Nikon D3100- A good dSLR for Sledding?

[chemmod]

Does anyone have one, I'm considering getting one but would like to know how they work in typical winter conditions for pictures and HD video?

Are they fairly user friendly?

Any Help would be appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Lund]

It realy depends what your looking for in an SLR.
My wife and i both do photography as a hobby but at professional level. Wild life photography is mostly what i specialize in.
The NIKON camera is IMO the best field camera in the world, most out door pros. use them for a reason.
Nikon also makes their own len's, unlike all the others.
I use a D80 and D60 for sledding, packing them in my Pelican case. I have a personal preferance with the D60 cause of its compactness and lesser weight. That camera goes every where i go because of this.
I use a D300 for most all my out door wild life shots and have my D60 on hand for unexpected quick shots.
The D60 and the D3000 are of similar performance, you will love this camera if you learn to use it.
My biggest sudgestion is spend the big money on the len's, the len's is the trick from good photography to AWSOME photography.
Get and use strictly Nikon/Nikor len's. There is a difference.

BTW, still camera's make poor video's. If your looking for vid's get a video cam.

 

[devenk31]

Go Nikon. I have a Nikon D7100, great camera user friendly.

 

[eclipse1966]

I have the D3100 and love it and would like to get better at using it to take full advantage of its capabilities. Have used the video and it good too but like Lund said get a video cam.

 

[SledMamma]

The Nikon versus Canon thing is like Ford versus Chev... Depends who you talk to!

The D3100 is a great camera and is more than capable for sledding. The bigger issue, as mentioned before is lenses: you are going to want a good wide angle lens and an even better zoom in the 70-300mm range.

Most important: user ability! For one, learn about photographing in snow. The whiteness and glare make for tricky exposure and contrasty images. It's very easy to lose detail or under expose everything...

Also, make sure you can manual focus quickly. Practice before you go out: I learned by photographing birds in flight at maximum zoom

The video capabilities are awesome, but require training. Many commercials and even feature length shows are shot with DSLR video, so the capability is there. If you want to learn, find some free tutorials on the web and practice. Also, video eats up memory cards quickly so that can be a bigger investment.

My two cents, and you have seen my photos so you can decide if it's two cents worth spending

 

[SledMamma]

Also, you will need a good backpack to carry your new expensive toys: the tunnel of your sled is not an option . I use the padded guts of a Dakine Mission Camera backpack inside my avy pack for my stuff...