Nikon D3100 SLR camera test: a pass to the SLR world

Introducing the Nikon D3100, a new entry level DSLR camera. That doesn’t mean it lacks any of the essential elements needed to create great images. Usually in the DSLR lineup, each successive model is equipped with new operational features, and technologies that have proven successful in professional models are transferred to cameras for the mass consumer. We’ll try to make sure of that today.

Introduction

The first decade of the 21st century brought fantastic advances in digital technology. Over the past twenty years the number of amateur photographers has grown by several orders of magnitude, because the availability of compact cameras “soap boxes” , the abundance of color photographic material, a wide network of darkrooms allowed without much technical problems to implement their creative plans. With the advent of mass “digital” we can state with certainty that practically every inhabitant of the Earth has received a digital photographic image in one way or another: digital cameras are now built into many household devices, in particular, almost all cell phones. A lot of amateur photographers who have already mastered shooting with the most advanced compacts start to feel a so-called creative discomfort: they want to “merge” with the camera into a single whole, but the focusing with the monitor doesn’t let them do it. It is not always possible for a photographer to get a feel for the image by looking through the monitor however perfect it may be rather than the optical viewfinder which lets you see what is happening with absolute precision. The new Nikon D3100 digital SLR camera with an autofocus “stabilized” zoom lens 18-55 mm and aperture of f/3,5-5,6 – the initial device in the Nikon SLR lineup given to us for testing.

The camera is equipped with a 23.1 × 15.4 mm sensor and an effective resolution of 14.2 megapixels, the cropped factor of 1.5. Nikon’s DX-format optics are specifically designed for cameras with an “incomplete” sensor. I should point out right away that the Nikon D3100 has no screwdriver drive. This means that older lenses, including professional ones, will not work properly on this camera. e. You have to focus by hand and only in M mode. . Today we have a Nikon AF-S 18-55 f/3 prime lens which comes with this camera.5-5.6 G DX VR Zoom-Nikkor, with Optical Stabilization.

I found the setting of shooting modes in the online help mode very comfortable: when you turn the camera on and press the i button, the camera menu takes on the form of direct settings with explanations. With the multi selector, the modes you prefer are literally set within seconds. I can’t tell by my own experience that the change of modes and settings in professional cameras is much faster. A very convenient and fast function is one of the tangible advantages of the new device. And for every change of modes, you get a preview of the shot taken with similar parameters, which is a real convenience for beginners.

All the controls on the Nikon D3100 are very similar to those found in most advanced compacts, so photographers who first picked up a DSLR should not have the feeling of touching something unexplored. Overall impression of the visual acquaintance is very favorable.

Miracles of overcast weather

I had planned my next outing a few days in advance: the disappointing weather forecasts delayed the moment of the upcoming tests with each passing day. Only having tracked down these predictions with the help of various information sources, I set out into the autumn city in hope that day the rains were promised only by evening … I plan to start my tests with Taras Shevchenko quay with gradual move towards “Bagration” bridge. The gray November weather in New York is not the best option for photography: low-contrast objects under such conditions look unexpressive and the overall impression from the work done can seem uninteresting. But it can’t be helped, I had to shoot. The first shots are of Government House. The white house is not so white – against the gray sky it looks a bit plain. White Balance preset to Sun in the Clouds, ISO 400 a bit dark after all , program mode P. The settings for brightness, contrast, saturation are all nil. Surprised: The picture turned out to be quite lush and bright in my opinion. I blame excessive brightness on the monitor, I reduced the brightness value by one notch, but the impression does not go away. The lens geometry with a focus of 45 mm is quite good: no distortion visible to the naked eye photo 1 .

Standing by the pier two white pleasure boats and in general abundance of light zones in the frame inspire me to check the accuracy of exposure when the light zones prevail and the study of dark zones at the same time. choose center weight method of exposure metering. Everything is fine, only two even lighter boats in the background look a bit overexposed, but there are no blown out areas or gaps in the dark areas. Everything is quite straight and the contrast and sharpness are also very good picture 2 .

There’s a big complex of the International Business Center on the other side of the New York River, and its color scheme is rather boring: prevailing colors are gray, and the object has low contrast. I shoot it from two positions, and this unimpressive building from my point of view looks surprisingly voluminous. The perception of looking at the shots is quite clear photo 3 .

The “City” area, designed in bluish-greenish tones and looking spectacular in sunny weather and clear skies, now looks rather dim. The good thing is that the clouds are not too low and don’t cover the top of the skyscrapers. I choose a higher vantage point because distortion must be avoided in this kind of architectural photography as much as possible. I took a few shots from different angles, and the new camera didn’t let me down either. The balance “brightness versus contrast” works great in this situation as well. By the way, pay attention to the sky: it’s not November – it looks like dense, but with clear summer clouds photo 4 . And almost from the roadway of Kutuzovsky Prospekt making a shot at 18mm focal point specially from the low point – I want very much to check the level of geometric distortion at such a wide angle. I find that the “Bagration” bridge entrance building looks almost undistorted, despite my close proximity to it, and the “skyscrapers” behind it have a slight tilt to the right, but their height is much higher than the building in the foreground! The distortions on the house on the left side of the frame and the splendid monument to the famous military leader can be neglected, because I created this “provocative” situation deliberately photo 5 .

