December 14, 200718 yr Hi, I was going to buy this digital slr camera, I'm pretty much a novice so I wanted some opinions on this and know if it is good for a beginner. It's called a Nikon D40 SLR 6MP 18-55 Lens Digital Camera. I just thought to ask here because I see that lots of people do photography here. Here are some stats from the catalogue that I'm buying it from: Design/style: Compact and Lightweight. 6.1m pixels. 3 x optical zoom. 2.5in colour LCD screen. 2.5 frames per second. In-camera red eye fix. CCD size 23.7 x 15.6mm. Lens mount - Nikon. AF-S DX zoom Nikkor 18-55mm lens included. 68 other lenses available but not all have full AF capability with D40. Image stabilization. SD memory card compatible up to 4GB capacity. No internal memory. Video output - NRSC or PAL (selectable). ISO range - 200 - 1600 plus boost to 3200. 8 scene modes. PictBridge compatible. View finder. USB connection. Accessories included in box - battery, charger, USB cable, rubber eyecup, camera strap, body cap, eyepiece cap, accessory shoe cap. Rechargeable Li-Ion battery provided. Weight 475g (body). Size: (H)9.4, (W)12.6, (D)6.4cm. I was also going to get a high speed sd card with it too. I chose this one because it was the cheapest at ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã319.99 and I'm on a pretty tight budget. And because I'm just starting to take photography seriously. So what do you think? Thank you ☢ CAUTION ☢ CAUTION ☢ CAUTION ☢ CAUTION ☢
December 14, 200718 yr I know that camera- it's a Nikon D40. I love that camera. Am I right about the model? I should post some of my pics I took with it, but I'm at school now. Edit: Oops, I didn't read the whole post. A good practice, that. Yes. Get it. It's worth it.
December 14, 200718 yr :mrgreen: Great, someone who wants to buy a new camera. The Nikon D40 is a nice camera, Ive also heard good reviews about the D40x. I have searched for some user reviews that you could use, here they are: From http://www.the-digital-picture.com/ [hide=Review1] Strengths: very cheap, very light, good value Weaknesses: no focus motor inside, noise at high ISOs, may be uncomfortable for large hands Summary: I bought this as an introduction into the dslr world, along with the 55-200 DX VR, as a set to tinker around with. One of the reasons I chose this path is that I might go for the more expensive ones later, but I want one that I can still carry around for casual use, that's light and versatile. This camera fits the bill fairly nicely. You can get some pretty good images on it, like this x66.xanga.com/a3383161... To someone entering into the digital world, this camera offers plenty to teach, and messing around with the continuous shooting and figuring out the differences between RAW and JPEG, and things like that. Lens choices are limited, and I suggest this with 5 stars that someone would use it as I would, first as a kind of trainer, and later as a backup. Using it as your only one will only take you so far, and you shouldn't depend on it to take you very far.[/hide] [hide=Review2] Strengths: -Amazing image quality, better jpg quality even than D50 -Fast shot-to-shot, no shutter lag -Small size and light weight -Very good kit lens -Great and intuitive interface Weaknesses: -Not many AF-S primes -Kit does not include a lens hood Summary: (Edited April 17th by ranes) I took the jump and went DSLR (chose it over the Canon Rebel XTi). Let me tell you, this is an amazing little camera at an amazing price just as all the reviews have said. Its size and light weight is perfect for those tired of the poor image quality of point and shoots (especially with high ISO) and are looking to move up without wanting to go to something too big. Even serious photographers have said that they love the camera as a walk-around opting to leave their bigger professional SLRs at home when not shooting for work. I love the wide angle (27mm equivalent) coverage of the kit lens compared to my previous super-zoom P&S which started at 35mm. The camera is very responsive, easy to use, and just plain fun. Some may worry about its ability to auto-focus only with AF-S and the more expensive and old AF-I mounts, but that's not really such a big deal. AF-S is the future and Nikon will undoubtedly release more AF-S lenses in the future (like the recently announced VR 55-200mm). Even then there are already many lenses from Nikon and Sigma that auto-focus with this camera. Get this camera - you will love it! . Update: After 3 months of waiting, I finally received the VR 18-200mm. Although it's heavier, about 2.5x more than the extremely light kit lens, the range and the VR are amazing! The auto-focus is also slightly faster than the kit lens. Overall, this has been a very nice combination for me. [/hide] [hide=Review3] Strengths: The lens zoom range is perfect The camera generally does what I want, and the setting can be adjusted pretty quickly if it isn't. Weaknesses: The lens