Bought D5100 instead of D90 - Huge Mistake

[TonyMontanaSlot]

Astrophotography for me ... I picked the d7000. The Flip Screen I thought would have been great to use, and I really wanted it. But in the end the features (focusing system, weathersealing) of the d7000 won .. and I'm glad it did. As all the other controls of the 5100 to the 7000 would have driven me batty as I learned more about it.

D7000 weather sealed? That's great! I thought that weather sealing was introduced with D7100.

 

[TheNevadanStig]

For those with intentions to use your future DSLR on manual mode - don't buy any of the D3000/D5000. Go with D90/D7000. D5100 has no real advantages to me over D90.

The D90 or 7000 series costs 3X as much as a 3000. Kind of comparing apples to oranges here. It's kind of like saying for those of you who intend to drive a car, don't go with a Honda Civic, as the Porsche Boxter is better choice. For the price, I still think a 3200 is going to be tough to beat.

 

[TonyMontanaSlot]

For those with intentions to use your future DSLR on manual mode - don't buy any of the D3000/D5000. Go with D90/D7000. D5100 has no real advantages to me over D90.

The D90 or 7000 series costs 3X as much as a 3000. Kind of comparing apples to oranges here. It's kind of like saying for those of you who intend to drive a car, don't go with a Honda Civic, as the Porsche Boxter is better choice. For the price, I still think a 3200 is going to be tough to beat.

Where I live, D3200 Body Only costs $516 and D90 18-55 Kit VR costs $100 more. Not much of a difference. And you can buy D90 used body for as little as $200 and used D7000 for about $400.
But yes, of course D3000 series is great for the price!

 

[SCraig]

I define "gimmick" as "something I dont really need" not "something that gives me control over unusual angles that I have to shoot blindly otherwise".

I miss the D5100 flipscreen on my D600 daily.

So do I. That's why I call a flip-screen a "Gimmick" since I don't really need one. And, as I said in my original post, "To each their own."

 

[otherprof]

I find the flip screen very useful, and not only for shots at odd angles, or over crowds. Using it in a "sideways" configuration allows you to photograph people discretely. I've found that if you are not looking toward the person, they don't feel they are being photographed, even though the lens is pointed in their direction. I remember Spiratone (sigh) used to sell a sort of periscope attachment for lenses that screwed on like a filter and included a mirror so you could be facing away from your subject to make street photography less confrontational or threatening. ( I didn't say "less invasive")

 

[TheNevadanStig]

For those with intentions to use your future DSLR on manual mode - don't buy any of the D3000/D5000. Go with D90/D7000. D5100 has no real advantages to me over D90.

The D90 or 7000 series costs 3X as much as a 3000. Kind of comparing apples to oranges here. It's kind of like saying for those of you who intend to drive a car, don't go with a Honda Civic, as the Porsche Boxter is better choice. For the price, I still think a 3200 is going to be tough to beat.

Where I live, D3200 Body Only costs $516 and D90 18-55 Kit VR costs $100 more. Not much of a difference. And you can buy D90 used body for as little as $200 and used D7000 for about $400.
But yes, of course D3000 series is great for the price!

Wow, Russia has some seriously different pricing. Here (amazon) D90= $692 D7100=$741 D3000=$242

 

[Derrel]

The flip screen has been described as a SALES FEATURE...a "bullet point"...a "check-mark box"...that consumers can use to justify to themselves moving UPWARD from the D3xxx series...

when the lowest, middle, and high-end consumer cameras ALL have the same MP count, but at three different prices, having a sales feature/bullet point/check-mark box feature like the flip screen can make a huge difference that customers can use to rationalize their choice. Bottom line: MANY much,much,much more-expensive cameras do NOT offer a flip screen, and are being used successfully all over the world....buuuut...Niukon needs to sell cameras, and the marketplace has a LOT of users for whom the flip screen is an expectation...and it seems like those consumers want a mid-level consumer body, not an entry-level body, and not a $1200 high-end consumer body....so....

D5xxx series....there you go...

