Question: Entry Level DSLR Nikon Cameras

[rawstatus]

Can you really take good pictures with just a Nikon D3100 and the Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm that came with it with no tripod, flash, softbox light?
And if so what type of photo shoot would you use it for? Landscape, Portraits, Food, Night shoots...etc

I'm asking because I just bought a Nikon D3100 and I have read many ebooks and seen many videos on photography and from what I see is that you need more than just your entry level camera to take great pictures. I wonder if they can take great pictures with just an entry level camera like us, I mean if you have all the money and the right tools or extra stuff with the camera who wouldn't be able to take good photos..

 

[CaptainNapalm]

Yes you can take great photos with just your d3100 and a kit lens provided the lighting is in your favour. You will need things like speedlights, faster lenses, tripod, among others if you want to take the same great photos in low light.

 

[manaheim]

Your D3100 crushes my old D100 and I took sone beautiful photos with it. Better gear will enable you in tougher situations and will certainly give you higher quality imagery, but you can do a lot with what you have.

 

[BrandonLaw]

I like the pictures I take on my D5100 though I know I have a long way to go. I've seen amazing pictures taken on all sorts of cameras though. Even some of the pictures I see taken on cellphones are awesome nowadays.

 

[Derrel]

Well, Landscape, Portraits, Food, Night shoots...a good f/stop for all of those is f/8 to f/11, so, the kit lens is fine. For slow-speed exposures, like 10-,15-,20-,30-,45-,60-,and 100-second nighttime exposures, a tripod is VERY handy to have, although in some places concrete steps, picnic tables, benches, and other very firm, non-vibrating sources of camera support can be found.


Most of good photography is based on good LIGHT, and good use of the light. SOME photography depends more on incredible subject matter, like most sports images. I have seen fantastic sports images that were made under very crappy, weird lighting, and even horribly-lighted B&W stuff. Subject matter can trump technicals. Learning about how to see light, find light, and set your camera up in the right position, in relation to the light, is the thing that sets a really experienced shooter apart from a noob. The old-school John Hedgecoe photography how-to books have perhaps the best "how to see and use light" and "how to approach things with the camera" lessons that I have seen.

Your last thought, specifically: "I mean if you have all the money and the right tools or extra stuff with the camera who wouldn't be able to take good photos.." Umm, the answer to that is 90% of casual, undisciplined shooters would not be able to take good photos. A monkey with a million dollars worth of S-K Tools and a junkyard full of car parts will NEVER,ever,ever be able to make a go-kart, but a 14 year old boy with a toolbox of junk tools and a couple of old minibikes and a $100 worth of junkyard parts can build a go-kart in less than a month.

 

[manicmike]

If you learn how to use your camera correctly and learn some basics of photography, you can still take great photos with a 3100.

 

[rawstatus]

Thank you for everyone that replied and yes I have taken some good shoots but after tweaking a bit with Lightroom 4.3.

 

[hirejn]

Yes, you can take professional photos with a D3100. It's not the equipment; it's the photographer. The skills and principles of photography are more important than the equipment. The equipment doesn't change the laws of photography. So if you don't understand photography, no equipment can help you. If you do, any equipment will suffice. Better gear can give you an edge, but you have to be honest about whether you need that edge and whether you know how to get it using the equipment.

 

[KmH]

It's not the equipment; it's the photographer. The skills and principles of photography are more important than the equipment.

QFT.