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1. If you know what you want to capture and how to do so better than the average picture taker, use aperture priority.
2. Using a tele lens of effective focal length of 85-120, fill the frame with the subject, using shallow depth of field to further blur the background. If you don't have a tele, don't attempt to do this by going closer, crop while processing.
3. Set the camera to continuous mode, to give you a choice of facial impressions that you may miss in single shot.
4. Let the eyes be the point of focus, the nearer eye if both are not the same distance away and if the lens is wide open.
5. Use natural light at a 45 degree frontal direction for interesting play of shadows on the face.
6. If the d3100 has the feature, play around with the retouch menu, particularly the filter effects like soft focus.
Flash can be used if you have the capability and ability to bounce it. If not, avoid it, using a fast lens in natural light and higher ISO.
Google Portrait photography to know more.

D7100 body is the no brainer upgrade, unless you want to move to FX format.

. Aperture priority is best, so that you can get the DOF you want
. Use flash for filling in, best used as bounce off at an angle
Here are some useful links
http://digital-photography-school.com/portraitlighting/
http://digital-photography-school.co...mily-portraits

Only the 7xxx series have motors in the body in the current DX sensor bodies, as well as the FF bodies - D300, D700, D600 and D800. The least cost option is the D7100, followed by D600 if you want FF.

Thanks Sawyer and Roy saab,

True, both of your recommendations make perfect sense but d7100 is almost 70K. How about the D90, it does not have the 51 AF points, but has the AF motor and decent low light capabilities. The D3100 is pathetic at low light, anything over ISO 200 and the noise kills the photo.

nikonrumors mentions that D610 might be out anytime and that will make the price of D600 go down. Then I can move to the D600 provided the sensor oil/dust issue is over.

D600 is a much better buy, and it sells as low as 1.09L in Delhi. For sheer dynamic range only D800 beats the D600, and its low light performance is much better than D7100. The plus points of D7100 are faster frame rate, faster flash synch. Otherwise both the cameras are similar expect for one being DX while other is FX.

Here are some comparisons
http://photographylife.com/nikon-d7100-vs-d600
http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/compari...slrs/index.htm

Thanks for the advice folks!

I had seen J.J.Mehta's website long back but was not aware of the forum. Thanks for the info!

Thanks Aroy, sachinj12, sridhu and SPARKled!! I have passed on the details to my colleague. Hope he invests in a new camera.

I am joining the mirrorless bandwagon and want to sell my 3+ year old Canon 1000D + 18-55mm Kit lens (with less than 5000 clicks). What should be the expected price i can get? Rough ideas. New 1100D with 18-55mm Mark II is available for 22-23K, i think

On a similar note to the above post, how much should I pay for a 2 yr old Nikon D90 body that has a shutter count of around 25k. The seller is quoting 23.5K and my next option would be picking up a new D5100 then. Any suggestions are welcome.

P.S. I'm new to DSLRs but kind of have my basics right with a bridge cam.

How do I clean sensor dust? I am too faint hearted to do it myself and would like to give it to professional services. How much do they charge? Are they worth it? How long does it take? And where do i take the camera to?

The 600 with the fix for this is the 610.
You could look at the d7000 too, it is still a very capable DX format camera, and a good deal now, post the 7100 introduction. There should be used 7000 bodies in the market now as well.

1.Remove lens in a closed non-dusty room , Keep the camera facing down.
2. Go to Menu and choose manual cleaning , Mirror goes up and locks.
3. Blow few puffs of air with blower keeping nozzle at the rim of the mount.

Click a picture of blue sky or white wall and if there are no dust specks no need to proceed further. If the dust persists , take a call if you can proceed further else go to Canon/Nikon service centre. If you want to do DIY go to step 4.

4. Take a clean soft nylon brush example make-up brush if is important that brush is made of nylon and not natural hair( wash with distilled water and dry in closed cabinet) . If you can find a sensor cleaning brush that will be best.
,Try pulling the bristles with your fingers and check if the bristles are not falling off, Art brushes are poor choice due to this reason.

Blow few puffs of air using a blower on brush to electrically charge it , The bristles should start clinging to each other.

Move the charged brush on sensor in one direction couple of times.

Ideally your dust should go with this dry cleaning step so again click a picture and check.

If dust is sticky then you need to do wet cleaning , Again decide if you really want to do DIY or not.

5. Wet Cleaning :

Take a plastic knife and chop the top to make it flat. Take a lens cleaning paper fold in to 4 and wrap on the tip such that flat shape is retained.
Apply rubber band and secure the lens paper. Make sure your lens paper does not leave lint.

Apply a drop of Eclipse sensor cleaner ( pure Methyl alcohol) and clean the sensor with this from one side to another , make sure that you move the paper only once on the surface.

Note : Pure methyl alcohol is very difficult to find in market what you mostly get is ethyl alcohol ( proof spirit) or Iso-propyl alcohol , Medicated spirit is not to be used on sensor because it has water and it leaves streaks .
Isopropyle alcohol is better and it is used as cleaner for many electronics items but I am not too sure about suitability on sensors.
I will suggest first try on a CD to check if it is leaving streaks or not.

So if you can get get Eclipse solution as you are getting 99.9% pure Methyl alcohol.

Suppose your experiment fails do not fret it will still be good learning. Take it to A.S.S Canon charges just 1200 Rupees for sensor cleaning lol:

BTW Service centres use cellotape to lift lint and dust and if you see them cleaning your heart will sink.

I am going to sell my D90 and upgrade to a D7100. Feed up waiting for the D400, not even a hint. Is Rs. 20-22k ok for a 3+ yrs,; 30-35k shutter count body? Still works like new, but I am impatient to upgrade :)

The other option is D800e which can take care of wildlife (compromise, even if I shoot on Dx or 1.2x mode) and nature (the very best camera for such use).

Go for the D7100 it still gives you an excellent 15MP 2x crop which IMHO is invaluable for nature and wildlife. I have struggled a lot with reach on my D800E. Also the huge files are a pain to process. I would have surely got a D7100 had it been available when I bought my D800E. Will eventually buy it when it goes down in price.

That 80-400 suddenly sounds like a mouthwatering stabilized 160-800 with 15MP on that subject.

The D90 should easily go for around 20k.

The D7100 has denser pixel pitch, compared to the D800, so per area of image on the sensor you will get more pixels. For wild life where you can rarely fill the sensor frame it is a boon.

Unless you can afford Super Telephoto Lens a crop sensor is always better to get that reach, and with 24MP sensor that is more than enough.

I was looking to sell my 4 year old Nikon D60 + my collection of lenses, an 18-55mm VR Kit lens, a 55-200mm VR Zoom, and a 35mm f1.8 prime. Any idea how much I should quote for this set. I am hoping to get around 24-25k.

True. But the buffer sucks in RAW, even with a ExtremePro card.

With the D800e the cost of reach goes up exponentially.

Btw, here's one with the venerable D90: