Buying a DSLR - D40?

Ewan

Ewan

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Hi guys. A bit of advice needed here!

Sometime this year, maybe around christmas, I want to finally get a DSLR. I've been using the finepix s5600 for a while, which is great, but quite limited.

I think £400 is the maximum I'm gonna be able to spend, and I want to get something with a good amount of zoom for wildlife photography.

I've been looking at the Nikon D40 and maybe a 55-200 or 70-300 lens. However I have no idea of which lens to buy - all I know is I'm gonna need an AP-S lens as the d40 has no AF motor.

Or is there something else in the d40 type price-range that I should consider?

Any tips or advice greatly appreciated :)

Ewan
 
Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure about the D40x - I considered it, but all I'm really getting is 4 extra MP for about £100 more, which I don't really need as I'm not gonna be printing them really big.

I just want a basic DSLR that can fit the giant lenses I'm gonna buy when I'm a bit richer :D
 
The only thing with the d40 is it's mostly menu driven as far as I'm aware, may be a hindrance if you're shooting wildlife and need to change settings in a hurry. You might be better off with a secondhand d50, they seem to be going for around the same price as the 40 at the moment. If you hunt around there may be a few new ones still kicking about to.
 
Cheers Gandhi. I did notice this when reading reviews but had forgotted all about it. Will check out the D50 now!
 
By Xmas you may even be able to get a D80 with 18-135 lit lens for the money, body only is only about £510 now
 
Why buy Nikon I am sure the other day I saw a Canon 400d for under £400 and have seen plenty around the £411 mark. Canon lenses seem on the whole cheaper (altho i am sure that will spark debate) and there are lots of secondhand canon lenses about to start you off. Just another thought :thinking:
 
Nothing wrong with either Canon or Nikon, to be honest your best option is go to a shop and try a few different ones out and see which is most comfortable for YOU to hold. Then sit back and watch the price drop till you buy at Xmas.
 
I really have no preference whether I buy Canon or Nikon. The two brands seem practically the same to me - I just like Nikon's brand name better, and the look of their cameras. But of course if it was a question of camera functions and quality I wouldn't give a damn about the brand. Also Nikon cameras seem to be cheaper. I may be wrong, though!

Thanks for everyone's advice. I really don't wanna go to jessops before I have saved up enough to actually buy one - if I found a cam I liked it would be painful to leave without it :D

Although I might try one out in Jessops, then go buy it for loads less on Ebay ;)

EDIT:

I've just been looking on Ebay, and it says the d50 has a digital viewfinder. I definately don't want one of those...Is this info correct?
 
IMO you will be dissapointed by the performance of the 55-200mm on a D40. The IQ is fairly soft, AF searches in anything less than perfect light and a very depressing minimum aperture of f/5.6 at the high end. Really not good for wildlife photography.

If you go the nikon route i would suggest a D50, as this will allow you to purchase a older fast tele. The D40 is only AF compatible with AF-S nikon series lens and HSM sigma series lens. A AF-S f/2.8 tele is going to be way out of your budget, and a fast HSM is at cheapest close to £400.

If you can increase your budget a bit a 350D and 70-200 F/4 L would be good :)
 
I can't comment on Nikon as I have only tried kit and never used it in earnest (being a Canon bod) but I really would point you to 2nd hand. You can get some great kit used and if you check it out it should be fine.

In the Canon world (i.e. what I know about) a 20D or 10D is still as good a camera as it ever was and would be my choice over a 350D/400D anyday as it has the extra wheel to do exposure compensation easily (important for outdoor photography). Don't know the model numbers with Nikon but I am sure you can get a last generation "middle range" camera for the price of a current generation "entry level"

Just to show I put my money where my mouth is, I have just closed a deal on a Canon 1D Mk II used. It's costing only about half what my main one cost me new less than 2 years ago.

Paul
 
Thanks Alex and Grumpy!

It's good to hear from someone with experience of a D40. I've been looking at a review of the D50 on DP Review, and it looks a lot better. However, I just read on ebay that the d50 has a digital viewfinder. I've been heavily advised against these by another photographer I met, so not sure whether to get it or not.
 
Ewan said:
Also Nikon cameras seem to be cheaper. I may be wrong, though!
Click to expand...

Canon 350D - £350
Nikon D2X - £2,000

Admittedly a bit of a mismatch between capabilities there but the point is that camera prices reflect their position within the marketplace. And Nikon and Canon bodies seem to slot between each other rather rather than directly against each other. But if budget is your concern then then there are a lot of other brands out there trying to undercut the big two.

Do not make a judgment based on brand name or look because you are more likely to end up disappointed, and will overlook a lot of good cameras from other manufacturers.

The decision of what body to buy is actually quite a big one because it locks you into a particular lens system and this is where most of your money will end up being spent over time. Suddenly thinking you made a mistake can end up being costly to correct.

Personally as far as the D40 goes, the lack of a lens motor restricting the choice of lenses, particularly affordable choices, is something that would automatically rule it out in favour of trying to pick up an older D50.

Also when considering you budget, do not forget that as well as the lens and body you will also need a compatible memory card at the very least as the xD cards used by your Fuji and not widely used. Though I think Olympus DSLRs can use them, and they do make a kit with both normal and telephoto zoom lenses for under £400 so is worth considering.

For now though it is best to wait until you can afford to buy something as no one knows what deals will be available at the time and how prices may have changed. You could set your heart on something now only to end up getting something entirely different.

Michael.
 
I don't think the 350D can really be compared to the D2X. From what I've read and heard the 350d has much lower capabilities - they're not really in the same class. I really have no preference between canon or nikon, but those are the two brands I'm looking at as they are the biggest and produce more lenses and products etc. and probably have quite good customer service because of it.

Thanks for the adivce :)
 
Wierd. Ebay person must have got it wrong. Glad to hear it, anyway! :D

Thanks for the tip Grumpy :)

The D50 seems like the one for me. Now just gotta wait a few months. This is gonna be the hard bit :(
 
I may be thinking of selling mine in the near future i will PM you if i do
 
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