After a lot of research I decided on the D3300 and I am very happy with it. I will say that my father and father-in-law both work for Nikon so I was a little impressed just knowing that Nikon makes excellent quality products. This camera is easy to use, it has plenty of YouTube videos showing you how to use it, you can start shooting in modes like aperture priority mode (my new favorite) right away, and I've never taken photos in anything other than auto mode , which makes photography really…

Update: For those who want to take pictures on the go when the subject is not close to the camera (e.g. throwing a toy when a dog is running away from you, wildlife and poles), I highly recommend checking out the following Lens: Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED Vibration-reducing autofocus zoom lens for Nikon digital SLR cameras. Great camera, I bought it mainly to photograph my dog in motion. Luckily I bought it on Black Friday and it was significantly cheaper than the regular…

Although I used Nikon's consumer DSLRs (like the N8008) I didn't switch to digital until I was able to buy a D80 in 2006, having reused most of my existing lenses . The D80 was great, but I was missing two things - a great sensor with a much higher ISO equivalent sensitivity (and the resolution that goes with it) and an 18-55mm zoom for everyday indoor and close-up use. I had a 55-200 DX telephoto lens, but not a wide-angle equivalent. In my research I've found the D3300 performs extremely well