Nikon D3100 - VS - D5100 **VIDEO COMPARISON**

[devin]

I need someone with some unbiased, or even biased, but down to earth advise. I'm a Graphic Design Student in downtown Toronto, and I started photography about 4 years ago, both film and digital.

A year or two ago I got a D3000 for Christmas, it would have been the Christmas before the D3100 hit shelves.

Here is my question, is there much of a difference between the D5100 and D3100 for VIDEO purposes?

I do photography mostly as a hobby, occasionally I make my own stock imagery for Advertising projects, I have an SB600 for lighting and I'm picking up a pocket wizard in the spring so I can slave my flashes remotely.
I mostly do landscape, action sports and just anything I find across the city. So I'm not taking this to a career or professional level.

I'm looking to replace my old Camcorder with a DSLR to cut down how many devices I have to own, I've already ran the pro's and cons and this works best for me.

I'm buying used, and my issue is for what a D5100 body alone will cost me, I can get a D3100 body and an Opteka fisheye .. 6.5mm? lens.. which despite being a mild $300 cheap, considering I use it mostly for action sports, that's swell enough for me.

ANYWAYS. I digress, my point being is, for the extra few hundred a D5100 will cost me, is there that much noticeable improvement in VIDEO quality? Or will a D3100 suffice?

 

[Bossy]

How about starting with some basic stats?
Nikon | Imaging Products | New Perspectives - Nikon D5100
vs
Nikon | Imaging Products | Full HD movies - Nikon D3100

They both have charts that spell out the basics. It looks like the 5100 has a higher frame rate and longer video capability.

 

[devin]

That's true and I've read the stats but it really comes down to the length of filming, 10 minutes versus 20, it still doesn't tell me much opinion on whether or not there's a noticeable difference in quality. The frame rates aren't too far off either.

 

[MTVision]

http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon-D5100-vs-Nikon_D3100