With New Expeed 2 image processing engine, it surprise me such so different to the older models like D200, D80 D300 i have ever owned.
Good:
It's has more accurate Auto White Balance on portrait and warm lighting environment. In the old time, the D200, D80 and D300 will always capture the faces like they are having the "liver trouble" with high ISO; The D3100 has so much better performance on that.
Build-in Flash with iTTL is more accurate and not like the old models usually over powered. (I assume it has a new way to calculate the power and distance; in the past time, I would never use the build-in flash as light source, but D3100 may just change my usual practice.)
It's HD D-Movie has full time auto focus; although I get used to use manual focus with the 5DM2, it still makes me feel a lot easier to use it as a daily use video function.
D3100's High ISO performance is also better than all old Expeed image processing engine models. Although, the D3100 has ISO 3200 only (H1 is not acceptable in any camera), I found ISO 800 and 1600 are very smooth and can be use as normal set.
Bad:
After couple days to work with it, everything is good expect I found the new "point style" focus spot in the view finder are too small to see and a bit hard to focus on the target like the eye of people. It may need some time to get use to it.
It's build-in flash light is no longer support the Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System). I have never thought about that would happen to the new generation Nikon DSLR, and it has no any document or review to talk about it. Honestly, I am a big fan of Nikon CLS; with my old D200, D80 and D300, I have really enjoy that just a little build-in flash as a commander to trigger all my SB-800 to work, the best part is it can even control the power of all remote flashes; D3100 it's really disappointed me on this issue. (I guess that may be some new flash controller like SU-800 kind of accessories may come out to dig our wallet very soon.)
By the way, it's seems Nikon doesn't have Battery Grip for it, users may have to wait for the aftermarket release.
After all, this is more than a entry level camera, it's a good camera for level users.
Rating: 8/10
For more information: http://en.nikon.com.hk/productitem_new.php?pid=1379-926225e57b
