[meejay]

Originally Posted by jeniferdwn

Yep, the 18-55 (or similar) comes with the camera and I bought the 55-200 so I could take pics outside and of my daughters softball games. I have 2 kids and it is great for sports, swimming etc. I've taken closeups inside, closeups outside, pics of swimming, softball, night pics, etc. My dd9 uses it too and it's simple enough that I can ask someone else to take a pic of our family and they have no trouble using it. I have also used the self timer although it took me a few times to figure it out. We were really laughing by the time we got it to work. The only thing is changing the lens for different shots. One day......long time from now.....I would like to get the all in one lens, but it's about $800 and I cannot afford that with 2 kids in summer/afterschool care. Oh and make sure its the VR lens. Dh saw the 3100 a couple weeks after he bought mine and wished he'd seen that one before Chrsitmas! I'm definatly not a professional or anything, just someone who's hobby is taking lots and lots of pics of my family, pets and kids for my scrapbooks. I'll be glad to answer any questions I can. First vacation with the new camera is this weekend. I'll be taking pics of mountains and I'll let you know how it works.

ETA: I found a nice camera bag at Best Buy that holds the camera, extra lens, power cord, my keys, snacks for kids etc for around $35. They had one made just for that camera, but it was around $65.

We also the 55-200 Nikon and it's nice to get some further away shots. I second the VR recommendation. We also got the cheaper camera bag, and we have a backpack one that we use when DH shoots races that carries video cameras too.