Awe! So sweet! Well, camera is arriving tomorrow so as soon as I figure it out, lol, I'll be posting here some pics. I have nice beauties blooming too!

ML, I plan to buy the new Nikon D3200, which is the successor to your D3100 and takes the same lenses, and in fact comes with the same 18-55 lens that yours did. For close-ups of flowers, I plan to buy the Nikon 40mm f/2.8G AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR Lens because it lists for only $279 and focuses as close as 6.4 inches. I also consider its relatively short focal length to be an advantage, because I have been taking floral closeups of my hybrid zinnias by using my wife's Kodak Z712 IS and I noticed that I get more depth of field at its shorter zoom settings and less at its more telephoto zoom settings. I realize that limited depth of field lets you throw unwanted background out of focus, but I also notice that not enough depth of field is a frequent problem with closeup pictures. That shows up in this recent picture of one of my hybrid zinnias. The petals toward the front of the flower are in reasonably sharp focus, while the petals toward the back of the flower are in soft focus. The 40mm-2-8G-Micro-NIKKOR has the shortest focal length of the Micro NIKKORs, and hopefully the deepest depth of field capability. It does not have image stabilization, and I will be saving my pennies to buy the longer focal length 85mm f/3.5G AF-S DX ED VR Micro Nikkor because the VR (vibration reduction) indicates that it does have image stabilization. I agree with LazyPup that the Nikkor AF-S DX VR 55-300 f/4.5-5.6 6G ED that you mention would be difficult to handhold at it longer zoom settings, even with its VR feature. "...because I want to get up much closer than the 18-55 lens it came with." The Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens will focus as close as 11 inches throughout that entire zoom range. At 55mm that gives you a pretty good closeup at 11 inches. The minimum focus distance of the AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR is 4.6 feet. I'm not sure that is going to get you any closer than the lens you have on your camera, although it is a good lens, and would give you considerably more telephoto capability than you now have. ZM (not associated with any product or vendor mentioned or linked)

Nice work by lazypup! One other way to think of it is to equate what the camera sensor sees to how the human eye sees: Think of shutter speed as how quickly you blink your eyelid. A quick blink is like a fast shutter speed like 1/1000 of a second. With a quick blink you hardly expose your retina to the image you are looking at. A longer gaze where you stare at an object would equate to a slower shutter speed like 1/30th of a second. Think of aperture as being related to the size of the pupil in your eye. A wide open or dilated pupil is like a low f-stop number (a more open lens aperture), it lets a lot of light through to the sensor. A pinpoint-sized or very small pupil is like a high f-stop number (small lens aperture opening), it lets little light through to the eye's retina or to the camera's sensor. In the daytime in bright sun, your pupil will naturally decrease in diameter/size. It's trying to not overexpose your retina to bright sunlight, it's like using f-stop settings toward one end of the scale, f/8 to f/16. At night when light is limited, your pupil will open up wide to let light in, like a camera's f-stop settings in the f/5.6 to f/1.4 range. Think of ISO as how good your night vision is, or how well your eye or the camera's sensor sees at night. A high ISO number means you have excellent night vision capability. You might not always use the high number, but you have the capability. So a camera with a sensor that goes from ISO 100-1600 will be fine in bright light and at dusk, but in darker situations (indoor or theater photography) you'll wish your sensor was from ISO 100-6400. In general, the higher the ISO setting, the more artifacts or "digital noise" can be introduced into the picture. So you want to keep the ISO towards a lower number when able. Just because you can see at night, it doesn't mean the picture will be perfectly clear. One other thing, it is relative: ISO 1600 on a camera with a 100-1600 range will be grainier or noisier than 1600 on a camera with a 100-6400 range. The closer you get to the highest ISO setting your camera offers the more likelier you are to get noise. It's not a hard rule, just a guideline. You can still use a camera's flash to illuminate what you are photographing, much like a person would use a flashlight to see better at night. But a sensor with a high ISO rating allows flashless photography in low-light situations. Plus, a camera's flash can only illuminate so far out in front of the camera. At an indoor graduation ceremony you'll want to be in the front row to effectively use a flash. With a high-ISO camera you could be in the rear of the auditorium and still get nice shots with no flash. These three things; shutter speed, aperture or f/stop, and ISO, can be thought of as sort of making up the three corners of photography. There's fluidity between the three, shooting one of your camera's manual or priority modes allows you to vary things as needed for what you are shooting. Like lazypup wrote, shooting outdoor sports you'd want a fast shutter speed (a quick blink of the eye) so the fast moving athletes won't be blurred. A fast shutter speed limits the amount of light that gets to the sensor. So you can increase the amount of light that gets to the sensor by using a lower number aperture setting like f/4 or f/2.8, and an ISO setting like like ISO 200 or 400. In bright sun you could be ISO 200 for example, if there are clouds, the 400. These are just theoretical numbers mind you, not real-world specifics. If I'm in bright sun shooting outdoor scenery for vacation photos, I can have a low ISO number to maximize photo quality like ISO 100, a smaller aperture opening (smaller opening means higher numbered setting) like f/14 to maximize depth of field so everything in the photo, from foreground to background, is in focus. Then whatever shutter speed is required to make the desired ISO and f/stop work. Shooting indoor theater I want flashless photography. There is some motion on stage, maybe a little dance here and there, so I can use a somewhat slower shutter speed like 1/200th of a second to keep the moving actors from blurring, a sort of medium blink of the eye. I still need more light though, so I'll open up the eye's pupil with a wider aperture setting like f/2.8, and I'll give the sensor better "night vision" by increasing the ISO to a higher number like 800 or 1200. If I'm taking photos of a non-moving sleeping baby in a quiet room, blur really isn't an issue, so I can use a slower shutter speed of 1/60th of a second to let light in. I can use a medium-ish ISO like 400, and I can open up the aperture with f/5.6. All of the above are sort of wags of numbers to try to convey the idea of how the three things can be adjusted to compensate for what you are trying to shoot. The thing you'll find is that based on what you are shooting, one of the three things will be prioritized. Fast moving athletes might lead you to prioritize shutter speed to control blur. I might shoot in "S" mode to prioritize shutter. Shooting your child on stage in a school play might lead you to open the aperture wide open to maximize light to the camera's sensor. I might shoot in "A" mode to prioritize aperture. Lazypup said he'd write about depth of field, that can be an important criteria that leads to using a certain f-stop or aperture setting. So lots of variable. But you only learn by shooting, analyzing your shots, and trying different settings. The "delete" button is one of the beauties of digital photography.