 

[robbins.photo]

The flip screen has been described as a SALES FEATURE...a "bullet point"...a "check-mark box"...that consumers can use to justify to themselves moving UPWARD from the D3xxx series...

when the lowest, middle, and high-end consumer cameras ALL have the same MP count, but at three different prices, having a sales feature/bullet point/check-mark box feature like the flip screen can make a huge difference that customers can use to rationalize their choice. Bottom line: MANY much,much,much more-expensive cameras do NOT offer a flip screen, and are being used successfully all over the world....buuuut...Niukon needs to sell cameras, and the marketplace has a LOT of users for whom the flip screen is an expectation...and it seems like those consumers want a mid-level consumer body, not an entry-level body, and not a $1200 high-end consumer body....so....

D5xxx series....there you go...

Oh sure.. I'm sure your fancy dancy camera can do all sorts of wonderful stuff without a flip screen. But tell me Mr. Snooty pants, when your out shooting and have to quickly store a bag of chips can you open your screen, insert the top of the bag and then close it to ensure that you can keep shooting for hours and your chips will stay fresh?

HA! Thought not. Score one for the 5200...

Rotfl.. sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[Derrel]

Oh myyyyy...flip screen as bag of chips re-sealing tool!! Why doesn't Nikon show THAT in those Ashton Kutscher commericials!!!

 

[astroNikon]

Oh sure.. I'm sure your fancy dancy camera can do all sorts of wonderful stuff without a flip screen. But tell me Mr. Snooty pants, when your out shooting and have to quickly store a bag of chips can you open your screen, insert the top of the bag and then close it to ensure that you can keep shooting for hours and your chips will stay fresh?

HA! Thought not. Score one for the 5200...

Rotfl.. sorry, couldn't resist.

Pictures please

 

[yioties]

I like the flip screen on my D5100 for when i take our family portraits, other than that I really don't use it other than protecting the screen of my Nikon

 

[Derrel]

I actually could have, and WOULD DEFINITELY have utilized the flip screen on this scene last week at Oregon's famous Cannon Beach, which is home to one of two very large, iconic rock monoliths. I saw these colorful child's rubber boots placed well back from the surf line, where the kid's mother was helping her daughter play in the shallows. I wanted to show the boots AND the famous Haystack Rock as a background element. I had the 70-300 on the camera. I knelt down, and got one knee sandy and a bit damp...if I could have gotten the camera much lower, I could have used an entirely different focal length, and gotten a MUCH different angle of view...but....I settled for this juxtaposition.

If I would have sprawled out prone, flat on my belly and elbows in the damp sand, I could have gotten the boots "higher-up" in the frame, and close to Haystack Rock...but I elected not to get my clothes all sandy. This is a perfect example of where a camera with a waist-level reflex finder, or a d-slr with a flip screen, would have offered a lot of convenience.

 

[robbins.photo]

Oh myyyyy...flip screen as bag of chips re-sealing tool!! Why doesn't Nikon show THAT in those Ashton Kutscher commericials!!!

I have no idea. I mean seriously, how can you even begin to call yourself a "professional" photographer if your cheetos are mushy? Lol

 

[MOREGONE]

Plus the D90 has CLS or Flash Commander mode, the 5X00's do not. Great for exploring off camera flash without triggers, though it has its limitations.

The second LCD the D90 with all your major settings that is on all the time is uber important to me.

 

[astroNikon]

I actually could have, and WOULD DEFINITELY have utilized the flip screen on this scene last week at Oregon's famous Cannon Beach, which is home to one of two very large, iconic rock monoliths. I saw these colorful child's rubber boots placed well back from the surf line, where the kid's mother View attachment 74021was helping her daughter play in the shallows. I wanted to show the boots AND the famous Haystack Rock as a background element. I had the 70-300 on the camera. I knelt down, and got one knee sandy and a bit damp...if I could have gotten the camera much lower, I could have used an entirely different focal length, and gotten a MUCH different angle of view...but....I settled for this juxtaposition.

If I would have sprawled out prone, flat on my belly and elbows in the damp sand, I could have gotten the boots "higher-up" in the frame, and close to Haystack Rock...but I elected not to get my clothes all sandy. This is a perfect example of where a camera with a waist-level reflex finder, or a d-slr with a flip screen, would have offered a lot of convenience.

I just realized. The photo in post 9 a flip screen would not have helped.
I help the camera with one hand down to the ground and tilted it up. At the angle of tilt, the tilt screen would not have been open enough for me to see anything. Unless I had the camera in landscape mode then the flip screen would help.

But I can think of a variety of other situations where the flip screen would help. But then, the hinge is in a different location from the 5000 to the 5100, 5200/5300 ... so I guess it all depends.