I have a Nikon D3100 and was wondering shall i upgrade to D5100?

My budget is a bit tight so not considering to upgrade to d7000 or d90 ? series yet.

Thanks in advance for the advise given thanks.

This post has been edited by scterryk: Dec 11 2015, 10:05 PM

go buy a used D7000.
if still want D5xxx series, stick with a min of D5200...and of cos if budget tight...then find used again.

Why a D5200 and above?

Agreed, its better to save more for a D7000 as the improvement from a D3100 to a D5XXX series is not much

What do u think about d90 rather than d7000?

D90 is abit too outdated, I wouldn't really recommend it.
It has some pretty neat features, but IQ-wise its almost the same level as the earlyD3xxx and D5xxx series

Save more and go for a D7100 if a body is what you really want. However, most of the time getting lenses, flashguns or other accessories will help improve your shots more

If you still sticking to kit lens, try upgrade lens first.

go for d7k series.

here sir
https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=3710618&hl=

1. What do you photograph?
2. Why do you think you need to upgrade? (or What is it you find lacking in your photography?)

you are actually not allowed to post your sale on a discussion thread

i know this sound a little off topic

do you have a flash? if no, since your mention of tight budget, buying a flash might change your photography experience... and flash can bring forward and use when u upgrade.

back to topic, again if tight budget, then dont bother with upgrade first.. try explore more of your D3100 limit first... push it hard, understand more of camera behavior and limitation. that way, with more understanding of the camera, u will know why u would better buy D7xxx then grabbing a D5xxx. by the time you can upgrade, u got extra saving from all the CNY angpao or Raya next year.

is flash pricey? recommend me any thanks

what body are u using? if mirrorless then get nissin i40. Tiny flash with huge power and features.

he is using DSLR, Nikon D3100.

You can try YongNuo YN-560 MK III.
I am currently using YN560 II, it's a manual flash, no auto mode.

If you have to ask someone else what to upgrade to it means you have not hit any walls yet with your current camera. That means there is still room to explore and learn.

Hold off on the upgrade. Shoot more with your existing camera and whatever lens / lenses that you currently have. Shoot until you find out at least one limitation that frustrate the heck out of you. Then you will find the answer for yourself.

I will tell you my story for you to get a better understanding:

I started out with an APS-C body (much like your D3100). I had only a kit lens to start off with. Like any other newcomer, the GAS disease hit and I started to want to buy a lot of gears. When you are new, you dream of having lenses like the 24-70mm f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 and you would think that these are the things to make your system complete. Of course, budget is always an issue.

So I bought a 18-250mm lens, thinking that this was the best solution. I also bought a 50mm f1.7 lens second hand as people always say that you will need a 50mm lens right?

After a while, I found that I seldom use more than 100mm of the long range zoom. I was mostly shooting on the 18mm end and I already had the 18mm end on my kit lens. As for the 50mm, I found that while it was good in low light situations, the 50mm on an APS-C sensor is somewhat a little too tight for normal everyday use.

The more that I shot with the 18-250mm lens, the more I realized that I always found that it was never wide enough for me. I was already at 18mm. I can't go any wider but I felt that I need a wider view for my shots. It frustrated the heck out of me.

So now I know that I needed something wider and it came down to lenses like the 17-50mm, 16-35mm or even the 11-16mm. The 17-50mm is just a tiny bit wider so I struck it off my list. The others were either too expensive or too wide for my taste.

Then I came across the full frame body. It almost 'magically' made everything wider. 50mm became very useful and 24mm on a full frame is plenty wide. So I had my answer. What I needed was a full frame body and my existing 50mm lens could serve as my everyday lens. Next I would need a wide angle and I set my sights on a 24mm prime. Later I settled for a 20mm prime. As I still like to have a portrait lens, I set my sights on an 85mm prime (thanks to my experience using the 50mm on a APS-C sensor).

So I upgraded from my most basic entry level body to a full frame body with the 3 above mentioned lenses. I sold off every other lens I had. That was at least 4 years ago.

Today, I am still shooting with these 3 lenses and the same full frame body. I never felt the need to get any other lenses nor body so far.

This post has been edited by shootkk: Dec 28 2015, 09:40 PM

+1 to this. You will know what you need once you hit that wall.



Same here. I've been on my Canon EOS 60D and the same set of lens for some 4 - 5 years or so.

Went for a D750 last year because I want Dual-SD Card + Flip LCD camera, only 2 model has that (Nikon D750 and Sony A99) but I went for Nikon because I've used the A99 before and I can't do timer and bracketing at the same time.

Even with my D750 I was using using a 24-120 and 12-24 for a good year before I recently bought a 40mm DX lens for video purpose.

I still have my Canon EOS 60D, and I use it very often for pictures for my website.

In the end it goes back to what shootkk said - If you have to ask someone else what to upgrade to it means you have not hit any walls yet with your current camera.

wa that pricey! want to ask, if no do portrait no need flash right?

your story is inspiring and the conclusion is, get a full frame straight and few full frame lenses and you can settle down. lol.

it is depends on situation. if u have external flash, there's many things u can so, like bounce the flash to create softer lighting, taking photo with lower noise, etc

as 3rd party flash manufacturer, nissin external flash is consider consumer friendly, and it recommended by a lot of sony camera users. even sony HVL-F32M & HVL-F43M price is RM953 & RM1059 respectively