April 19, 2012 at 2:41 PM ET
Nikon's D3100, released last year, was a great option for new photographers looking at buying a DSLR. An upgraded version, the D3200, was announced Thursday, with a number of significant improvements.
It's not much different to look at, but the changes are actually pretty serious. Most importantly, there's a new APS-C sensor that's capable of a whopping 24 megapixels in stills and 1080p movies at 30fps. More megapixels doesn't always mean a better picture, but it usually doesn't hurt. And along with the higher-resolution images, the D3200 improves the speed of burst shooting to 4fps.
Its 3-inch rear LCD has been improved, too: it has four times the pixels of the old one. This makes a huge difference in reviewing your shots and framing them in live view mode. It's still fixed in place, though, so no flipping it around or tilting it to get a high or low shot.
The camera adds support for a Wi-Fi unit, which can be used to send your photos to a paired Android device (iOS support coming in the fall). Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi add-on sticks out from the side of the camera and you won't be able to close the ports door while it's in use.
The D3200 will cost $699.95 with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, starting a little later in the month. The WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter will ship in May for $59.95.
Devin Coldewey is acontributing writer for msnbc.com. His personal website iscoldewey.cc.
