What would you do, I have two options.

Here is my situation.

I have a budget of $1500.00. I’m not a professional photographer, because if I was I would not be asking you all this question. I’m just looking to get into photography and take great pictures like you all, indoors and out. But, I want to buy my gear only once. Maybe in years from now upgrade something, but I dont want to get a "so, so" camera now and then year from now getting something better.

So, last week, I was able to get a Nikon D40 from Target for $381.00 with tax. The D40 is still in the box and I have three months to return it. So, here is my question. Should I keep the D40 and get some nice lens, flash, bag or return it back to Target and get a Nikon D90?

Thanks.

Nikon would be nice but it's better to have a Nikon D40 with Nikkor AF-S 16-85 mm VR and a Nikon SB600 and some money for another lens you may need than Nikon D90 with Nikkor AF-S 18-105 mm and Nikon SB600.
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Victor
Bucuresti, Romania
http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m268/victor_petcu/
http://picasaweb.google.com/teodor.nitica/
http://picasaweb.google.com/vpreallize/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/v_petcu/

I am assuming you the $381 was for the D40 and kit lens. Well that price is long gone and you can sell it on ebay/craigslist for over $400. The D40 is discontinued but that is no big deal.

Take the $400 and buy a D90. It is worth the upgrade and a new D90 is selling for $800 shipped from Amaz0n.

Then search Craigslist with this engine and purchase a mint used 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 for ~$160 and you have a great start.

Want a flash, forget the SB-600 and get a SB-400 for ~$85 off Craigslist.

D90
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d90.htm

SB-400
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/sb400.htm

Craigslist search
http://www.allofcraigslist.com/

First off, I disagree with above. I would much prefer the 18-105 over the 16-85, but that's personal preference I suppose.

The D40 will make great images and in my experience do it with less guidance from the operator than the D90. But if you are going to have buyers remorse for not getting the newer technology and 1/2 step up in features of the d90 over the D40 and money is not the problem, go back and get the D90. I have both and like both. I find that the D40 just produces great images easily. The D90 is slightly faster, has a slightly better viewfinder and under some circumstances will produce better high iso image quality as long as you don't try to judge them at 100%. If it's important to you on the D90 you get live view and video, but to me that isn't worth any money. If you have old screw drive lenses the 90 has the advantage for sure on those.

Usually you will stand the best chance of being more satisfied longer if you buy at the top of your budget. It's an easy hobby to keep wanting more and more gadgets.

You have a D40 in hand. It will last you for several years. As you can afford it, add another lens. By the time you can afford to move up to a nicer body, you will have good glass. No telling what features will be available by then. And you will still have the classic D40 as your backup.

You have seen the D40 shots posted on this site. They rock. Heck, I have a D90 and wish I had a D40. Keep the D40.

I would return it and get a D90.

I bought a D50, great cam and still love it. But after I started to get into photography more and borrowed a friends D70. I didn't want to put it down. The extra features that you don't use/need as a beginer are there when you want them when you grow. Grow into a camera, don't be stuck wishing you spent the extra now.

If you absolutely have to keep your budget under $1500, I would return the D40 and wait until you find a special deal on the D90 body and the 18-200 VR II lens.
Then you can gradually add your accessories a little at a time.

It really depends on what you want to do now and what your needs will be later on as you grow into photography.

The D40 is a great camera. It is capable of taking excellent quality images. You will be able to make prints up to 8x10 with no issues and sometimes larger. I made a 20x30 print from an image taken with a D40 and it looks great.

I now use a D90. While the D90 images are a bit larger, I can't discern any improvement in quality (with the same lenses). I choose to upgrade primarily to shoot sports. The D90 had better high ISO performance, faster FPS, more AF points and could use non-AFS lenses like the 80-200 f/2.8. Shooting High School football really pushes the camera, lenses and photographer to the edges of their capabilities.

I also really liked the larger body and more dedicated controls. In addition to the sports items, I wanted a camera capable of using the Nikon's CLS with the on-board flash. I have 3 SB600's and trigger them wirelessly with commander mode.

If you don't have plans to shoot mostly sports or off-camera lighting, the D40 is really great. Spend your remaining budget on a good tripod and some good lenses.

Get a couple of nice zoom lenses and one or two fast primes and an SB600. The $200 35mm f/1.8 is an amazing lens and VERY useful for the D40. Even if you have to wait for it, get it. It's excellent for indoor events, small groups and even landscapes.

A nice lineup of lenses that won't break the bank would be
18-105 VR
70-300 VR
35mm f/1.8

You could save a few dollars and go with the 18-55 VR and 55-200 VR as well.

--
-Dan Rode
http://danrode.smugmug.com

What the camera must do is take great pictures indoors where there is little light.

We have a baby and my wife really gets tired when she wants to take pictures of our baby with Canon Point and Shoot camera and pictures come out simply terrible.

Or she will use a flash with the point and shoot and the entire backgroud is dark and the baby's face is too bright.

Can you point the 400 model "up"?

Peter_Chicago said:

What the camera must do is take great pictures indoors where there is little light.

We have a baby and my wife really gets tired when she wants to take pictures of our baby with Canon Point and Shoot camera and pictures come out simply terrible.

Or she will use a flash with the point and shoot and the entire backgroud is dark and the baby's face is too bright.

