My First DSLR Nikon D40: First Steps Review

At last I have got my first dslr. I have immediately noticed that the future picture is possible to see only through the viewfinder, unlike “point-and-shoot” digital cameras. No mode

live view

(when the future frame is seen on the screen), only official information is displayed on

LCD monitor

. This mode was already implemented in the

Nikon D60

and noteworthy reduced battery charge mercilessly. By the way, I was pleasantly surprised by long time DSLR working from one battery charge contrarily to point-and-shoots.

The viewfinder covers 95% of the frame (this means that the image will be slightly bigger than we see in the viewfinder), it is lighter than in the

Nikon D50

, but darker than in the

Nikon D80

and the

Nikon D200

. After looking into it, you can see only three focusing frameworks, layout grid is absent, and it is very inconvenient. The bottom part displays information about the shooting:

ISO

, aperture, shutter speed, focus confirmation point, etc. Also there is no additional monochrome control panel at the top right corner in

D40

, all information is displayed on the main color display. Compared with the

Nikon D50

and

Nikon D70

, display is increased to 2.5-inch diagonal, as in

the Nikon D80

and

the Nikon D200

. Graphic information format became very useful and clear to me.

When photography was not my passion yet, I was shooting in automatic modes such as portrait, landscape, etc. It was useful for me to observe how aperture number is changing the affects of lens opening (the higher aperture number, the narrower the aperture, and the smaller amount of light coming into the matrix).

Very interesting thing for beginners is a button with "?" sign. Tips and explanations are highlighted when this button is clicked. By the way, display is not covered with protective plastic cover that is why I have protected it immediately with Korean

windscreen "Dicain"

. I can say only good things about it: it guards a screen excellently and is not letting display get covered with scratches and dirt. Ultraviolet and mirror coatings make a picture clearer, more contrast, eliminate blinks. That is very important when shooting in a sunny day. It is very

cheap

, with the benefit of greatly feeling. I want to emphasize that this is a solid screen, not a soft

membrane-protector

.

Another simplification in this

Nikon digital camera

: there are significantly less buttons and levers in comparison with other models, there is only one command wheel. This is even better for those who do not need to control all shooting options. If you still need to change any of the options quickly, there is a programmable

button Fn

(Function) on the left side of the camera that allows quickly changing of

white balance

,

sensitivity (ISO)

,

image quality/size

,

shooting mode

.

By the way, what I can say about

white balance

. I really liked how it works, even in automatic mode. The only defect of white balance is not very good working in the light bulb mode. However, when shooting in

RAW

, everything is adjusting easily.

The infamous “

screwdriver

” is a separate theme. There is no

screwdriver

in the

Nikon D40

.

Screwdriver

is

built-in autofocus motor

, and a choice of fully working lenses is narrowing considerably. Only

AF-S

standard optics is suitable. Such optics contains its own

autofocus

, as indicated by the letter S in the lens marking. So if you want to acquire a

lenses park

, keep this in mind. You can not set the cheap

Nikkor 50 mm 1.8

in the

D40

normally, but the

Nikkor 18-200 VR

will work fully.

More about lenses. Different surveys love to cite pictures of the

Nikon D40 body

with the lens of just another, professional, class. And sometimes, for obviousness, they cite images made with the help of these lenses. It is clear that in such a way the camera is shown to the best advantage. This is nothing but a cheap promotional move. The lens, which comes by default with the

Nikon D40 body

, is the

Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55 f/3.5-5.6

, and it is cheap and of is not very high quality lens. It has not

autofocus fine-tuning ring

, it focuses either automatically or manually, and the picture leaves much to be desired. It seems to me an entirely rotten act that there is not a

lens hood

with this lens. I spoiled so many frames because of its absence! But I have understood it much later, when I was able to shoot with the

lens with a hood

. When buying an

SLR

, you should understand that image quality depends on the lens almost more than on the body. I would recommend buying the

Nikon D40

with as good lens as possible.

