More Details about Nikon D3100

[DizFan101]

Hello,
I'm a "beginner" photographer and deciding to buy my first DSLR camera for better photo shoots etc. I am considering the Nikon D3100 as the beginner as it is good for beginners.

I do have a few questions about it to those who already own one.

a.) I know it lacks bracketing settings but do you always have to reset it for each individual photo? what exactly is bracketing setting?
b.) Do you have any photos you can share on here? I am very interested in seeing what it can do.
c.) Is it noisy? Does the photo button easy to get to?
D.) what exactly comes in the box itself?
E.) I have an old SLR camera that has different lenses (example of the camera is the "past" SLR in this link http://www.photobookgirl.com/blog/photo-book-tools-my-digital-camera-gear-computer-lineup/). Can i use the old lenses for the newer camera?

 

[photo_chick]

Bracketing- that's when you take multiple shots in quick succession at different exposure values. It's a practice we used a lot more in film when we had no instant feedback to tell us if the shot was exposed well or not. You'd take one shot under the exposure value you wanted, one at the exposure value and one over. Sometimes more if you were really unsure. It is still helpful with digital, especially when you have a situation with a lot of dynamic range and you want to be sure you get it, but you don't need a bracketing setting to do it. You can change the exposure value for each shot if you needed to. Though most photographers have pretty much abandoned bracketing. I still do it sometimes, but not like I did with film.

Question C--- only you can answer. Go to the store and play with it.

As far as lenses, it can mount the lenses that other Nikon DSLR's can (which includes some 35mm Nikon SLR lenses), but there are limitations with the functionality of some lenses. Many you will only loose auto focus. To some people that means you can't use the lens. To me it doesn't but that's something you have to decide for yourself. The girl in the blog is showing a Canon and a Nikon... those are different mounts and though you can get an adapter and cross that barrier, it's usually not worth the trouble.

Here's a lens compatibility chart:
http://www.nikonians.org/nikon/slr-lens.html

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

If your camera is the Canon, the lenses will not fit the Nikon. Depending on how heavily you are invested in Canon lenses, you may want to stick with Canon. I can't speak to the compatibility of older Canon lenses.