I have to test the camera under the conditions of working at the highest proclaimed working sensitivity – 3200 ISO. Going down to “Victory Park” metro station. Not many passengers on it on weekdays, so I can comfortably do the tests. Station interiors do not suffer from abundance of light, lighting is rather subdued – there are fluorescent lights along the perimeter. I select the white balance from the preset “daylight, cool tone”. I have no complaints about color rendering, it looks as if the camera adapts itself more precisely to different color temperatures. As for “noisiness”, well yes, there is some noise, the picture seems to be a bit choppy, and there is a natural loss of contour sharpness. But all these disadvantages are not that catastrophic. Considering the unfavorable light conditions, I find the performance of the camera at the sensitivity of 3200 ISO satisfactory photo 6 .

I got off at “Smolenskaya” and walked slowly along Old Arbat.

I took the Bulat Okudzhava monument at 400 ISO even though it’s already much darker outside to test the internal stabilization of the lens. The BB was “sun in the clouds”, center weighted metering, mode P, aperture 5.6, shutter speed 1/6s photo 7 . I took three shots: one of them was perfectly sharp, and for the general photography the two shots out of four were sharp – the shutter speed here was 1/10 second photo 8 , so the stabilizer undoubtedly helps and the chances of getting sharp shots in unfavorable lighting conditions are great. This was confirmed by the photograph of the street musician: the shutter speed was 1/13 second, 9 shots were shot, and the sharpness percentage in this series was such that I even had a hard time deciding which picture to take photo 9 . By the way, I want to notice the metering accuracy: with plenty of dark zones in the frame the camera didn’t try to excessively work out the details in those areas, but produced a correct, tonally balanced picture with great detail. Along the way I take a general street shot to check exposures and depth of field at moderate wide-angle settings. Everything is very straight and correct, no geometric distortions are observed Photo 10 .

I traditionally tested tracking autofocus on my way to MSU Faculty of Journalism. Capturing the girl’s movements, five shots at a distance, did not show any “malfunction” ISO 800, shutter speed 1/125 sec at aperture 5.6 . Trailing autofocus proves tenacious. By the way, I recognize a sensitivity of 800 ISO as absolutely working, without any quality limitations photo 11 .

I took photos of balustrade at wide angle 18mm in the faculty room and got absolutely predictable result at 1600 ISO and auto background photo 12 . I took a few reportage shots there leaving all the sensitivity and white balance settings untouched photos 13, 14 . I am pleased to say that auto white balance works great and the sensitivity of 1600 ISO is quite adequate.

The final shots of today’s test I shot in the room of the department. The room is lit by energy-saving lamps, the color temperature of which I do not know, and I cannot measure it in manual mode. I randomly place the “incandescent” background light it is somewhere around 2800 K and almost instantly hit the spot photo 15 . The sensitivity of 1600 ISO and the lens stabilization system worked perfectly, shutter speeds as fast as 1/15th of a second. It’s time to make conclusions from the upcoming tests, which we are now going to do.

Reality and perspective

The new Nikon D3100 did not disappoint: the claimed features fully justify themselves, no malfunctions were detected. I think the exposure metering system is great for beginner amateur photographers. They will be able to analyze certain parameters when setting up the exposure and understand how and why it’s related. An abundance of creative modes that are presented in this camera, the function of video, a considerable fleet of high quality interchangeable optics – all this should attract the attention of amateur photographers who have crossed the level of shooting for home albums. All in all, it’s a lot to think about for those who want to upgrade to more serious photographic equipment. Nikon D3100 will become their true friend and helper, as it is a real pass to the desired SLR world!

Good shots to you, colleagues!

We thank Nikon New York office for the camera we received for testing.

Test in pictures

By clicking on the picture you can see enlarged image

Photo 1. The white house against the gray sky looks plain. But the picture came out juicy and bright enough. Lens geometry at a focal distance of 45 mm is quite good, no distortion with the naked eye f/9, 1/320 sec, ISO 400 .

Photo 2. Checking the accuracy of exposure with the center weighted metering method. No blackout or ghosting in the dark areas f/9, 1/320 sec., ISO 400, 34mm focal length .

Photo 3. A gray area, low-contrast object… An apparently inexpressive building becomes three-dimensional f/9, 1/320 sec, ISO 400, focal length 32mm .

Photo 5. Distortions of the house and monument were obtained intentionally f/6.3, 1/160 sec, ISO 400, focal length of 18mm .

Photo 6. Shooting in the subway allows you to test the camera in unfavorable light conditions. You can work with 3200 ISO! f/5, 1/100sec, ISO 3200, focal length 24mm

Photo 7. We look at the VR capabilities of the kit lens f/5.6, 1/6 second, ISO 400, focal length of 55mm .

Photo 8. Of the three frames, one was perfectly sharp, with 2 out of 4 for general photography f/5.6, 1/10sec, ISO 400, focal length 48mm .

Photo 9. I couldn’t decide right away which of the 9 shots was better, thanks to the lens’ Vibration Reduction function f/5.6, 1/13sec, ISO 400, focal length of 55mm .

Photo 10. Street view to check the exposure meter and the DOF at a moderately wide angle. Everything is very straight and correct, no geometric distortions are noticed f/5, 1/80s, ISO 400, focal length 35mm .

Photo 11. Checking the accuracy of the tracking AF and also the picture quality at ISO 800 f/5.6, 1/125 seconds, ISO 800, focal length of 55mm .

Photo 12. The combination of wide-angle, high light sensitivity and auto white balance produced totally predictable results f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO 1600, focal length of 18mm .

Photo 13. Few reportage shots with the same ISO and BB f/5.6, 1/50s, ISO 1600, focal length of 55mm .

Photo 14. Excellent auto white balance. Quite working 1600 ISO f/5.3, 1/80, focal length 42mm .

Photo 15. Lighting from energy saving lamps. Color temperature unknown. The “incandescent light bulb” preset saves the situation f/5.3, 1/150 s, ISO 1600, focal length 46 mm .

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