just bought my first dslr (D3100)kit, is it best to leave the lens atached when not using the camera or remove it ?

any recomendations for best book to buy for the d3100, seen a few advertised but want to get the best to help a novice

kind regards

phil

Best to leave the lens on; the more often you attach or remove a lens the more often you get dirt on the sensor. The manual is a good place to start for the body; if you put in D3100 manual in Amazon, several books on it come up. I don't have and have never touched a D3100, so perhaps others can offer their advice. As for general photography books for beginners, Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" is, IMHO, the best.

If you fill in your profile it will help to give you advice.

New York Nikoner
My Nikonians Gallery

"Insanity is repeating the same process expecting a different result" Albert Einstein

NAS can go into remission, but, it is incurable.

thanks for your reply, i have now filed in some profile so hopefully this will help me get some better advise.

thanks
phil

Good luck with the new camera Phil.

Thanks for filling out some of your profile. It will help us with future question.

But you've gotten some good advice already. I agree with the others that you should leave your lens on the camera. Only remove your lens when necessary, such as to change to another lens, or clean the camera. Every time you remove the lens you open it to dust and dirt.

I agree with Marty. Get a camera bag to hold your camera with lens attached. Get the micro fiber lens cleaning cloth and a Giottos Rocket Blower too.

Before you purchase anything else for your camera, become more familiar with it, and what it can do. Take lots of photos. Practice, practice, practice.

Like Jesse, I strongly suggest you download your manual from the Nikon Europe English language site. While you have a printed manual, having the pdf version of the manual permits you to use your computer to search the manual for specific entries.

Start familiarizing yourself with the camera's features and menus. Learn what the default settings of the camera are and what changes you can make in the way it's setup, so that in the future you can customize the setup to one that works best for you.

Since you're a beginner, I would echo Bruce's suggestion to get Peterson's Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera. It will help you get to the point you're comfortable taking the camera off automatic exposure so you can get the most out of it.

Ned
A Nikonians Team Member

-----------------------------
Visit my Travel Photography Blog and my Galleries.

Hi Philip,

Congratulations on your new D3100.
Unless you have a specific reason for removing the lens when you are not using the camera, keep it on the camera. Get a camera bag that hold the camera with the lens attached. Something like the one of the Tamrac Holster Zoom Pack bags. I would also recommend getting a quality Micro fiber lens cleaning cloth and a Giottos Rocket Blower.
Good Luck and Enjoy your Nikons!

Best Regards,
Marty

I downloaded my d3100 manual off of nikon's website, and have it on my iPad for viewing.

I read through a ton here at nikonians, which helped me out not too long ago, I also viewed YouTube, which some were terrible and others were great.

What also has helped me are working groups, check your local area and see what they have to offer. Flickr also has helped..whenever I see a photo that I like, I check it's exif data and try and duplicate. All of which leads to some sort of entertainment and makes taking pics of the family much more enjoyable.

Congrats on the 3100, I have enjoyed mine as well, so I am sure you will too. Very user friendly!

My Gallery:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73141335@N06/

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

As others have advised, leave the lens on. And put a cap on the lens to protect it.

Be sure to download the FULL manual from the Nikon website. The one that came with your camera is very abbreviated, and a recipe for frustration.

I got one of the "dummies" series books--it was extremely well written and helpful. This is it on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D3100-Dummies-Julie-Adair/dp/1118004728/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343006990&sr=1-1&keywords=nikon+d3100+for+dummies

It's also available in Kindle format.

Welcome to the site, this is a great place for help and info from many smart and talented people!

working on it in Middle TN
Nikon D3100
18-55 mm Nikkor VR
55-200 mm Nikkor VR
55-300 mm Nikkor VR
150-500 mm Sigma OS

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

hi all

thanks again for all the advice, i had seen the digitutor guide before i bought the camera and many clips on youtube as i spent about 2 months researching this camera to decide if it was right for me, i have the full manual on my pc and am walking through it with the camera in hand, it would be great if everything i read stayed in my mind but it doesnt, but i am re- visiting what i have read and going over again and again, i have ordered a book from amazon also, so once i have gone through the manual, that is next, it will take time i guess but looking forward to learning, once i get stuck i will come back and ask for advice here.
i will probably have a small notebook and keep making notes to refer to when out in the wide world.

kind regards
phil

We're all happy to help Phil.

Ned
A Nikonians Team Member

-----------------------------
Visit my Travel Photography Blog and my Galleries.