Beginner Questions

Hello everyone. I apologize as these are very basic questions, however I will not be the user of the D3100. The camera will be a christmas gift and I want to make sure she has everything she will need to enjoy her camera after the holiday. If you could please take the time to give me your accessory recommendations I would greatly appreciate it!

• Was planning on a 16GB card, but what speed or class?
• Would you recommed a spare battery?
• What case fits the camera best? Not a fan of generic cases that aren't made for the camera. Maybe just room for an extra battery and flash?
• Telephoto lens? For a future Bday present.
• Anything else come to mind?

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it!

The following are my personal opinions, what I am using for my D3100

- I would get 2- 4 or 8 GB cards instead of one 16, flexibility and insurance. Get one of the top brands, you need at least class 4. I use 2 4GB PNY professional class 10.

- The included battery lasts me all day (hundreds of shots). This depends on shooting habits, conditions and needs.

-On the bag-personal choice again, I have a Tamrac Backpack bag.

-Telephoto- Nikon 55-300 or 70-300 vr.

My opinion runs much the same:

- Get a pair of Class 10 cards, although I'd get 8Gb as I run out of space occasionally. Sandisk, Transcend and PNY are all good. I personally use Transcend - cheaper than Sandisk and just as reliable.

- The battery lasts me all day as well but if you do buy a second one then make sure it's a Nikon original as replica batteries won't work.

- When buying a case/bag think about that additional lens (or lenses), flash and other "essential" accessories. I initially bought a small case that held my camera and kit lens, then bought a new lens and had to buy a new bag (Lowepro Topload Zoom Mini and then Kata DC 441 respectively, the Kata is far superior quality).

- I don't have a telephoto, so won't make a recommendation.

- Additional items (in order of preference) - lens filter, tripod, flash. None are essential until she decides how/what she wants to shoot. If she's learning photography then I'd also recommend 'Understanding Exposure' by Bryan Peterson, it covers everything she needs to know, to get started and more.

Allow me to throw my 2 cents into the ring...

I got the D3100 kit from Costco Here that comes with the 18-55 lens as well as a 55-200 zoom, 4gb SD card, and case (among other extras). The 55-200 is somewhat tele so that takes care of that, you get your SD card as well and a genuine Nikon case.

Then, after getting that kit I went on over to eBay and grabbed this battery grip/battery/tripod deal Here but mine came with a genuine Nikon battery. There is also a deal from LinkDelight on eBay that has the grip, a hand strap, and a wireless remote. It's about the same price but you don't get the tripod, cleaning kit, LCD protectors, magazine subscription, and other extras.

Lastly, I went to Amazon and picked up this Opteka filter set Here and a Yongnuo 460ii hotshoe flash Here. The filter kit comes with pretty much any filter you would need when starting off and a nice case that fits in the Nikon bag. The flash has opened up a lot of proverbial doors in my photography and one of the best accessories I've purchased for this camera. All my gear fits nicely in the Nikon bag that I got with the camera kit, save for the tripod. I'm not a fan of "cheap" Chinese products but every piece of equipment I've purchased has been of great quality and I've had no issues (except an issue I had with the trigger wire that came with my battery grip. They sent me a new cable and everything works perfect.

After that, it's up to her how involved she wants to get with her photography. At that point you're moving into lens territory which is my next step. Just for reference purposes, I'm looking into getting a 35mm f/1.8 and a 70-200 f/2.8 as my next two purchases for this camera.

Hope this helps a bit.

Thanks for the help everyone! My next question concerns price/deals....have any of you photographers found that cameras go on Holiday sale at any certain time? In other words, should I hold off my purchase for another month with the hope of saving $50.

Thanks!

psustang89 said:

Thanks for the help everyone! My next question concerns price/deals....have any of you photographers found that cameras go on Holiday sale at any certain time? In other words, should I hold off my purchase for another month with the hope of saving $50.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

They are actually $50 off right now at Target. You can purchase one with the kit lens for $550. A steal if you ask me!

Hello everyone, just got my d3100 and love it. few questions though. If im taking a a picture and want to focus on an object in the background instead of the foreground. How to i go about doing that? Also Im heading to key west this weekend to try and get some great shots. Any help with maybe the best setting for me since i've only had the camera for a week. Advice on sunsets and landscape photos would also be helpful.

Welcome and congrats! I suggest you switching the lens to MF (manual focus) and manually focus on the background.

You can use manual focusing or you can also use spot-focusing and move your focus point to the area of the frame you want focused.

I like the way you can move the spot around the frame when focusing. (I came across that option by accident!)

How do you accomplish that? Where can i find this option on the camera? sounds very useful.

On the screen, when, you have the AF set to single point. You then just move the focus point around with the D-pad. I hope that makes sense. Maybe someone can explain better.

1gforu said:

How do you accomplish that? Where can i find this option on the camera? sounds very useful.

Click to expand...

On a D3100 it's:

1. Menu button
2. Shooting Menu
3. AF-area mode
4. Viewfinder

Your choices are:

1. Single-point AF (as discussed above)
2. Dynamic-area AF
3. Auto-area AF
4. 3D-tracking (maybe disabled in some shooting modes)

Oh, and you need to make sure that your lens is in Autofocus mode to be able to edit these settings.

Hi~ I also just bought my D3100 from costco. I also purchased extra memory cards 8GB but it says class 6. What does that mean?

jbryson4 said:

Hi~ I also just bought my D3100 from costco. I also purchased extra memory cards 8GB but it says class 6. What does that mean?

Click to expand...

I think this will explain your question: https://www.sdcard.org/developers/overview/speed_class/

Thanks so much Jack! That really helped