I'm about to buy a DSLR camera and i'm not sure which one?

Ok so I have been wanting to get into photography for a while and now I have finally saved up enough money. The two cameras i have been looking at are the nikon d3200 and the nikon d5100 I have actually held the d3200 but not the 5100 I'm not sure which to choose and I would like some of your opinions. Any help would be great!

I had the canon t4i and it was great with pictures If you are only looking for pictures but the auto focus on video was terrible! My sister has a Nikon and the picture wasn't as great but the video was a lot better! Id suggest buying the cheaper of the two because if you want to get even semi serious (or take any night pictures, light painting is awesome! ) then you are gonna need a tripod, remote shutter release, a camera bag, memory card, and youlk probably want to get another lens aside from the kit lens.

1. D3200 has a newer sensor and higher pixel count.So, you will get a very sharp images

2. The D5100 has a tilt screen( i think its very helpful when you are in live mode )

3. D5100 has more buttons on it…

4. D3200 needs a bigger memory card to store the larger files because of his higher mega pixel count

D3200 is a new and upgraded one, so try to have an hand on it…

My Suggestion - if you are looking for D5100 why don't you look at D5200?

You will get higher mega pixel count as D3200 and a tilt screen as D5100

-D3200 advantages:
1) 24 megapixel sensor.
2) easy to use.
3) better color depth.
4) high resolution screen.
5) better fps in movie mode (24, 25, 30fps in 1080p / 60 and 50fps in 720p)

-D5100 advantages:
1) flip out screen.
2) higher ISO boost (but you won't be needing it because the photo won't be usable due to the noise).
3) high resolution screen.
4) in camera HDR.

- Common weakness between both of them:
1) not weather sealed.
2) no internal focus motor.
3) few focus points.
4) I don't think that they have PTP ability, you can't tether live on your PC.
5) They are both entry-level DSLRs.

If you are able to afford the D5200 it would be better than both.
It has the high resolution with 6000x4000 image size. A flip out screen and almost the same options in movie mode. In camera HDR and 39 focus points with 9 cross type (the other two cameras have 11 focus points with 1 cross type). They are both Entry-level cameras so don't expect that superb image quiality and color depth such as a d7000 or a Canon 7D or higher full frame models. You can achieve decent results with these cameras if you handle them and you were able to use them in a good way so you have to read about photography basics and learn about it.

Why not try some Canon cameras such as the rebel t3i you may like it.

If you are stuck with these cameras and have no choice, if you don't care about the flip screen then go for the D3200. They are both almost the same but the D3200 is newer and has more megapixel count which may come in handy.

Hope I helped, best of luck!

Get the most expensive you can afford. The better the camera, the easier it is to shoot if you know exactly what you are doing.

D3200 now and upgrade after 2-3 years to mid-range Nikon once you are certain where your photography is taking you.

D3200 + better lens, funded from the difference in money, will serve you better than D5100 and kit lens.

My first ever SLR is D3100 and I upgraded to D5100 but I learned that they recently launch D5200 so I was frustrated because D5200 offers 51 focus points which I really need. So if you can afford D5200 then go get it or D7100.

Both the cameras are of same category, there's not much difference in them apart of some features such as d3200 is 24.2MP due to which it has higher resolution and it capture around 50% more detail in your photos.
D3200 Distinguishes 0.6 more bits of color than D5100 and
It has 20% less delay when turning on

There's a good article here by a professional photographer, see how's his experience on the camera:

http://www.amazon.com/...4IBQEIWDQ/

I will suggest you to go for D3200 since it is more portable too and it is available in red color as well which looks much classy