This year, our Christmas present to each other was to get a new digital camera. In the past we’ve always had cameras like the Canon PowerShot, perfectly good cameras, but I’ve been wanting an SLR camera for a while now. We didn’t need anything super-fancy, but I wanted something that at least had good recommendations. On his blog, John Scalzi mentioned using a Nikon D5100 in a post on his photo tools. Starting there, I looked into the camera, and it seemed to have everything we could want.
And there was one other piece of serendipity. We ordered our camera on Cyber Monday, and in doing so managed to get the camera for nearly 50% off its regular price. We ordered the camera as part of a kit that included 2 lenses: an 18-55mm and a 55-200mm lens. It was an incredible deal!
Well, since today is Christmas day, we finally got to play with the new toy. I read through the manual–something that I almost always do with new gadgets–and then started taking pictures. Nothing fancy, just to get a feel for the features and how the camera works. There are a ton of features built into the camera. Here are two of the pictures I took with the new camera today. The first is just a regular photo; the second is using some of the camera’s special effects.
And here is the same scene with a built-in special effect that I think is really cool.
I have no illusions that I am a photographer of any particular skill. I leave that to people like Paul Weimer, Andy Romine, or the aforementioned John Scalzi. But it is nice to have a camera that can help make my pictures look better.
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You’ve taken your first step into a larger world. 🙂
Shooting full auto is sort of like just a souped up point and shoot, and that is only the beginning of what you can do.
I’ve exactly the same camera, bought a couple of months ago and am very satisfied!
To get the most of your camera, I suggest to explore the following resources:
1) The general information provided by Nikon: http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d5100/index.htm
2) The Nikon digitutor, with several videos for some general and specific features of the D5100:
http://www.nikondigitutor.com/eng/d5100/index.html
3) A dedicated course of Lynda.com, if you have a subscription. Well explained features of the camera, over 3h training:
http://www.lynda.com/tutorials/Shooting-with-the-Nikon-D5100/86641-2.html
Michel, thanks so much for these great tips and resources!
Very nice! You said you ordered it on Cyber Monday. Where did you order it from? I may have to make a note for next year.
Chris, it turns out that is an interesting story. I did a search for the camera that Monday and found it deeply discounted on Walmart.com. ($499 for camera + 2 lenses as opposed to the regular price of $899). I tried ordering it online but they were out of stock and said to try the store. I tried two local stores, searching their stock online and both were out of stock. I was about to give up, when my wife reminded me we’d be coming down to Florida. She suggested I try a Walmart near her parents. I did that and found one, ordered it, and my in-laws picked it up for us so it was waiting when we got down here.
FYI, I paid 599€ (@ an exchange rate of $1.3 for 1€, it is $780) for the body and a 18-105VR objective.
Nice camera, Mr. Rubin. I have the same one, but I wish to upgrade to D610.