I bought this camera as both a replacement for my beloved N90s 35mm film camera and as an upgrade from my Nikon Coolpix 5700.

All my old Nikon lenses fit (yay!) but of course, the sensor size means that I have to mentally recalculate the 35mm equivalent when choosing a lens.

My only complaint (and this might be a problem with the lens rather than the camera) is that in very cold weather (-10 C) after taking a few shots the camera would stop working and flash "err" on the LCD panel. Removing and reinserting the battery would fix the issue.

In almost every lighting situation the camera excels. The autofocus is very rapid and very accurate: for one shot I was able to turn the camera on, roughly aim at a distant hawk (100 m) and snap a shot with out even thinking. The photo was worth nothing artistically speaking but it was in sharp focus.

As usual with a camera of this level there are numerous manual controls - more than enough to get yourself into trouble. But there are some great pre-sets built-in. One of my favourites is the "no flash" option - but the "fully automatic" is ideal when you need a point-and-shoot user to take a picture for you.

It took me a long time to make up my mind to buy a Nikon DSLR. One feature that I'd been waiting for was the sensor-cleaning. I did not want to have to clean the sensor manually; and I'm not a pro so spending more than $1000 on a camera was out of the question.

Another gripe is that Nikon does not include a wireless IR remote with the camera! I resented having to spend another $30 to get it (it's worthwhile - wait until *you* need to take some fireworks pictures).

Basically this camera will take great pictures - now it's up to you to use it properly. Read the manual.