Summary.

You can consider as disadvantage or advantage the fact that

Nikon D40

lacks many features: it became so

cheap

due to this and you can get

dslr dignities

for

prosumer price

. It is well suited either for those who just want to make high-quality photos, combining the result with conveniences of its receipt, or for those who want to learn photography and are making their first steps and have not large budget. One more notice. You'd better look at this digital camera alive; it is quite small, which is not visible from internet pictures.

Additional info about the DSLR Nikon D40:

[more...]

Entry-level Digital SLR (DSLR) Camera Choice: Nikon D40, Nikon D50 (D60)

Many people believe that when choosing an

entry-level single-lens reflex (SLR) camera

one should take what he likes more, say, the main thing is the pleasure of shooting. Controversial advice, but I followed him, get tired of absorbing and processing information.

I did not compare matrix

CMOS

and

CCD

, I knew nothing about

crop-factor

, I just seriously sick of my point-and-shoot and I had agreed to buy technics on the growth, such a visual aid for learning. The choice was simple:

Nikon D40

or

Nikon D50

(then

Nikon D60

still was not appeared).

Nikon D50

was a little too expensive, and with my budget I could only buy it as second hand. That confused me greatly, because I could not even check on the camera performance. Plus, purely visual, I did not like the design. And the screen of

nikon D40

was larger that was important for me after using

Olympus

.

So simple determined, I became the owner of the budget

slr Nikon D40 18-55 kit

, without any kinds of VR. Three focus points, nikon's "distinct jpg",

NEF format

(

RAW

), lack of a screwdriver and an additional screen, a small number of function keys. And what inspiring me was high

working iso

! Made not the best choice, I still used and loved

D40

, a little reliable workhorse. And if you do not want to grow as an amateur photographer, and to inquire into technical details but just to photograph - I entirely advise taking

Nikon D40

instead instead

prosumer

. Or

Nikon D60

, which is the same as the

D40

, plus a couple of features. Do not pay attention to cutting features. You can take even second-hand, you only have to ask the seller about the

camera shutter clicking

quantity, i.e.

camera mileage

. Have in mind that the

shutter resource

of this camera class is of approximately 50 thousand clicks.

Additional info about an entry-level DSLR choice (Nikon D40, D50, D60)

[more...]

Canon vs Nikon

In my case, the question was formulated exactly as:

Canon

or

Nikon

?

I started enthusiastically clicking with point-and-shoot

Olympus Ultrazoom 765

. I cannot say anything good of it, except that it was digital. Autofocus worked very incorret, and it was driving me mad. I thought about buying

a prosumer

, in particular,

Canon Powershot

, but after examining the price I realized that

entry-level digital SLR camera

would be much better then.

Pentax

seemed exotic to me. I looked at the

Olympus E300 double kit

, but "

Olympus

" and "

noise matrix

" has become synonymous for me, and the option was no longer needed. All that remained were

Canon

or

Nikon

. Holy war among fans of these brands does not stop ever, and there is a lot of information, and both dignities and disadvantages are bulged.

Canon

has

L-series lenses

of high-quality, but of too large price. They say only the red ring around the lens (a distinctive feature of

L class

) cheat firm price for $200. I do not know whether it's truth or not, but the lenses are really professional. Nice picture plastic is among the

Canon

advantages also. That's a fact:)

Nikon

is famous as reportage equipment with prehensile, grasping, and fast autofocus. They advise

Nikon

to those who are not yet ready to invest in the lens park while entry level lens of this system is better than main competitor's analogue.

Get tired of comparing the advantages and disadvantages (they are roughly equal), I just went to the store and holded the bodies of both systems in my hands. Greatly praised

Nikon ergonomics

earned flattering reviews not in vain: camera lied in my hand like a glove. The choice became obvious to me.

Additional info about Сanon and Nikon cameras:

[more...]