Nikon D5100 Compact little beastie

The Nikon D5100 was the 4th camera in line of cameras I wanted to get. Initially, I was looking at a D3100 and then realized that I could get a T2i for the same price. After seeing that, I was about to purchase a T2i until the catastrophe in Japan occurred and I was SOL and had to buy a T3i. Okay, fine. I then was about to buy the T3i when I saw the rumored release date/specs of the Nikon D5100. After that, i had to wait it out until the D5100 came out. And let me tell you, the D5100 out classes all of them in every single way. The Nikon D5100 has so many added features on top of the expected ones that it really makes shooting with this camera fun and exciting.

The body feels very comfortable in the hand and if it were any smaller, it would be hard to hold but at the same time if it were any bigger it would likely result in a cumbersome body. The controls have been moved all over the place because of the articulating display, which is actually pretty awesome. I didn't really think i needed an articulating display until I realized how many more shots are easier now that I don't have to have my face directly to the viewfinder all the time. I also really enjoyed all of the special effects in the camera as well as the 11 auto-focus points which is more than its Canon competitors.

The camera's overall button layout is pretty nice and since I've never used a Nikon before and haven't really gotten used to say the D3100 or D7000 layout, it makes me happy and I've gotten pretty good at pressing whats needed within a reasonable amount of time. Some people have griped about this, but coming from someone that hasn't owned a DSLR in years its quite decently laid out.

When shooting video, there's nothing too fancy it basically lets you do whatever you can do when shooting stills. You get a wide range of resolutions and frame rates between 720P and 1080P from 24FPS to 30FPS. Its smooth and easy to do, and the capture limit is 20 minutes, and there's a tilt-shift effect which is really cool and I recommend everyone try it out.

So far, the pop-up flash hasn't been used much by me but in the situations where its needed I've been pretty satisfied with the amount of light and lighting options. Futhermore, the battery life of the actual camera is halfway decent. I wouldn't say its fantastic, but I also wouldn't say it horrid. Its somewhere in the middle and if you do a lot of shooting you're going to need atleast one backup battery.

The Kit lens definitely leaves more to be wanted, but it is a kit lens there really isn't much you can expect from it. My recommendation is to buy a 35mm or 50mm prime as well as a telephoto lens as well, those two lenses in combination with the kit lens are the perfect combination and will likely set you back about $500.

The nice thing about this camera that I didn't realize is that it actually comes with the USB cable that you need to connect it to the computer which apparently the D3100 is missing(WTH?). Needless to say, I'm quite happy with this camera so far and hope to keep enjoying this all day every day.