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Nikon D3100 photo samples

I've got no complaints about the D3100's photo quality, and it has one of the best noise profiles in its class.

Lori Grunin
I've been reviewing hardware and software, devising testing methodology and handed out buying advice for what seems like forever; I'm currently absorbed by computers and gaming hardware, but previously spent many years concentrating on cameras. I've also volunteered with a cat rescue for over 15 years doing adoptions, designing marketing materials, managing volunteers and, of course, photographing cats.
Lori Grunin
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1 of 12 Matthew Fitzgerald/CNET

Noise

The D3100 has a very good noise profile; it matches (and perhaps bests) the current leader in the budget dSLR category, the Pentax K-x. It produces exceptionally clean JPEGs up through ISO 800 and very usable ones through ISO 3200. (Adobe Camera Raw doesn't yet support the D3100 and Nikon Capture NX 2 doesn't provide sufficiently granular noise reduction for me to do raw versus JPEG comparisons).
34150870_SIC3_540-800.jpg
2 of 12 Lori Grunin/CNET

Noise, ISO 800

Normally, ISO 800 images of cat fur are useless because the fine, dark fur is highly susceptible to color noise. But these are very clean, and I'll probably be able to work with the exposure and sharpness once I have raw software support.
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3 of 12 Lori Grunin/CNET

Noise, ISO 1600

You can start to see some color noise in this shot, but it's still quite usable.
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4 of 12 Lori Grunin/CNET

Color

The D3100 has excellent color reproduction in its default SD mode.
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5 of 12 Lori Grunin/CNET

Distortion, 35mm f1.8 lens

For a relatively inexpensive lens, the 35mm f1.8 fares pretty well overall. There's a little bit of asymmetrical distortion on the right, however.
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6 of 12 Lori Grunin/CNET

Sample image, 35mm f1.8 lens

(1/100 sec, f4.0, ISO 100, spot meter, AWB)
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7 of 12 Lori Grunin/CNET

Distortion, 18-55mm kit lens

At its widest, 18mm, the 18-55mm lens tends to crush towards the right side of the photo. This was taken with the automatic distortion control off, the default.
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8 of 12 Lori Grunin/CNET

Distortion, 55-300mm lens

As you'd expect, there's very little distortion at the wide end of the 55-300mm lens.
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9 of 12 Lori Grunin/CNET

Sample image, 55-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens

(1/80 sec, f4.5, ISO 100, spot meter AWB, 78mm)
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10 of 12 Lori Grunin/CNET

Sharpness

The D3100 is capable of producing very natural-looking but sharp images--and this was taken using the relatively inexpensive 35mm f1.8 lens. (1/500 sec, f5.6, ISO 100, spot meter, AWB)
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11 of 12 Lori Grunin/CNET

Sample image, 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 lens

(1/100 sec, f5.6, ISO 100, spot meter, AWB, SB900 flash, 170mm)
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12 of 12 Lori Grunin/CNET

Bokeh, 35mm f1.8 lens

Although it has a 7-bladed aperture, the bokeh on the 35mm lens still strikes me as overly polygonal.

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