Nikon D3200 DSLR Camera with 1855mm VR Lens

Beats the competition

Having originally gone for a Canon 1000D four years ago, I grew increasingly frustrated with the very poor image quality, so I've sold all my Canon kit and have switched to Nikon's D3300. I am a beginner photographer/astro-photographer.

This is an entry level or upper entry level camera which outcompetes Canon's alternatives in the form of the 1200D and 100D. Although slightly bigger than the 100D which was marketed as the world's smallest DSLR, you wouldn't really think so if the cameras were put side by side. In terms of image quality, you get 24mp versus 18mp resolution in those two other models, but on top of this the sensor gives you 35% more image quality, 11% more colour depth, over DOUBLE the low light ISO sensitivity (half your exposure time), and 14% more dynamic range (an image shows a greater range of light levels rather than everything either dark or light). Check Dxomark scores, which are lab tests done on cameras in a controlled environment using high tech software and sensors if you want to verify these numbers.

The body feels solid yet light, grips in the hand very nicely and has intuitively placed buttons. The buttons have a nice clicky feel to them, and I particularly like the column of buttons on the left side of the screen. It has some nice features, the most notable of which is that you can apply many fun filters to your images on the camera. One of these is a 'miniature effect', where the top and bottom bands of the image are blurred as per your input to give a cool artistic effect, and in movie mode at 1080P HD resolution it compresses time by 15x so that a 45 minute movie turns into a 3m movie - making everything appear miniaturised and fast. On the auto modes any beginners will be able to use this camera, and the auto focus is top notch.
Nikon D3300 Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm VR II Lens Kit - Red (24.2MP) 3.0 inch LCD