In the question Canon or Nikon,the answer is what suits you better.
Dont be a consumer and master your camera first, before the next upgrade :)
In low light conditions canons are better than nikons.
Thats why canon is the primary choice in astrophotography.

I think better stick with d3100 for a while before I fully master the manual funtion.
Or wait for next generation DSLR come out.

Emma, how do you know I "always" hiding behind bush with my Insect repellent to
capture girl photo?!?!?!? :)

Answer to your questions :

1. Depends on your budget and needs actually. The D90 is one of Nikon's all-time
best models. It's discontinued now, so prices are quite cheap, around RM2,600 to
RM2,800 range
for kit set.

If you're willing to spend more, then the latest D7000 is probably the best semi-pro
DSLR on the market at the moment. It has a very good sensor that takes superb
pictures in low light with minimal noise. Price is around RM3,600 for body only, and
RM4,300 for kit set.

If you're millionaire, you can get pro models like D700 or D3x, which range from
RM6,500 to RM15,000 for body only (!). Lenses for this range (called FX line) are
much more expensive. Haha.

Anyway, don't bother with D5000 or D5100, they're quite similar to what you already
have and not worth it. My recommendation would be either the D90 or D7000.

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2. Close up picture you should get a dedicated macro lens. Got quite a few options
out there, you can check out under the 'macro' sections of all brands here :

http://www.mylensdb.com/sitemap/

This site is quite helpful, there are prices there, so you know roughly how much it is.
For zoom lens, I would recommend Nikon's new 55-300mm, quite cheap, around
RM1,100. It's not a dedicated bird lens, more like a general purpose one, so you can
use for everything (including hiding in a bush and zoom in on a girl).

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3. All cameras should be able to support any lense. I believe Nikon has a 800mm
lens. They're quite rare though, you probably won't find it in shops around here.
Not sure how much though, but probably costs as much as a car.

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4. Photoshop? You can get the software at Prangin Mall or 1-Stop.

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Yeah, the price nowadays means everybody can afford a DSLR. Even teenage school
girls.

Both brands (Nikon and Canon) are equally good. It just depends on brand loyalty
and marketing/advertising. Canon is more aggresive in promotions, so that's why
you see alot of consumers using it.

Image quality-wise, both are roughly the same. But overall, Nikon has a very slight
edge in dynamic range, color and quality. Which is why I've stuck with it all these
while.

Just came back from langkawi and nice to see falcon and darby737 posted additional
advice for tamron. The bad news for me when I arrived in langkawi, I broke my nikon
lense. So for the whole trip I only using my tramron lense. At 1st I wanna buy a
new lense tomorrow but after read some of your post I decide to use my current
D3100 for time being then give it to my cousin soon. Tamron lense did well than
nikon 18~50 lense, at least I no need to get close to take insert marco picture. This
camera really good for me because some pictures I cant capture with my compact
camera, I can do all in nikon. :)

My question :

1. If I wanna upgrade nikon body, what is your Recommendation?

2. I like to take close up picture (insert) and long range picture (bird perhaps UFO if I
meet one :) Whast is your recommendatin for close range and long range lense and
body?

3. Any camera can support above 700mm lense? Any suitable models?(if the prices
above usd15k, to be honest I cant afford it. But half of the price.......................)

4. Where to download the photo shop?

about myself and cameras: I was using the film camera (kodak) since 1989 followed
by a few cameras, then using the fuji F10 6.3mega pixels 2004 or 2005 (the prices
almost same like my current D3100). That model can capture nice picture like current
dslr but the problem : the Lcd screen like to turn purple color... can I say the word
XXcX XOX FUJI !!! Forgot to mention before fuji I got a few cameras, one of the
camera is kodak which store picture to 1.44 floppy disk. One 1.44 only can store
12~16 pictures. Because many time the camera screwed me I give up and go for
video cam until now. That model I'm still using until today,===>"SONY DCR-
HC20E"<===.


The reason I buy DSLR recently:
1. my reporter friend who using nikon 90d keep telling me "nikon can do this, can do
that. Like nikon can do everything on this earth but still cant find him a girlfriend.

2. During my trip to shanghai I saw a lot of chinaman using canon DSLR. Thailand,
burma, vietnam, taiwan even in cambodia,,WTF,,,,, mostly canon. hmmm,, jackie chan
commercial power? I wonder why I using and addicted to nikon :)

3. The DSLR price now almost same like <2005 high end compact camera
price. ...............Air Asia commercial slogan "everybody can fly now", but for
me "everybody can own DSLR now". The price is just fine and the quality is nice for
everybody. I wish I born after 20 years so I got more time to play DSLR. But I still
love my sony video cam. :)

ah, well i'm to tired right now emma long day and food deprived body slowly going to sleep xD

Van, i'll look at the ttf forums and get my links from there bring them here.

Emma i've also taken to listing the technical aspects of the photo on there too so it'll
be good i got a few i will put in right now just need to upload them.

Ah Vanity, I see what you mean, and agree on that. It wouldn't be very worthwhile
to upgrade one model up. The features aren't that much different anyway.

I would only advocate upgrading if you're getting a model that is 3 or 4 steps up,
and at least 2 generations newer. Like going from the 20D to a 60D or 7D. You
would really see the difference in performance.

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Falcon, well, I suppose it wouldn't be a problem posting more than 1 photo.
Was only worried that if we all dumped in everything at once, the thread would die
pretty soon. Lol.

Neither of my (currently working) pc's have my photo's on them... need to get a new
cpu and mobo lol.

none of the links on the ttf forum seem to be active anymore either :(

van, post in the picture a day thread kthx bye...i have a few photo's that i did today
which i edited a bit but I WANT TO POST ONE >.< emma needs to make it more then one post a
day...i could fill the thread!

Edit:

For panarama's van, you have to make a suttle movement to the edge of the frame so that
you can nail it down. Most cameras have a built in panarama setting.

I would be very wrong to say upgrading the body is not worth it ever, but just
sometimes I found that a better lens gave me better quality than a newer body.

Particularly with Canon - the difference between the 20D and 30D was negligible, yet
there was quite a price difference - enough for me to buy a F1.4 50mm lens!

Whereas if I had already had a 20D and was going to buy a 30D new, then the
opportunity cost (economics ftw) was an L grade lens or a couple of decent standard
lenses.

The panorama issue you mentioned is probably geometric distortion. Do your
images appear 'pinched' towards the edges?

Like when you point your camera up at a tall building, you'll see that it gradually
narrows to the top. And when you're trying to stitch some images together, it can be
quite pronounced and a real pain.

Luckily, Photoshop's merge function also has a distortion corrector, which fixes the
problem to a certain extent. Not sure if the program you're using has it though.

As for body, I feel they're equally important as the lens. Simply because some of the
sensors on entry-level bodies can't maximize a high-end lens' optical abilities. For
me, the optimum combo would be a 'prosumer' body, like the Canon 7D or Nikon
D7000, paired with a reasonably good lens.