Help a beginner getting started?

[Oplis]

Hehe... I enjoyed reading his comments and reviews.

I deal with computer hardware a lot, and some of those reviewers act as if a 5C temperature difference will mean the difference between a stable system and crash. Or as if a 3 frame per second performance improvement will make the difference between stop motion animation and mindblowing cinematics like you never dreamed possible.

It's refreshing to see a reviewer who doesn't attempt to hype up every little aspect and is willing to say "this is senseless feature that you probably wont care about, use, or even figure out how to use".

 

[scovellephoto]

Hi, I've never owned a DSLR camera, but I've been doing my reading (Langford's Basic Photography, 9th edition) and I'm just trying to figure out what a good choice of camera for me might be.

First, I'm mostly leaning towards Nikon. My P&S was Nikon, I was very happy with it, and every person I've spoken to leaned in favour of Nikon for a beginner. So between the recommendations and my previous product satisfaction, I'm willing to give them the favoured advantage.

Second, my budget is flexible. I'm not looking to become a professional photographer or anything, and really I can't predict myself getting a job anywhere that would require me to own a camera, but who knows what might happen... I'm not banking on it though. I would be willing to pay for something like a D7000 if it means the camera will last me for most of my life and most possible employment opportunities that I could potentially find, and that I'm not going to sit there wishing I'd spent the money on lenses, or just stuck with entry-level bodies and upgraded every so often as I get more experience and understand what I need and don't need for my uses.

Anyways... With that aside, I intend to use the camera for landscape photography, wildlife and nature photography (animals, plants, etc), as well as photographing pets at home. I'm also interested in macro photography (insects, flowers, etc). But for now, since winter's coming and I've never used a DSLR, I'm just going to practice on pets indoors where my subjects are easily accessible and conditions are more controllable and predictable until I get the hang of things a bit.

With that said, I personally don't feel that I need an expensive camera like the D7000. But without practical experience, I can't really say that for certain. Perhaps the faster speed of the camera will make a significant difference photographing wild animals from a distance. Or perhaps I wont really notice the difference unless I'm taking hundreds of pictures every day in extreme conditions. Or perhaps it's absolutely critical for macro photography.

If it were up to me to make a leap of faith this instant, I would probably get the D3100 body with the 18-55mm VR kit lens to practice and learn on indoors.

Thanks in advance, it's a little daunting jumping into such a technical hobby like this, with such a price tag on the equipment, without getting as much input on your decisions possible.

the D3100 is a soled camera and defanetly great for entry level