Search in the Photography forum and you'll get plenty of answers. In the mean time, I'll try to give you my 2 cents worth. Cameras are like cars. There's a maker for each person's individuality. 1st, You'd need to determine what is his level of photography knowledge? In any brand, there's intermediate, medium and professional level cameras. If he's a pro, you may just want to ask him what he'd like. A pro knows what he wants and mostly will not settle with just anything. If he's not, most intermediate and medium level cameras has both features: auto focus and manual focus. They're made for those that want to grow and learn about photography beyond autofocus features. 2nd, Does he owns any previous 35mm camera lens? Would these lens capable to be mounted on the new DSLR body? Such brand as Canon has been a favorite for many because of its interchangeable lens. Meaning, we can invest into the more expensive lens knowing that if we ever upgrade the camera, the old lens would still work with the new camera body as well. I have a few that I owned from the mid 80's and still work very well with the new DSLR. 3rd, The camera body and weight must feel comfortable in one's hand. It makes a different with the result of a photo. If all possible, take him to a camera store and let him play around, ask questions and make a choice of the Digital SLR (DSLR). Then, go online and purchase from one of the reputable online store. Normally, their prices are less expensive. Watch out for import (gray market) vs. US warranty cameras (price varies). Personally, I've always owned Canon. I had several Canon 35mm cameras and had since upgraded to digital: from the Canon Rebel XT to currently the Canon 40D (had it for a little over a month). As mentioned, I have a few lens from the 35mm cameras that works well with both DSLRs. I've upgraded to the Canon 40D because it has some image stabilizer built into the camera. Although, Canon also makes some lens with Image Stabilizer (IS). The lens kit of the Canon 40D camera comes with a 28-135mm lens that has the IS feature (mainly in the US). I don't plan to upgrade the camera body for a long while. I'm quite satisfied with the Canon 40D. Instead, I'm investing on better lens. And, that's what I'd recommend for you to do. If money is not an object, buy a medium price range camera but invest the rest on a good lens with low aperture capability such as f/2.8 or less. Good lens give the flexibility to take crispy clear photos in low light situation. I strongly recommend to read reviews from the 2 websites that Susan posted above. They also has forums in categories of camera brands. You may find some useful information from the users. Good Luck! Natalie