Basic & Portrait Lens for D40 vs. D80 -- Making Decisions!

Hello All,

I'm going to be purchasing my first DSLR in the next few days . . . I've narrowed my choices down to the D40 or D80.

I've already been in the beginners' forum, but my questions revolve around specific body/lens combos, so I thought it best to post in the Nikon forum.

To give you a little background, I'm mostly interested in photographing my family -- portraits of my young children, as well as photographs of our family adventures. I imagine that I'll be a natural light photographer, as I live in the southwest US, and accordingly am blessed with an abundance of beautiful light (but hot temperatures, too). However, I must note that we may be moving to the UK in a couple of months, so I'm not sure what the lighting situation will be like there.

So, down to the details. My budget starts around $500, and tops out around $750. Should I go for:

1) The D40 with kit lens, and then spring for a prime that will autofocus -- perhaps the 50mm/1.4. (I'd go for autofocus, because I'm a little nervous about the idea of manually focusing -- should I be? My kids move fast, and I'm not sure that I could manually focus fast enough to keep up). The D40 kit would be about $375, used, and the 50mm prime that would autofocus would be about $400, used -- (that seems like a lot for my first lens. I would have to be so careful with it).

2) The D80 body, used, then add in a used 18-55mm VR lens or a 18-70mm lens (is it VR? I haven't been able to verify). Both basic lenses have been highly recommended. (Any opinions on which is better for a newbie)? Then, I assume that I would add in the less expensive 50mm/1.8 for portraiture.

Right now, I'm leaning toward the D80 body, simply because it has a built-in focusing motor, and it seems to have more room for growth and to be a little more substantial. Since both the D40 and D80 have been discontinued, I've not been able to get my hands on them to try them out. (However, I have been to Target and tried out the D3000, and it just seemed to small and light for my taste -- I'm wondering if the D40 would feel the same).

One last question . . . is a 50mm prime the best affordable, entry-level lens for portraiture? Or would another prime be better? (Keep in mind, one of my main reasons for moving up to a DSLR is to achieve natural-lit portraits with a blurry background -- (I believe it's called bokeh. How's that for throwing around my new knowledge?)

At any rate, I'd appreciate feedback on the D40 vs. D80 choice & lens selection (and especially portrait lens selection).

Many thanks! I'm excited to join the Nikonians.

I guess the best solution would be a D80 and the 50mm f/1.8, maybe with a 18-70 (which has no vr, but seems to be better than the all-plastic 18-55), for a more general use. You could expand on that later on, depending on your needs. You could even get a D70, i've seen amazing pictures taken with that.

The 85 f/1.8 also seems a good portrait lens, and being a little longer, would give you more subject isolation. The quality of the out-of-focus regions seems to be better and smoother than those of the 50 f/1.8. I own an old non-D 50 f/1.8 and will never part with it: it's small, light and makes nice and contrasty pictures. It can be used both for portraits and for the occasional landscape shot.

Another nice and not too expensive portrait lens is the all-manual 105 f/2.5 (AI or AIS), i can't imagine a lens having a better bokeh (maybe the AF 180 f/2.8, also recommended). With this you'd loose autofocus and metering.

I owned and loved a D40, but i wouldn't go for that: the lack of a built-in focus motor severely limits lens choices for the budget conscious used lens buyer. The size of it is more or less the same of a D3000 (i only had one i my hands in a shop once, so I might be wrong).

--
David
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davigd

If you're going to spend $750, spend $900 instead on a D90 body and 50mm f/1.8 . You can shoot at ISO800 all day and be pleased with the results. Your indoor photography will thank you.

You don't really need a fast prime for portraiture unless you really need to shoot wider than f/4 . Otherwise, get a good, cheap kit zoom such as the 18-70mm.

You are trying to get fast glass and good bokeh for portraiture on a budget. You have some pretty hard choices to make.

I have a few suggestions depending upon what you can find refurbished (officially refurbished with 90 day Nikon warranty). I would not go used for your first lens and body as you have nothing to compare it with and no way of knowing right away if you are getting a lemon. At least with refurbished you have a few months to figure it out.

1. D40/D40x/D60 refurbished with 18-55 or 18-55VR refurbished, an SB 400 speedlight and a good set of rechargables. You will not get great bokeh, but the flash is going to be very handy indoors.

2. D40/D40x/D60 refurbished with 35 AFS f/1.8 lens new with SB400 and a good set of rechargable batteries. The 35 f/1.8 autofocusing on those bodies, is inexpensive and is pretty good. However you are going to be pretty close for most true portraits. However for getting shots of the kids running around the house the 35 f/1.8 is very good.

3. D80 or D200 refurbished with 50 AF-D f/1.8 lens refurbished. You will also want to budget for that SB400 speedlight as it should be your next purchase. Later on you can add either the kit 18-55 VR or the 55-200 VR depending on which focal range suits you best.

To get the best shots of fast moving kids indoors, you are going to need flash, even if you have fast glass. So either the SB400 or the SB600 should be in your future purchasing plans.

Later on you can also buy a dedicated portrait lens (prime or zoom). But be prepared to pay more for that lens than you paid for your entire first setup.

--
Catallaxy

Two years ago I bought a D80 and an AF 50mm f/1.8D instead of the kit lens. I probably shot 12000 images with that combo before I bought another lens. All I can say is that being forced to compose a picture without being able to zoom and having the ability to shoot sharp images in low light at f/1.8 helped me to grow tremendously. I cannot recommend this combination highly enough if you're willing to invest the time in learning how to get the most out of the camera and the lens.

I passed a used D80 for $400 the other day at a local camera store, a fraction of the $1000 I paid for mine 2 years ago. This camera is an awesome deal!
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/_sam
http://poeticdiscord.deviantart.com

My recommendation is to stay away from D80. From experience, the metering on this camera is just all over the place, especially with slower, consumer lenses like the 18-55 varieties and 18-200. Exposure is much better on fast primes, but stop down and you've got the same problem. It was just too frustrating for me to have to adjust the exposure every few frames. To make matters worse, it errs on the side of clipping and blowing highlights. This has got to be Nikon's worst DSLR.

D40 is a good choice as long as you're not going to use screw-driven lenses (lenses that do not have built-in focusing motors), because the D40 has no focusing motor. It is a fine camera. I enjoyed mine immensely. Small and gets the job done.

A used D70s (the "s" has a bigger LCD) has infinitely better metering than the D80, and you can pick it up cheap. The LCD is small, and high ISO noise performance is not that great by today's standards. But this camera always nailed the picture for me. Plus it has a focusing motor to drive lenses that do not have built-in motor. AF speed is not the greatest with screwdriven lens. Nonetheless, a good camera. People who thought they "upgraded" from the D70/D70s to the D80 really kicked themselves.

The best choice for a used body has got to be the D200. This is a pro-level body, with a good sensor, AF, and metering. You can't go wrong with it for around $500 - $600.

Finally, if it's image quality you want without breaking the bank, the D5000 is a great camera. My current set up is a D300 and a D5000, and to be honest, there are times I prefer the D5000's lightweight and that flip down LCD.

As for lenses, you can start out with the excellent 35mm f/1.8G DX AF-S for $200 new. You will love it. It is a rare bargain.

The D80 is a good camera to start (or keep). When I bought mine I also
bought the 18-70. Shortly after I got a 50 1.4 off Ebay. The 50 1.8 (around
$110 new) is very similar and would make a great set-up to start out with.

Here's a shot without flash with the 50mm, very little post processing.

http://www.pbase.com/wapsijim/image/72291777