Nikon D3200 Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm VR Lens Kit - Black (24.2MP) 3 inch LCD

I went with Nikon for my first dslr as I was given an old Nikon lens and this product was released right at the same time.I used to take pictures years ago, but uni got in the way and now i have time to start again a bit more seriously.I know a fair bit about tech and liked the face that the canon 550 is basically a 600d without the flippy screen, so was available for less money. The new 650 looks like a major improvement with touch being added in. However, I love the build quality and image quality I am getting with the Nikon kit lens and indeed old manual lenses.I shoot raw and use lightroom 4 to develop the images and the detail retained is impressive.Had the camera for less than a month and used it when the weather allows, so im over 1000 shots and the learning curve for me has been non existent.Live view is a must have for me, its not always better than the viewfinder, but its a great feature for low angles, landscapes or any situation where you want to frame the shot precisely. The old springy switch on the 3100 is replaced with a regular button, which I was down about to begin with, but i like the button just as much (having held a 3100 about twice) and its still in the best location for it.I have yet to use the video mode for any real purpose. The creative possibilities there are good. The few times i have tried it is during a consort (in a marquee) and an acoustic set (in a barn, my musical settings have been obscure recently) and the audio was clear and true. The record button is on the top behind the shutter button, and its easy to get at, I prefer that to it being where the live view button is placed, as I use video much less.Also 24mp might be a trick to get people excited about the high count, but I like having the high resolution. As a last resort, I can crop without worrying too much and pick out the composition I was trying to get at the time. Noise and grain are dealt with extremely well and even at high ISO - up to and sometimes beyond 3200 - the results are pleasing, or at least mild enough to be easily recoverable in lightroom.Holding the camera is comfortable for me, the only flaw I could pick in the design is the aperture/exposure button location. Its behind the shutter release and to the right slightly. Its not horrible, but I would prefer it on the other side of the camera near the fn button (used to change ISO). I am left handed, and that might be the cause of that issue. The camera is not particularly heavy, I could carry this all day happily, whereas thats not true with bulkier pro dslrs.Battery life hasn't been as issue for me either, but make sure it is fully charged before you intend to use, as it may not last a full days intensive use!Everything else is well thought out and just works. All the menus are straight forward enough, and there are options available to setup the camera pretty much to whatever way you find it works best for you. Guide mode is not something I intend to use, but its very good at taking a step back and explaining all the controls and when or why to use them. Sample images are even used to explain the concepts further.Overall, if you are looking for a new dslr, want fantastic images, the ability to record quality video and perhaps learn to improve your photography after using a compact or bridge camera, this is for you. Nikon has a huge range of available lenses, some of which are affordable, but many of the better quality ones easily exceed the price of the camera. It is important to note that this is a dx format camera.There are two types of Nikon dslr. The smaller dx and the full frame fx. dx cameras have lenses designed specifically for them and are identified by the term af-s.Older af lenses will fit this camera but auto focus will not work. The focus motor is built into the lens on the af-s lenses whereas the bigger cameras have a built in motor and can accept any lens. This is not a major issue as many af-s lenses are widely available - and amazon tend to have good prices on each of them!Finally the camera has a crop factor of 1.5x. So every lens' focal length is multiplied by 1.5.For example the kit 18-55mm is approximately equiv to a 27 - 82mm lens in 35mm terms.Hope this helps as its way more complicated than it needs to be. If you get the camera, thankfully most of the details don't matter so much.[...]I found these reviews from Jared Polin to be helpful before I bought the camera.Enjoy taking pictures!

Having progressed from being a manual SLR user (2 Zeniths - Zenith badge and lenses but Pentax works inside, go figure! Then a Minolta) and the hassle of to carry around film, spare batteries (viewfinder and flash unit micro batteries), I moved to a teensy Olympus C300 but rapidly tired of its lack of anything but basic controls. Next was a Fujifilm S7000 which, until one of the internal filters failed (no reds!), could only really be criticised for its propensity to eat batteries. Which brought me to buying the Nikon D3200 and 18 - 55mm VR lens kit, UV filter, Case and other bits and pieces.For a casual snapper (I use it for internal pictures for websites and outside for anything that takes my fancy), the biggest "chore" was reading through the extensive user's manual. The camera is an absolute joy to use and, once the manual has been digested, exceptionally easy to change settings to match circumstances - auto picture stability for normal shots is a fantastic boon for the near geriatric user (of which I'm one) - battery life is very, very good, a high speed 32Gb card means no running out of picture space in a hurry and the price (Amazon price of £403.50) is exceptional for what you get. The only comment, not a criticism, I would make is that it is a little heavy and that a good neck strap and/or carry case essential for we dodderers.From my 5 star rating, you can see that I absolutely love this camera, it does everything that this casual snapper requires with the minimum of fuss, takes great pictures and (in the credibility stakes) looks the part. It may not live up to the high expectations of professional (or professional level amateur) photographers but for the casual snapper, I cannot recommend this camera highly enough.

Most people will gravitate to this camera because of the excellent reviews that appear for it all over the respected photography websites. That and the currently lavish 24 megapixel sensor. And it's a good camera for sure but not the massive leap in quality you'd expect if you're migrating from compact camera to SLR.My previous camera was a Panasonic Lumix TZ8 which was a great camera for its class. A really nice compact that worked extremely well and turned out some great photos. I expected the D3200 to shoot me into another league and it didn't really. It was better but it didn't really knock my socks off. But why?Partly this was to do with the 18-55mm kit lens you get with the camera. It's good but not great. But I also bought a superior Nikon 55-300mm lens and the photos were still distinctly lacking. So what's going on?After a bit of research I found that part of the problem was quality control. It turns out that the manufacturer of the actual product in China is known for shoddy final setup. That's to say the camera is fine but the final adjustments aren't performed correctly.This means that the D3200 ships with a back focus error. It's a small error but it really means that the photos you get are a bit soft and the overall effect is that what should be a 24 megapixel camera produces shots that look like a 12 megapixel one.It's important to note that I've had two of these cameras. The first I returned to Amazon who quickly sent me a replacement. The replacement had exactly the same problem.So, what to do? Well I rang Nikon and told their extremely helpful support people about the issue. The chap I spoke to didn't sound surprised and organised a return for repair. They paid for postage and the turnaround was quick.Now my D3200 works very well. The shots are sharp and my faith has been restored.There are some sites on the net that have identified this error and recommend a 'home fix'. This involves removing the lens, flipping up the mirror and adjusting one of the mirror stops so that the mirror shifts the focal plane a little. Apparently this will bodge it satisfactorily but you do sacrifice autofocus point placement accuracy. The actual error lies in the position setting of the sensor itself which is raised and lowered by a few screws - an adjustment which the casual punter most certainly cannot do.So, a good entry level SLR that might need to go back to the lovely people at Nikon for adjustment. But if it's still under guarantee then that's an inconvenience rather than a disaster. It's worth noting that this might also occur in the newer D3300 since it's a manufacturer final setup error and not a model fault. Incidentally, at the moment of this review, the D3300 is significantly more expensive than the D3200. There are some very minor differences between the two but read between the lines before you shell out for a camera that may not be a whole lot better than the D3200.