Nikon's latest Z-mount lens is a 600mm you can handhold for hours for wildlife and sports photography or pack away for travel when you want to leave the monopod and tripod at home. We were impressed by how quickly and smoothly the D5100 reacts to extreme changes in light, such as when panning from bright sunlight into darker shadows.

The lack of any kind of exposure level indication when using manual mode and live view is also a strange omission. Used in ‘always on’ full-time-server AF mode we found the D5100 fairly quick to respond to focal distance shifts in brightly lit situations, although it does get gradually slower (with an accompanying increase in annoying focus-hunt) the less light is available.It is 50 grams lighter (and smaller) than the older Nikon D5000 and 110 grams lighter than the Nikon D90. While the D-pad stays in its usual place, the dedicated live view button usually found on the back of the body on other Nikon DSLRs has disappeared altogether, with an all-new spring loaded lever extending from the Shooting mode dial on the top of the camera now responsible for activating and deactivating live view. As you can see from the illustration below, the D5100's viewfinder is pretty much the same size as the Canon EOS 600D/Rebel T3i and Canon's entry-level EOS 1100D/Rebel T3. Not only is this switch more awkwardly placed on the D5100 than the D3100, it takes the place of the drive mode switch that we like so much on the D3100. It is only the second Nikon DSLR to feature an articulated LCD screen and we much prefer the more conventional side-hinged design to the D5000's more awkward bottom-hinged effort.

Full-time-servo AF isn’t available when using the camera in viewfinder mode, although you can select the Continuous-server option and nominate a single AF point, which will then maintain continual focus on that point as long as you keep the shutter button half-pressed. Megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor as well as an EXPEED 2 image processing engine that delivers amazing image quality. There are also a few odd behavioral quirks in live view and movie mode, with aperture control that can only be described as buggy.The D5100’s improved abilities put it, on paper at least, in the same league as the Canon EOS 600D and Sony A580, with the Pentax K-r trailing behind somewhat with a maximum setting of 1080 x 720p at 25fps. How does the lens perform, is it really as light as Nikon claims, is there any chromatic aberration? Can be used in mode M, but exposure meter does not function; electronic range finder can be used if maximum aperture is f/5. And while it’s hard to see past your own reflection when shooting directly into sunlight, shooting with the sun on your back isn’t nearly so much of a problem.

The Google Pixel 8 and 8 Pro might not come with the most impressive camera hardware we have seen, but Google's software power and tuning excellence help its new flagship smartphones produce among the very best image quality we have seen on mobile devices.But for new user I would say take this machine only when you have the passion of the camera as it requires lot of care. DSLR newcomers trying to gain a better understanding of what all the various features and functions do are well catered for too, with a simple tap of the ‘? So there's no wireless flash control, magnesium alloy build or 39-point AF system but the underlying image quality is all but identical. Put simply, the D5100 is a hugely adaptable camera that takes excellent pictures, with overall image quality consistently matching that of the more expensive D7000. What this actually means is that a small portion of the captured image doesn't show up in the viewfinder.