My First DSLR Nikon D40: First Steps Review || Chiaroscuro

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.