I have been waiting to upgrade from my D70 for a while now. It still shoots fine but there are a lot of new bells and whistles since then. I was hoping for a replacement to the D90 this August but instead they have introduced the D3100. I shoot a lot of nature, landscapes and wildlife. I have the 80/400 vr lens and the 12/24 wide angle. I also plan to purchase a mid range like 24/105 that has macro capability shortly. Would you buy the D3100 (cheap at $699) or continue to wait for a better model in a mid level semi-pro version to come out before Christmas?
The big camera manufacturers tend to make their announcements of new products about this time of year and also around February. If Nikon is going to announce any more new cameras this year, they probably will do it soon, before the D3100 is available. Just my guess.
Posted by Drew Fulton on August 21, 2010 at 11:29 PM
All rumors point to another Nikon Announcement in Mid September replacing the D90... hold out a little bit longer if that is what you are looking for. I'm excited to see what video features are included as a precursor to the replacement of the D300 (likely next year sometime)...
Drew
Posted by Drew Fulton on August 21, 2010 at 11:30 PM
Oh, also, with the February announcements, that usually happens just before the PMA show... next year it has been moved from March to either August or September which might change that announcement schedule a bit. Photokina is normally in September and is the big photo show in Europe that happens every other year while PMA is annual and is here state side.
Can't help you on the 3100, other than to say we're using D300's for "backup" bodies. If in fact a replacement is coming down the pike, the price on 300's will plummet, and I'd sure add it to your list of possibilities. We're so happy with ours, they often replace our D2X's on shoots. We have zip/nadda interest in video, so that's not a factor in our decisions.
I also plan to purchase a mid range like 24/105 that has macro capability shortly.
We used 24-120's (four of them) as our principle knock-around lenses for years. Our biggest disappointment is that Nikon has never come out with a pro grade lens in that zoom range, ala Canon's 24-105 f/4. It's the most useful zoom range for our broad needs, even in a consumer grade lens. We replaced all our 24-120's with 18-200's last year and we're even happier with them, both for their extended zoom range and for image quality.
I gotta say though that both the 24-120 and 18-200 are comparatively fragile. We flat wore out our 24-120's, hence the replacement. And just last week my wife ripped one of our 18-200's in half in a mishap. We're admittedly really hard on gear, but know from similar mishaps that pro grade lenses would have survived the beating.
Posted by Kent Staubus on August 22, 2010 at 5:24 PM
Considering that there are no D3100 available yet, and no one has had much chance to test one, it's hard to say how good it is. I would simply sit and wait. If you need ISO 3200, it might be a better bet. If you don't, maybe not.
Discussion
5 repliesDrew
We used 24-120's (four of them) as our principle knock-around lenses for years. Our biggest disappointment is that Nikon has never come out with a pro grade lens in that zoom range, ala Canon's 24-105 f/4. It's the most useful zoom range for our broad needs, even in a consumer grade lens. We replaced all our 24-120's with 18-200's last year and we're even happier with them, both for their extended zoom range and for image quality.
I gotta say though that both the 24-120 and 18-200 are comparatively fragile. We flat wore out our 24-120's, hence the replacement. And just last week my wife ripped one of our 18-200's in half in a mishap. We're admittedly really hard on gear, but know from similar mishaps that pro grade lenses would have survived the beating.
Kent in SD