Had done a lot of photography over the years, both 35mm and medium format, up to about 15 years ago when work commitments took over. About 4 years ago decided to start up again with a digital "point and shoot", then progressed to a 6mp Nikon "point and shoot". Finally decided it was time to move up to a DSLR, did a lot of research and went for the D40 - Why ? Firstly, the name: If it says Nikon on it, it is a quality camera - nuff said ! Why did I go for a camera with ONLY 6 mp ? Because there is more rubbish talked about the number of pixels in a camera than there is about anything else. You only need to go to 8/10/12 mp if you are making VERY large prints or have to do a lot of cropping, OR, if you just want to boast about the number of megapixels you have !
Having bought the camera, what do I think of it ? - it is superb !
The camera is compact and a very reasonable weight compared to most of its competitors. It offers a full range of shooting modes and various combinations of auto/manual. It took me a while to get competent enough to start using it to anywhere near its full capabilities. My previous camera was also 6mp and produced excellent photos, the photos produced by the D40 are amazingly better ! Whether this is due to better processing or having a "proper" lens I don't know, but the difference is stunning. I was a bit concerned about battery life on a relatively large camera like this, but the Nikon battery just goes on for ever, despite having to power the electronics, the mirror, shutter, a large screen and the auto focus motor. I use a 2gb card (none supplied with camera) which holds 560+ photos at "best" jpeg quality, if you reduce the quality you double or quadruple that quantity. The camera will take a 4gb card, but I have read that there are compatibility issues with some cards of this size. If you get "lost" the instruction book is excellent with no "Japanese English" anywhere !
I can honestly say that there is nothing I dislike about this camera.
PS: If you buy this camera instead of a 6/8/12 mp one, you can afford the Nikkor 55-200mm VR lens to go with it - as I did.
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Nikon's success in the D-SLR market has been outstanding and the new D40 is sure to be yet ... more
another sales sensation. Written by Simon Stafford this "Magic Lantern" manual gives owners all the information they need to understand and operate their camera...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Great quality and value for money, feature-rich, the good old dependable Nikon name Disadvantages: None really, unless you need more megapixels and more features for pro use
thereddragon 10.04.2009 (10.04.2009)
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Review of Nikon D40
Advantages: Excellent image quality, good core functionality of an DSLR, cheap, portable and lightweight. Disadvantages: Megapixels may not be sufficient for some, no autobracketing and no autofocus with non-AFS lenses
geft 14.10.2009 ·
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Review of Nikon D40
Oct 9th, 2007
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