Nikon D40 ?

[gr33ndata]

I never had a digital camera before, my only photography experience is from my mobile camera, however I am trying to learn photography.
Now, I heard about the new Nikon D40, do you think it is a good option for a beginner who want to learn on it, also keep in mind that I may not upgrade my camera for a while, such stuff are really expensive here.
Or shall I go for the D50, which is two years older than D40, with almost the same prices, but some different features.
Thanks

[janesa13]

I have never seen/try/play around with D40 before except reading the review on the internet.
I do have a D50.
Based on just specification, D50 has better features, but not that much better either.
hopefully this will help:
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond40/

[Nicole]

It depends what you want to do, how much you think you will outgrow things, and in some ways, what your budget is.

In switching to a dSLR, you have the option to use all sorts of new lenses. The d40, limits which lenses you can actually use though because it only has Auto-Focus on AF-S and AF-I lenses. What this means is that you can only have auto-focus on lenses that have a motor built into them since there is no motor on the camera body. So, lenses like the cheap but fantastic 50mm f/1.8 won't be auto-focus on the d40. So, if you don't mind having a smaller selection of more expensive lenses, it's not much of a problem.

The other things that I don't really like are that you only have 3 auto-focus areas on the d40 instead of 5 on the d50. And there's no status LCD on the top of the camera, which I use quite often.

That being said, the d40 does sound like it has some features that can be useful if you don't want to do a lot of post-processing on the computer. The d50 doesn't have any in camera editing, so if this is important to you, it helps you make the decision easier.

I think that you have to consider what you want to do, and how much you think you will grow with your camera use and how much you want to be able to do in the camera instead of on the PC if you want to determine whether the d40 or d50 is better suited to your purposes.

A good article to read about the d40 is at DPReview (http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond40/).

Good luck :)

[Nicole]

I have never seen/try/play around with D40 before except reading the review on the internet.
I do have a D50.
Based on just specification, D50 has better features, but not that much better either.
hopefully this will help:
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond40/

Snap! You beat me to posting that article ;)

[Fraggleroxer]

your better off just getting a canon. try the rebel xt

[wulf]

I have just got a D40 for Christmas - I'm anticipating that it will be a great tool for helping me learn more about the craft of photography during the coming year.

Wulf

[msafiedin]

i just bought my d40 nikon 2 days ago
it is my first dslr camera ever
and i absolutely loving it
my general comments
the battery is long lasting
the quality of the image is very beautiful
very user friendly for a dslr
i only take 24hrs to browse thru its menus

i love nikon

[NaturesPixel]

what you MUST do is.. go in and FEEL how they feel in your hands... this is what made my decision between the Nikon and canon.. canon was gross it didn't fit in my hands right....

personally... i would go with the d50... you be surprised .. how you will wish for different focus points.. i wish the d50 had more.. like the D80...

[Ilyanep]

Personally, I went for the D50, because everything I read about the D50 and D40 showed some minor improvements in the D40, and left the D50 as the more sensible camera even though it's older.

I was in a camera store the other day and looking at a D50 while discussing with the salesmen about whether or not the D40 was supposed to replace the D50 and my dad said something to the extent of "We don't really like the D40" and one of the salesmen was like "we don't either."

[Darren Rowse]

I've not used the D40 but I'd echoe Nature Pixel's comments of trying to get along to a retail outlet and put both in your hands. Features are obviously important but til you get them in your hands you don't really have a complete picture.

In terms of the Canon v Nikon thing - I think both make amazing cameras and while I'm a Canon guy I think you'll find yourself happy with a Nikon DSLR also.

When you make your decision - don't forget to come back and let us know what you went with and give us a mini review on it! :-)

[msafiedin]

if my post earlier has effect on users of canon
im sorry, i dont mean it that way
for me nikon and canon has their own loyal customers
just like bmw and merc
both are high performance and luxury standards
but when u go and buy one later
it will automatically go to the point of loyalty (i think)

like me personally, i don know why but i just love the sound of N I K O N
and since 2 years back, i have been waiting to get a dslr from Nikon
after seeing all of my friends got their D70 and their irresistable quality of image produced

but then its up to your income level too
i might just get the D80 instead
but since i am not the guy who knows how to save money
and also since that i am just moving from point to shoot to dslr type
D40 is the best for me at the moment

but so far im still trying to get use to dslr
and i hope u guys can help me out later
to become pros ...god willing...

i have upload some here http://www.flickr.com/photos/ampin/
(3rd days of D40)

[zemote]

There are many D40 naysayers out there. Just one thing to say, don't knock it till you tried it. It is a great camera. This is a great camera for the new to DSLR world that do not already have an investment in nikon lenses and will most likely gravitate towards the af-s and af-i lenses anyway.