is too long. I'd prefer less zoom and a shorter lens. Summary: When searching for cameras, I dismissed this product as Nikon's entry level camera, which in the past has meant "plastic toy". I was actually hunting for a used D100 and wishing I had the cash for a D80 or D200. Then reading various reviews (dpreview, kenrockwell.com), I was sold that this camera was a great value for the money. After two weeks using it, I can say from experience it is a great value for the money. I got the camera and was shooting that night without reading the manual at all. I initially used the 'icon' modes at the top of the dial, but couldn't figure out how to set up the delayed flash options. Which is fine because shooting without a flash worked so well. We were in a nice restaurant with low lighting and the photos without flash were superb--sharp, nice color balance, and the lighting felt just like a restaurant. Later after reading Ken Rockwell's (kenrockwell.com) excellent reviews and remarks on this camera, I have it set up so that it works just the way I want it without needing to use the icon modes. One note, I *dont* like the punched up color recommended by Ken Rockwell---a pic of my 6 year-old on a cloudy rainy morning had too much color in her lips and jacket. It looked like I had retouched the photo to punch up the lip redness. She's 6, I don't want her looking like a tart. My only complaint is that the lens is too long. I just like short lenses. I love the zoom range, I just wish it was about half the length. Ah, that's the tyranny of optics, I guess. I will probably save up my money and just by a wide angle. (I'd love to just have the 18mm part of the 18-55 lens). [/hide] [hide=Review4] Strengths: easy to use, outstanding quality for the price Weaknesses: Absolutely NONE.. you get what you pay for. Summary: When you pay $500 for something, you should do a little research on what it is your are buying. Anyone who is surprised by the lack of an internal motor or lack of compatibility of legacy lenses should have done their homework. This is a great camera to break into the DSLR arena. Yes, you can get a better lens, but not in this price range. That includes the Canon, Olympus and the Pentax. Ability to take clean pictures at 1600 is something you won't find in the competition. Nikon replaced the D50 for a reason. This camera is cheaper and better than the one it replaced. It is highly recommended. Read the expert reviews to make sure you know what you are getting. [/hide] [hide=Review5] Strengths: Quick focus, excellent image quality, very good feel in hands, bright display and very easy to use menus...I love this camera! Weaknesses: Lack of autofocus motor in camera, will limit what lenses can be bought. Summary: This is my first digital SLR camera. I upgraded from a Canon G2 (which was great 4 years ago) and the difference is profound. I am so impressed with the speed of this camera and the quality... I haven't been able to take a bad picture yet. As for the reviews, they all stated this camera was great and for the money, it is. If I have $500-$600 more I would have upgraded to the D80 but that is almost double what I paid for this camera... For the money and for a first time SLR purchase, this is the best. [/hide] And, some more reviews from Amazon: These are a bit less positive, though: [hide=Review1] 107 of 125 people found the following review helpful: Not for Soccer Moms, Sports Shooting, Others will Love It., February 23, 2007 By Baltimore Jack The D40 is a hard camera to rate because for some, it will be a 5 star camera, but others will regret their decision to buy this camera. If you are in the 5 star group, you will LOVE the D40. But . . . because of a decision Nikon made to save $$$ by leaving out an autofocus driver out of the camera body, if you want to add a lens to shoot your kid playing soccer, the D40 is a very bad choice, and you may be a dead man walking. Let me explain: The 5 Star buyer: If you are moving up to a digital SLR, and want nothing more than to use the kit lens (which is very good), then you will LOVE this camera: it is light, feels good in the hand, and puts out better looking JPEG files than the more expensive D70 and D50 cameras. If you intend to use this camera for general travel and around-the-house kid pictures, the D40 is a great choice, and I think you will be very, very happy. The 1 Star buyer: You want a camera for sports or telephoto shots of nature. This is not the camera for you, and here is why: the D40 has a DIFFERENT lens mount than every other Nikon DSLR which came before it. To save costs, Nikon left an autofocus driver out of the camera body, which means you must buy special/more expensive add-on lenses with the autofocus driver built into the lens itself. Why is this significant? Because of the 200 lenses made for Nikon DSLRs by Nikon, Sigma, Tokina, and others, only 20 or so work with the D40 with autofocus - something most