D5300

The D5100 and D5200 offer similar image quality to the D3100 and D3200 (respectively). Here, your extra money goes towards a very useful articulating screen. If you’re taking a self-portrait, flip it out so you can make sure you’re not cutting off your own head. It also allows you to hold the camera low to the ground or over your head while still seeing the screen. The D5200 and D5300 provide a big megapixel increase over the D5100—jumping from 16 megapixels to 24 megapixels, and that megapixel increase does improve overall image quality. The D5300 ($800 new, $600-$700 used) is the first camera in the Nikon lineup to offer Wi-Fi and GPS. The Wi-Fi is fun but will probably never help you take a better quality picture. The GPS is very useful for those who travel with their camera, because it helps you find your pictures by browsing them on a map (if you use Lightroom or another app that organizes photos by GPS data). For landscape or wildlife photographers, the GPS data can help you find your way back to a spot, so you can shoot the same location at a different time of year.