Should I have kept my D40?

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This isn't a very good comparison. Different situations, lighting etc. Not to mention that the deer is an obvious focal point where the first picture has no real "subject" to stand out. I would say the first one may be a tad over exposed. kick that thing in manual , play with the settings and and see what you get. In the meantime, show some newer examples that actually have a subject.

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I have yet to have a problem with getting good IQ out of my D3100. I actually believe some of the sharpest shots I've ever taken have come from my first weekend with the camera.

I've found with my D3100 that I needed to be more aware of the multi-point focusing, especially with anything close-up. I had been getting too close until I figured it out. I've also found that RAW images need post processing to obtain the sharpest image. My P&S appeared sharper as others had reported, but I was comparing raw to the P&S which does the PP for you. After getting used to all of this, and PP, my shots are very sharp now, more so than my P&S.

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Digital photographs by nature are somewhat soft. I shoot in RAW and must do PP to ensure a presentable photograph and a slight bump in the Clarity and Vibrance bars seem to work wonders.

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mnstar said:

I have been exporting my shots from lightroom as jpegs. A person shouldn't have to do post processing to sharpen an image, and doing so will create more noise which then needs to be reduced. That's crazy. Exposure, color, yes.....but sharpening?

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That's not crazy...that's the wonderful world of photography. I know photographers shooting with D3s, and 24-70 2.8 glass and still do a "general sharpening" on all of their images.

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I've found sharpening to be beneficial on images I want to print. As far as noise, I've trained the kids to be realatively quite, so no noise issues here. You might try earplugs

Here's an example of my learning the multi-point focusing. I did not pay attention to the fact that the neck and lip was the focal point, since the bottom is wider, it is closer and out of focus:



I learned from my mistake and in the next shot was more aware of the focal points (and also pulled back abit). As you can see they are sharper:

^^ Good way to explain it.

I sharpen and PP all images I plan on keeping. With the technology that went into the D3100 specifically to combat noise, I doubt that will ever be an issue for you unless you shoot higher than ISO 1600 or over saturate in PP.

This thread reminds me of the saying that went something like "Oh you take excellent pictures. You must have a really nice camera." Well, it goes the other way too. Equipment is just the tool of it's user.

Technically speaking, the D3100 is a better camera than the D40:

• Better color depth
• More focus points
• CMOS sensor (vs. CCD in D40)
• Higher light sensitivity
• 11 vs. 3 autofocus points
• and the list goes on...

There are 3 possible solutions to your problem:

1) And I think this is the most likely one...the D40 is a simple camera with very few options. For all intents and purposes, it's a point and shoot with a DSLR sticker on it. You're probably used to shooting a certain way, and the D3100 options need to be tweaked. Read up in the manual on how the autofocus is set up and change it if you need to.

2) You're not comparing apples to apples. Since you no longer have the D40, it's impossible to do some direct comparison shots. The samples you have posted don't really mean much of anything.

3) Your D3100 is defective. These things are mass produced. It happens.

Maybe you just held the D40 more steady than you do the D3100??? Maybe you're getting a little shake with the new and different body? Keep working the new body I bet you will find the sweet spot soon enough.

I tried all these things with my D3100 and proved to myself that the focus was just so soft and to be a problem. Mine went back to Nikon . If you just bought it send it back fast.

tracsoft said:

I tried all these things with my D3100 and proved to myself that the focus was just so soft and to be a problem. Mine went back to Nikon . If you just bought it send it back fast.

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I agree, if you can still return it directly to the seller you should, hopefully you can just exchange it. As much as we try and help, you need to be confident that your equipement is working properly in order to fully enjoy it. Once you're past the return window you have to send it to Nikon
and wait weeks.

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