We have seen some people asking for advice on the best lens for the Nikon d3100 for wildlife. Although we have been busy, we finally ended up with a few hours spare and decided to use it to publish this article to cover the lenses that we feel are best to capturing high-quality photographs of wildlife with your d3100.
As the d3100 is more of an entry-level camera, we will be focusing on lenses within a suitable price range for our article. That said, you can click here if you want to see a full list of lenses that offer a decent zoom range for wildlife photography and will fit directly on your d3100 camera mount. That list is pretty extensive and covers lenses across a large number of price ranges too.
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The Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Zoom Lens
It is without a doubt one of the most popular Nikon lenses out there and has managed to earn thousands of independent reviews online (click here to read some of them) from third-party photographers sharing their experiences with the lens. Being a solid zoom lens that provides you with a telephoto zoom range ensures that you are able to use it in a massive number of wildlife photography situations to ensure that you are always ready to capture a great photograph no matter the conditions.
Additionally, the Nikon 70-300mm will fit directly onto your d3100 camera body making it quick and easy to mount the lens on your camera if you have been using a different lens but an unexpected opportunity presents itself. The photographs below offer some great examples of the image quality that the lens is able to provide you.


One thing that we would like to point out is that the low light performance of the lens has received a little criticism over the years but you can try using a quicker shutter speed and mounting your camera on a decent tripod in low light conditions to help improve its performance. The vibration reduction technology on the lens performs very well and helps to reduce the vibration detection of the lens when used without a tripod or monopod and produce sharper images for you.
All in all, if you are looking to pick up a great little all in one lens that is perfect for wildlife photography then the Nikon 70-300mm is probably the lens for you. It’s not going to break the bank while also providing a great level of image quality that actually beats the image quality offered by some higher priced lenses on the market.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
Click Here To Check For Prices On This Product!
The video below offers an additional third-party, independent review for the Nikon 70-300mm to offer our readers an independent opinion of the product.
The Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Lens
That said, the build quality of the lens is actually much higher than you would expect for the price tag and all of the core functionality that you would want from a lens for wildlife photography comes as standard. Again, the lens attaches directly to the lens mount on your Nikon d3100 camera body with minimal effort and its telephoto focal length ensure it is usable in a the vast majority of wildlife photography situations that may come up.

The Nikon 55-200mm has the same low light issues as its big brother above but again, our advice for this lens is exactly the same. If you are planning on trying to photograph animals in low light conditions with your d3100 then try mounting it on a tripod and using a quicker shutter speed on your camera for better image quality.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
Click Here To Check For Prices On This Product!
The video below offers an additional third-party, independent review for the Nikon 55-200mm to offer our readers an independent opinion of the product.
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2 Of The Best Zoom Lenses For Nikon D3100 Cameras!
2 Of The Best Intervalometers For Nikon D3100 Cameras!
2 Of The Best Portrait Lenses For Nikon D3100 Cameras!
Image Licensing
Shared under Creative Commons – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Martin Pettitt – Colchester Zoo, Wolves – https://flic.kr/p/iQqQvD
Lenny K Photography – For this Koala life is easy – https://flic.kr/p/nHvvzw
Derek – Toronto Zoo 140 – https://flic.kr/p/5hYH3P