Nikon D3100 or D5100? What to choose??

[MacMorre]

Hey everyone.

I'm in a big dilemma here. I'm going on vacation in July for one month, and for that I would like to upgrade my camera (I have a Nikon D40). I'm selling this now and i was thinking of buying the D3100 + 18-105mm. That way i don't have to spend to much money over the selling price of my D40, and i have 14mpxl (in stead of 6) and 1080p 24fps video.
But last week the D5100 has been released, and that really got me thinking. It has 16 mpxl (same sensor as the D7000), 1080p 30fps, high def swivel screen, more pictures per second, more pictures on one battery charge, special effects,... but it's 200€ more expensive. For that 200€ extra, i could buy a Nikkor 35mm f1.8 for the D3100.

What do you think is best?

- D3100 + 18-105mm + 35mm f1.8?
- D5100 + 18-105mm?

Thank you for your opinion!!

 

[sierramister]

Are you buying an 18-105 lens separately? I haven't seen any kits that come with the 18-105, even though NR showed a box with the 18-105. Personally, I wouldn't buy this lens if it didn't come in a kit. And I would buy the D5100.

 

[MacMorre]

Are you buying an 18-105 lens separately? I haven't seen any kits that come with the 18-105, even though NR showed a box with the 18-105. Personally, I wouldn't buy this lens if it didn't come in a kit. And I would buy the D5100.

Well I live in Belgium, and the photo store's website has the kit on it.. Of course it will all depend when it comes out wether that's correct or not.. We tend to do some weird stuff in Belgium.. ;-)

Thank you for your opinion!! Appreciate it!

 

[rehab]

3100 plus extra lens. Focus more $ on the lens aspect than the body of the camera. All those things you listed seem good on paper but (im just assuming...) i doubt you will ever expand into needing those things. the extra megapixels just takes more room on your card during your vacation, save the money and buy a battery grip if battery life is an issue, lol @ the video, and swivel screen (live view sucks on these things anyways), and special effects is hogwash! Do it in PS if you HAVE TO HAVE those effects.

 

[djkmann]

I would say choose the D5100 since it is has the better sensor (borrowed from the higher-level D7000) additional features, controls, more menu and custom settings options, faster shooting speed, and more. The D5100 is a camera one can grow with where the D3100 is a camera one can outgrow. I recently wrote a post on my blog Picturing Change comparing the Nikon dSLR cameras - including the D3100, D5100, and D7000 - that hopefully you will find helpful:

Picturing Change · Compare Nikon D5100 vs D7000 vs D90 vs D3100

The camera decision and the lens decisions should really be considered separately (unless it involves a kit lens and thus substantial savings) so it usually just makes the process more difficult to create various options like this. For good camera equipment one has to accept that you have to invest a bit of money.