Welcome!

Howdy dudes and dudettes! Well, it's pretty simple. If you've got questions about your Nikon D3100, you can start a new discussion and get tons of helpful replies from other D3100 owners all across the world, including yours truly. :)

To get started, go ahead and register an account here at Camera Tips.

To start a new topic or discussion, just click the Ask a New Question button in the upper right hand corner.

To reply to a current topic, just click a thread below and you'll see a Post Comment button towards the bottom of the discussion.

Happy shooting!
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Comments

  • brutobruto
    edited September 2016
    @bumpyprints, to get a long exposure, your best bet is to go to manual mode, where you can set any shutter speed from 1/4000 to 30 seconds (in steps of 1/3 stop, which means three clicks of the wheel to double or halve the time).

    You can also use shutter priority, but in that the meter will try to set the aperture, and may not get exposure right in very long exposures.

    If you're doing a long night time shot, make sure you turn Auto ISO off or the meter will crank the ISO up to max, and ruin your shot with noise. Since you're going to be on a tripod, you can keep your ISO as low as possible, and insure the most noise-free exposure.

    For exposures longer than 30 seconds, you'll need the accessory remote control. Unfortunately, the D3100 does not use the convenient and cheap IR remote that was, for some reason dropped, and reinstituted in the D3200. But the plug in wireless remote will allow the "B" or bulb setting, which opens the shutter for as long as you press the button, to become a proper "T" or time setting, in which one press of the remote opens the shutter and the next closes it. This makes it possible to keep the shutter open for any length of time without jiggling.

    If you cannot find the remote and must go over 30 seconds, the only other way is a bit of a bodge, in which you would cap the lens, set the camera's shutter to B, and use a rubber band and whatever else works, to hold the shutter open by keeping the button down. Once open, you remove the lens cap, and then recap the lens before closing the shutter again. The remote works better!

    e.t.a. you'll almost certainly need to switch to manual focus for night time shots. If you do the rubber band and cap trick, you'll definitely need to use manual focus. In AF mode, the camera is in "focus priority," which means that if it cannot find focus, the shutter will not fire.
  • SyllekeSylleke
    edited October 2016
    Hi there all of you. I'm Sylleke and I am from The Netherlands. Love this forum and I already learned a lot from it. I have had the Nikon D3100 for almost 3 years now and I love the camera. I have the original lens and the 70-300mm lens, which I prefer. I love to take macro's and portraits. I also take a lot of photo's at our Salsa dancing party's. Everybody loves my photo's, so I must be doing it right then :-)
  • decdandecdan
    edited February 2017
    Hi, I was searching for reviews for a lens I want to buy for my Nikon D3100, and stumbled onto this site. Wow, great site. I look forward to learning about my camera and how to use it. I have the kit lens 18-55mm, a 55-200mm, a Tamron 16-300mm, and I am thinking about purchasing a 50mm f/1.8D prime lens. I'll be buying some cheat sheets as well. Thanks Moose.
  • brutobruto
    @decdan, the D lens will not autofocus on any D3xxx or D5xxx body. If you want auto focus you must get an AFS lens. The D will work, and will interact with the meter, but all members of these camera families have no internal focus motor, so AF occurs only with lenses that have their own.
  • decdandecdan
    @BRUTO, thanks, I am looking at the AFS lens, and the 35mm f/1.8G lens. It's a bit more money though. :)
  • BlueMoonMomBlueMoonMom
    edited February 2017
    Glad I found this site. I'm looking forward to learning more about my camera and photography. Hi everyone!
  • LauraLyn88LauraLyn88
    Hi, I'd like to learn more about my D3100, I now have a theater kid and need to know how to shoot in a dark setting.
  • Mojo323Mojo323
    Hello all. I'm glad I stumbled across this site. Upon doing some initial scrolling, I'm just wondering if I've found it to late... are people still active on here? Hopefully so. I've already found some very useful posts and I look forward to new ones.
  • brutobruto
    I think at least some people are still active here.

    With regard to shooting in a dark setting, the options are going to be limited, but the two things you need most are a fast lens and a tolerance for high ISO.

    The first thing you probably need to do is to experiment with your camera and high ISO settings, to see how much digital noise you can tolerate for the kind of images you want and the kind of printing you expect. People are generally a bit better suited to high ISO than some other subjects, as your object is to get the person doing a thing, and not so much to worry about fine details of leaves or fur and the like.

    How fast a shutter speed you require will depend a bit on how much movement is there. Your best bet for starters is probably to use shutter priority for whatever speed you need to stop motion. Leave the auto ISO on, after having set whatever maximum your previous experiments determine is your maximum tolerance for noise. The camera will first increase the aperture to whatever is the lens's max, and then raise ISO as needed up to the limit you've set. If it runs out of both aperture and ISO it will underexpose, but you should have a pretty good range.

    The faster the lens and larger the aperture, the easier the job will be.

    Your best bet is probably AFC and single point focus. You'll focus on a single subject, and if the subject moves a little the focus will follow. Auto area focus might choose something you don't want. Make sure that the auto focus starting point is where you want it. It's easy to move by accident. The [OK] button will recenter it, and the up/down/l/r/ surrounding ring will move it. The center point is most sensitive in poor light, and fastest.

    If your subject is relatively isolated in a pool of light, you may benefit either from negative exposure compensation or spot metering. The camera's matrix metering will try to lighten the surrounding dark stage, and overexpose spotlit subjects. If you go to negative exposure comp, you'll not only get better exposure, but lower ISO. If you go to spot metering, the metering spot will be the same as the auto focusing starting spot. This will often work well if you're aiming at a face.

  • Mojo323Mojo323
    edited January 2018
    Happy clicking
  • BazeboieeBazeboiee
    Hi guys, just wondering if I'm missing something but there doesn't appear to be any form of search capability. I'm conscious of posting a question that's already been answered so could someone clue me in how to search the forum?
  • HeckinsassyHeckinsassy
    Hey, all! Totally new to photography, just got my first DSLR hand-me-down from a friend and would like to eventually turn photography into a self-employed gig. This page is a GODSEND, because all the settings are confusing and overwhelming. I can't wait to dive in!
  • brutobruto
    @bazeboiee...it's probably easier just to ask the question again. Some of us who have been on the forum a long time may remember whether a question is a repeat, and be able to direct you to a former answer, but short of just rummaging, it's probably quickest just to go ahead and ask.
  • abbieabbie
    Hi there,

    I have ABSOLUTELY no knowledge or experience in Photography. I purchased my first DSLR from a friend about two years ago and during those two years it has been collecting dust. I thought about selling it, but then thought maybe I should give it a ''shot'' before I do that. After searching How-To videos on YouTube I came across this site. I'm looking forward to learning everything I need to learn about my Nikon3100. Thank you! :)
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