amateurs will need to shoot sports and day to day photos. Many of Nikon's own consumer grade lenses, such as the 70-300mm G Zoom (Street price $150), will not autofocus with the D40. As a practical matter, this means that if you want an autofocus lens to shoot junior playing soccer, you must spend $525 for a zoom lens, the fantastic, yet pricey Nikon 70-300mm VR Zoom. That is almost as much as what you paid for the camera itself. The D40 is significantly limited in the number of lenses it will accept, and you really need to think about these limitations before purchasing. Moreover, what if your intentions change and want to pick up a cheap zoom for occasional use? With the D40, you can't, and I really think this is a significant limitation on this camera. But hey, if you are in group 1, this is a 5 star purchase, and you will be a very happy camper. Good luck! [/hide] [hide=Review2] 547 of 555 people found the following review helpful: Unless you are a sport journalist, I don't think you can go wrong with this camera, November 26, 2006 By Sidarta Tanu (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews The 6 Megapixel Nikon D40 is targeted for those who want a relatively compact and light camera yet having most of the important SLR features. The D40 is priced reasonably (cheaper than D50/D80 and Canon Rebel XTi). In my opinion, if you are still considering whether to get a point and shoot camera or a DSLR, the D40 will be a better choice than any point and shoot camera, by far, even those with 8MP or 10MP. But if you are already deciding to get a DSLR or you want more control of the picture taking experience, then I would recommend you to also test the D50 and/or D80 first before deciding to buy the D40. I want you to make sure that you know what you will get (and not get) with the D40. Don't get me wrong though, the D40 is an awesome camera, and I don't think you will regret buying one. There are some limitation with the D40 which shouldn't bother most people, for example, the D40 doesn't have dedicated button to change picture quality, white balance or ISO settings (which generally only professional/enthusiast will care). Once you understand (and accept) its limitation, the D40 is a potent and exciting photography machine. Just like all its (DSLR) siblings, the D40 powers on instantly and take pictures with almost no shutter lag which are the major advantages of a DSLR over a point and shoot camera. In addition to the P,S,A,M mode, the picture quality of the auto settings (auto, child mode, landscape etc) are also very good. With 2.5 frames per second you can capture movement progress in sports like football, basketball, baseball etc. Also great to photograph your family or child (child mode). The D40 is a great all around camera. Some notable new features: 1. Auto (no flash) mode. Without this mode the flash will pop-up (on all other pre-programmed mode) even when you don't want to use flash (which can be annoying). The internal flash will not pop up automatically with the P,S,A,M settings. 2. In camera editing capability such as black and white, sepia and some filter effects etc. While sounds gimmicky, these features are useful especially for those who doesn't have Adobe Photoshop (or other image editing software). To date, D40 is the smallest and lightest among all the Nikon DSLR (even smaller than the Canon Rebel XT/XTi, however the D40 is more ergonomics). I believe that choosing a camera that fits comfortably with your hands is important. Therefore, I recommend people to test the camera before buying (even if you want to buy online, please do go to a physical store and test the camera first whenever possible). The D40 has only 3 (horizontal) autofocus point (5 for D50 and 11 for D80). If you know "The Rule of Thirds", the additional AF points above and below the center focus point (available in D50 and D80) are handy to help create the horizontal third line. However, the 3 horizontal AF point in D40 is still helpful to create the vertical third line. Also one can focus with the middle AF point and after the focus is lock then move the frame upwards/downwards to create the horizontal third line. Just make sure the exposure level is still accurate when you move the frame after you lock the focus. About the 18-55mm II AF-S kit lens: A good lens producing sharp photos (though not a very fast lens). Also decent for close-up/macro photography. Lens uses internal focus technology and focusing operation is silent. A very decent kit lens. Lens compatibility: Notice that with D40, autofocus function will not work for non AF-S/AF-I lens. If you already have non AF-S/AF-I Nikon lenses and want a backup or replacement camera, you will be better off buying D50, D70s or D80. If you buy the D40, it will be convenient to stick with AF-S and AF-I type lenses. I'm not sure why Nikon choose this route for the D40 (whether to enable smaller size camera or from now on Nikon will