The competition
The D5100’s positioning and current pricing gives it two main competitors: the Canon EOS 600D and the Sony Alpha 55.
Canon’s EOS 600D currently sells for around £50 less than the D5100 and has a very similar specification, even offering a 3in vari-angle screen.
Its sensor is a more populated 18-million-pixel unit, but it offers a slightly slower 3.7fps burst rate and just nine AF points.
It also misses out on the top Hi2 ISO setting of 25,600.
Sony’s Alpha 55 is just £20 less than the D5100 and uses the same 16-million-pixel sensor as the Nikon model.
However it features a translucent mirror and electronic viewfinder that allow fast burst rates of up to 10fps, plus 15 AF points with three cross-type points.
