ISO 2000 as max ISO sensitivity and minimum sensitivity to ISO 100. Get a Nikon SB 700 to get better results especially when shooting indoor or use your pop-up flash.