If you’re tired of trying to capture beautiful photographs or videos with your smartphone, want more out of your photos, and are interested in learning the ins and outs of how a camera’s settings can affect the image you end up with—that’s where a Digital SLR like the D3300 comes in.
Digital SLR have much larger imaging sensors than point-and-shoots and smartphones (which means better performance with less light, and being able to capture a wider range of lights and dark's in a single image), have more manual controls (which let you choose how your photos will look), and have the versatility of interchangeable lenses for different subjects (which means more options for capturing the shots you want). They also let you use high-power flashes so you can control your lighting conditions, and most Digital SLR today can even record impressive High Definition video footage—better than your old camcorder—with external microphones for a soundtrack that matches your images. Digital SLR even give you more options after you’re done shooting, since they can record what’s known as “Raw” images, a larger type of file that stores more data than a JPEG, which you can edit with Photoshop, Light-room, or other image editing software to get the best photos possible.