Click to expand...

This might take you just a touch over your 1500 budget, but my recommendation would be D90 with 18-105 kit, the SB-600 flash, and the 35 1.8 prime. I haven't used it, but I' m sure the SB-400 will do if the budget is firm and you need to squeeze in a bag.

The kit lens make a nice walkaround zoom, the 35 1.8 lets you shoot in lower available light and play with depth of field, and the flash, bounced indoors, will solve the flash problem you described above, with nicer colours and more even light than you get with direct flash.

You may in the wrong place to ask about a "forever" camera. I'd say a majority in this forum are "early adopters" of whatever shiny new thing Nikon puts out.

For indoor baby photos, I'd say a D40 w/18-55 lens and SB-400 flash would work just fine. I find the non-swiveling SB-400 to be a fine little flash. If you want to bounce in the portrait mode, an off-the camera flash extention cord does the trick. If your wife takes a lot of the baby pix, she may appreciate the size and weight of the D40 w/kit lens as opposed to the more "professional" Nikons.

I have a D40 with 18-200VR and an SB-400 and am very happy with it all. You could easily get that for under your budget. Have fun with whatever you end up with!

If you can swing it, this is a great kit. The SB400 is only modestly brighter than the onboard flash but it will tilt up to allow you to bounce the flash off the ceiling.

If you want to avoid that garish "flashed" look, there are 2 techniques that will help a lot. First, try to bounce the light at a 45 degree angle off the ceiling. Secondly, drop the shutter speed a stop turn the flash power down a bit. A fast prime and / or VR lenses will help you do the second while mitigating hand shake. This will take some practice and a bit of reading to understand the details. Try here first: http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/

Habsfan in TO said:

Peter_Chicago said:

What the camera must do is take great pictures indoors where there is little light.

We have a baby and my wife really gets tired when she wants to take pictures of our baby with Canon Point and Shoot camera and pictures come out simply terrible.

Or she will use a flash with the point and shoot and the entire backgroud is dark and the baby's face is too bright.

Click to expand...

This might take you just a touch over your 1500 budget, but my recommendation would be D90 with 18-105 kit, the SB-600 flash, and the 35 1.8 prime. I haven't used it, but I' m sure the SB-400 will do if the budget is firm and you need to squeeze in a bag.

The kit lens make a nice walkaround zoom, the 35 1.8 lets you shoot in lower available light and play with depth of field, and the flash, bounced indoors, will solve the flash problem you described above, with nicer colours and more even light than you get with direct flash.

Click to expand...

--
-Dan Rode
http://danrode.smugmug.com

I would get the D90/18-200 kit from Adorama or B&H for 1079.00. That would leave you over 400.00 to get the 35mm which is enough. I would not worry about the flash right away since the built in flash is pretty good. Latter on you can get a flash if you really need one. I'd rather have a good camera and glass first. Trust me, if you get the D40 you will keep lusting for the D90 if you are thinking about it now.

Regarding the black background from the flash pictures there are just bad technique.

Flash photography is not that simple but if you master it you are going to have nice photos. Even with your P&S. Just set it on Tv mode and use a exposure good for background (without flash) and then reduce the power of flash until you get good results.

Here is what you can get with an on board flash:



--
Victor
Bucuresti, Romania
http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m268/victor_petcu/
http://picasaweb.google.com/teodor.nitica/
http://picasaweb.google.com/vpreallize/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/v_petcu/

zobop said:

If you absolutely have to keep your budget under $1500, I would return the D40 and wait until you find a special deal on the D90 body and the 18-200 VR II lens.
Then you can gradually add your accessories a little at a time.

Click to expand...

I've noticed you've been asking all sorts of basic questions the past week about your first DSLR purchase yet to take place. Nothing at all wrong with that, but now you are offering advice? Yikes...

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Lora

I've been on Dpreview since June 2006. Unfortunately, some posting history has been lost along the way...

I agree that this statement is not realistic for many reasons. After following advice some good and some bad you may end up with the right camera body for you for awhile, but lenses are another thing. It's not a big deal to buy and sell photographic stuff, especially when your needs change or you bought (for example) a lens that doesn't suit your style of photography. I personally think the D40 is a great starter camera with the potential for excellent images straight out of camera. (That's important because the learning curve for DSLR is large enough without having to get into post processing, a field that can be more involved than photography itself.) If you keep the box and all the manual and everything that came with it, you can use it and learn and sell it at a later date for not much loss at all. You may find you love it and want to use it for quite a while. Image quality will be excellent with good high iso performance, it just doesn't offer all the bells and whistles in features that you may never need anyway. Obviously your choice...
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Lora

I've been on Dpreview since June 2006. Unfortunately, some posting history has been lost along the way...

If yes, keep the D40.

• Did the D40 came with kit lens? If no, get the 18-105mm VR.
• Do you take plenty of pictures indoor? If yes, get a external flash. I'd recommend the SB-600 unless you find it too big or heavy. In that case, get the SB-400.
• Save the rest of the money for future purchases.

Then take some 2k pics with your gear. Determine what you want to improve and comeback here for suggestions on new gear

--
Jose
We live in a DX world
16-24 is wide, 30-40 is normal, 50-70 is for portraits

Just going by what others have advised.

Sorry if I got your panties in a twist my dear.

for not being able to make up my mind.