What do you think of Nikon D40..?

Question

im thinking of buying it and using it for photography purposes... im technically an amateur but ive been taking pictures for a while (dont EVEN ask what ive been using lol)... but anyway, im serious about buying a good camera within the next month so i need some advice on this one...
thanx :)

Answer 1

This is a light-weight camera, small, and nice prices.

However, the only thing i don't like about this camera is that you can not use it with the AF which does not have a motor inside it for autofocus. That means, when you use D40 with those lenses, you have to manually focus. Which will hurt your eyes and break your heart at the end when you see your object is out of focus, espcially at night!

There are some cheap and good telephoto lens from the third party brand, e.g. Sigma, Tamron. And most of them don't have a AFS features. Therefore, you need to buy a AFS lens from Nikon, which may cost you above $500 USD.

Other things is that this camera does not have a small panel, which is called the LCD status, on the top right, display the information on exposure of the pictures, such as aperture, speed, number of pictures taken, etc. Therefore, it would be uncomfortable to prepare the exposure for the next picture.

D40 has a shorter life of battery since it can only accept the 1000mAh batteries, in contrast to the 1400mAh of D50

I think, you know, just my personal opinion, D50 would be a better choice than D40, since it has a number of functions, features that you may think necessary for photography, as the beginer.

The information about D40 can be found clearry and reliably on the most trusted website on reviewing DSLR cameras: www.dpreview.com

Here is the review of D40: http://dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40/
Here is the review of D50: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond50/

Good luck

Answer 2

The D40 is a great little camera, very easy to use and quite reasonably priced. It will get you in the Nikon family which is a great place to be. If you buy accessories and lenses, you will be able to use everything on any Nikon that you might upgrade to later on.

Here are a few reviews, in case you have not read them yet. Be sure to note that they are several pages long and some of the reviews also have some sample images that you can look at.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_reviews/nikon_d40.html
http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3756/camera-test-nikon-d40.html
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/d40-recommendations.htm

Thienkhiem is correct about the autofocus "problem" with older Nikon lenses, but if you do not own a bag full of older lenses, it is not going to be a problem.

Answer 3

just had it in order and will get it in 2 days, i have done a lot of research on it in the last week or so and have found it to be the perfect entry level SLR. I use to have a film SLR and find this to be a very attractively price DSLR with all the functions i might need as an amateur. But instead of getting th kit lens, i splurge on the hot 18-200mm nikon lens.

Answer 4

i like it!