Nikon’s entry-level DSLRs are perfect for beginners; saving money on the body lets you spend more on lenses, flashes, tripods, memory cards, and software, and those will have a bigger impact on your photography than buying a more expensive body. The D3100 is available for outrageously low prices used; my target price is $200, but you can find them even cheaper if you’re patient. If you’re buying new, the D3200 is a better value. It has slightly better image quality and it takes pictures a bit faster. However, the D3200 creates much larger photos, which also make it much slower to copy and edit your photos. The D3200 also adds a mic jack for recording external audio with your video. If you plan to record video and don’t want to use the built-in mic (which is awful on all cameras), the mic jack is a must. The D3200 also jumps to 24 megapixels (the D3100 has 14 megapixels) providing much larger pictures. Those larger pictures require larger memory cards and more disk space, but only have slightly better image quality. The higher 4 frames per second (from 3 fps on the D3100) will help with action shots, but the buffer fills up too quickly for this to be a great sports camera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHHLkHdInJE The D3300 is about 9% smaller and lighter than the D3200 and D3100. Additionally, its updated AF-S 18-55mm kit lens is about 25% smaller and lighter than the kit lens included with the D3200 and D3100. For the D3300, Nikon continued using the 24 megapixel sensor, but removed the optical low-pass filter. This means that your pictures will be a bit sharper and more detailed, but you’ll probably never notice the difference unless you use professional-quality lenses costing far more than the body itself. The D3300 also jumps to 5 frames per second, making it more useful for sports and action. If this is your first camera, you might also consider the Canon T3/1100D. The cameras are equally functional; I’d buy whichever I found a better price on. Here are some reviews that include the D3300: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l04W4mCpUfU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9tRpvCUKHA For existing owners, here’s an overview tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmWBW8aZSS0