only make AF-S lens compatible camera). There are a lot of good Nikon AF-S lenses (price range added: low, medium, high) that are fully compatible with the D40 such as: - Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX (L) - Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX (L) - Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED IF AF-S DX (L) - Nikon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX (L) - Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S DX VR (M) - Nikon 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED AF-S DX (L) - Nikon 55-200mm f4-5.6G ED AF-S DX VR (L) - Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR (M) - Nikon 12-24mm f/4G ED IF AF-S DX (M) - Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S (H) - Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX (H) - Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S (H) - Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR (H) - Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro (M) - And several other expensive prime tele/zoom lens like 200-400mm, 300m, 400mm, 500mm, 600mm. High priced lens ($1000+) are usually pro level lens which usually have better construction, faster (f-stop), and produce better quality picture. However, often times, lower price lens will serve your needs just fine. I think it is important to know what you want to use the camera for before deciding which camera and lens to buy. Image quality of the D40 is very good which is #1 factor that I look for in a digital camera. Here are the pros and cons of the D40 in my opinion: Pros: 1. Nice out of the camera result picture quality 2. Affordable price 3. Compact size and light weight 4. Large and bright 2.5 inch LCD 5. 2.5 frames per second 6. B/W, Sepia, several more in-camera editing features. 7. Instant power on, fast autofocus and no shutter lag 8. Noise is acceptable at high ISO settings. Auto ISO settings available. 9. Great 18-55mm II AF-S kit lens. 10. Great battery life (400+ on a single charge. 1000+ if flash is not used). 11. Auto (flash off) mode available 12. 1/500 flash sync Cons: 1. No direct button to change QUAL, WB and ISO settings 2. Grip comfortably but might be a bit too small for some people 3. No top LCD and no front command dial 4. Autofocus will not work with non AF-S or non AF-I lenses (such as the 70-300m G and 50mm f/1.8D lens) 5. No AF/MF switch (have to use the switch on the lens) 6. Only 3 autofocus point 7. 6 Megapixel (More Megapixel needed to print larger than 12 X 18 at 300 dpi) 8. No night landscape mode in pre-programmed settings 9. No in camera image stabilization (like Sony and Pentax) but Nikon has lenses with it (VR). 10. No depth-of-field preview button In conclusion, the D40 is perfect for those who want high quality pictures, more control (than a point and shoot camera), and have a DSLR experience (instant power on and no shutter lag), without having to carry a bulky camera. And unless you are shooting sports/actions professionaly (which faster focusing processor, faster frames per second and larger memory buffer might be needed), the D40 is pretty much all you will need. Happy Photographing! [/hide] I have searched for these reviews because its very important to know what youre buying. I have read alot of reviews too, for my Canon EOS 350D. I was also going to get a high speed sd card with it too. I chose this one because it was the cheapest at ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã319.99 and I'm on a pretty tight budget. And because I'm just starting to take photography seriously. It would be great if you could get it for only ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã319.99 (I personally think you need a bit more, to be honest), I assume you are looking for a second hand D40. You have to think of this: -Do I want a cheaper camera, with the risk of wanting another one in a year, -Or should I buy a more expensive camera so I dont have to upgrade, except for new lenses? I have been in the same situation as you, I was overrun by the choices I had. Like I said before, I had chosen for the Canon EOS 350D, and I dont regret it at all. It is alot cheaper now than it was back then, so this might be a good choice for you too. I can use alot of lenses on it, more than I could ever buy. (Im not saying the D40 hasnt, because I dont know enough about that camera). And the chance that you would buy a camera that you dont like, is very slim. Tell me if you need more help about anything, Im glad to help you. :wink: [http://woopidoo2.deviantart.com][Tip.it Moderator from Dec 10, 2006 to 03 Sep, 2008]
December 14, 200718 yr I have a D40 and I'm very happy with it. I don't use any other lenses than the zoom lens that it comes with. This is more than enough for a novice photographer. It's also a lot cheaper than it used to be. If you're comfortable with the price, then I recommend it. :D
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