buntyy
Active member
D40 is my first DSLR, I was using a 4MP Nikon Coolpix P&S and thought it was time for an upgrade, initially planned to buy D80 but the price was bit too much for me, then my upgrade options were coolpix p5000 and D40.
looked up many websites and realised that P&S may be compact (for some people this is a priority) but they do not match the performace of a DSLR (speed, wide range of interchangeable lens, low light performance) etc.
After shooting with D40 for nearly four months, i can very happily recommend this camera to any one who is buying a DSLR for the first time. The purchase is worth it..
The body is light weight, but it’s not cheap. It gives you a solid felling in your hand. Of course D80 and D200 will fell better built but you pay more for these cameras, as i mentioned D40 does not feels cheap.
The grip is comfortable; it may be small for some one with bigger hands, but for me its works fine. Before buying you can go to a shop and check if you feel comfortable with the grip.
2.5” LCD is big and bright and serves the purpose very well. The menu system is very simple and user friendly, within no time you will master yourself in customizing your settings.
A 6 MP camera vs 8 or 10 MP camera is an important issue, a camera with 8 or 10 mega pixel will be useful if you wish to crop the images, and they will give you bigger prints of your pictures. i rarely print my pictures, i watch the pictures on my monitor.
Remember the number of MP have nothing to do with the overall quality of the picture. The picture quality depends on lot of other things, type of lens used, exposure setting, shutter speed (to freeze or blur the motion) aperture setting for depth of field etc.
Only buying a 10 MP or higher camera does not guarantees great pictures. i have seen few D40 users writing in different forums that they want to upgrade to 10MP camera as 6MP is no enough for them, well no one has ever posted an example of a picture taken with D40 and explaining to rest of us that if this pciture would have been taken with a higher MP it would have been great in such and such ways....
The picture quality of D40 is simply superb..,. The colors are excellent, the skin tones are natural. There are settings in camera which allow you to customize the colors according to your taste.
Nikon has included in-camera retouching, which is also of great help.
The supplied “kit” lens is sharp and fast given its just a “kit lens.
Auto focus is accurate and quick even in low light conditions.
Problems:
There is lot of discussion going on in different forums about the 3D Color Matrix Metering II, 420 pixel sensor on D40/D40x/D80 as these 3 cameras share the same MM.
some people call is as defective, now this MM is not defective its different, you can get really excellent pictures with this MM, you have to learn how to use it,
D40 tends to meter for dark subjects, you have to remember this, initially you may get pictures wiith blown highlights but once you know how the MM works you will be fine.
Some people complain about 3 area AF sensor, i mostly use the middle sensor to focus so thats not an issue for me.
read the reviews/comments of D40 USERS on this website as well as other wesbsites thoroughly before makiing a decision.
GOOD LUCK with your deciision !!
looked up many websites and realised that P&S may be compact (for some people this is a priority) but they do not match the performace of a DSLR (speed, wide range of interchangeable lens, low light performance) etc.
After shooting with D40 for nearly four months, i can very happily recommend this camera to any one who is buying a DSLR for the first time. The purchase is worth it..
The body is light weight, but it’s not cheap. It gives you a solid felling in your hand. Of course D80 and D200 will fell better built but you pay more for these cameras, as i mentioned D40 does not feels cheap.
The grip is comfortable; it may be small for some one with bigger hands, but for me its works fine. Before buying you can go to a shop and check if you feel comfortable with the grip.
2.5” LCD is big and bright and serves the purpose very well. The menu system is very simple and user friendly, within no time you will master yourself in customizing your settings.
A 6 MP camera vs 8 or 10 MP camera is an important issue, a camera with 8 or 10 mega pixel will be useful if you wish to crop the images, and they will give you bigger prints of your pictures. i rarely print my pictures, i watch the pictures on my monitor.
Remember the number of MP have nothing to do with the overall quality of the picture. The picture quality depends on lot of other things, type of lens used, exposure setting, shutter speed (to freeze or blur the motion) aperture setting for depth of field etc.
Only buying a 10 MP or higher camera does not guarantees great pictures. i have seen few D40 users writing in different forums that they want to upgrade to 10MP camera as 6MP is no enough for them, well no one has ever posted an example of a picture taken with D40 and explaining to rest of us that if this pciture would have been taken with a higher MP it would have been great in such and such ways....
The picture quality of D40 is simply superb..,. The colors are excellent, the skin tones are natural. There are settings in camera which allow you to customize the colors according to your taste.
Nikon has included in-camera retouching, which is also of great help.
The supplied “kit” lens is sharp and fast given its just a “kit lens.
Auto focus is accurate and quick even in low light conditions.
Problems:
There is lot of discussion going on in different forums about the 3D Color Matrix Metering II, 420 pixel sensor on D40/D40x/D80 as these 3 cameras share the same MM.
some people call is as defective, now this MM is not defective its different, you can get really excellent pictures with this MM, you have to learn how to use it,
D40 tends to meter for dark subjects, you have to remember this, initially you may get pictures wiith blown highlights but once you know how the MM works you will be fine.
Some people complain about 3 area AF sensor, i mostly use the middle sensor to focus so thats not an issue for me.
read the reviews/comments of D40 USERS on this website as well as other wesbsites thoroughly before makiing a decision.
GOOD LUCK with your deciision !!
