D40 Upgrade

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mak1

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Mike
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I'm currently a D40 owner, used to have a Canon 10D before financial issues meant i had to sell up :'(

Got the D40 as it had good reviews and was cheap, i have been very happy with it and have got some good results but do find it a bit small, get frustrated with the menu system and the slightly limited choice with lenses.

I have been asked to shoot my friends wedding next year (a small ceremony), which i'm slightly nervous about but have agreed to do it on the condition that they are not expecting pro results!

I'm possibly looking to upgrade the body before then and get a couple of faster lenses (from either the sigma or tamron ranges to keep the cost down a bit). I'm also toying with selling the D40 kit or maybe keeping it as a backup until after the wedding.

Would like to stick to Nikon but unsure as to what body. I'm thinking D200 as they are coming down to a good price and the only issues that seem to come up are battery life and high ISO (which i don't really shoot anyway). Is the battery life really a problem? Also considering a new D90 but that's obviously more £££ and will limit my lens funds.

If i'm getting a new body i'd rather do it sooner than later so i can get used to it!

I manly shoot landscapes and buildings at the moment but am looking to get out more and shoot sports / wildlife and maybe do portraits so a bit of everything really!

Would the D200 be a good allrounder providing a have some spare batteries?!!
 
mak1 said:
Would the D200 be a good allrounder providing a have some spare batteries?!!
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Yes, just get some decent aftermarket batteries or a battery grip and some AAs and it'll serve you well :thumbs:

Now's probably the time to buy - there are quite a few "low mileage" ones turning up on the sales forum here for decent money
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Yes, just get some decent aftermarket batteries or a battery grip and some AAs and it'll serve you well :thumbs:

Now's probably the time to buy - there are quite a few "low mileage" ones turning up on the sales forum here for decent money
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Thanks for that, some reviews really make a big deal out of the battery life (and noise) but i figure both can't be that bad!! One is kind of irrelevant for me anyway and i've never run my D40 down in a day so i can't imagine the power consumption causing me an issue (unless it is horrendous?!).

Have been looking through the for sale section on here and keeping an eye on ebay too.....
 
The D200 battery life is the worse of any Nikon DLSR since the D1 series.

It sucks balls - every other camera running off the EN-EL3e does way better for battery life.
 
Battery life is relative, regardless of anyone else's experience, I still get much shorter life from batteries on my D300 than I did on the 200. However, thats by the by, the D200 would give me 250-300 or more shots on a single battery in normal circumstances [no flash for example] so I used to carry 1 nikon and 2 after-market cheapies [which lasted as long as the nikon] for a full days shooting and rarely had to change battery more than once even if I was being particularly click-happy. As long as your don't plan a lot of high ISO stuff, the D200 will be a very good camera indeed. It will help push your photography by requiring more personal input, produces great images and feels very nicelt balanced in the hand imo. :thumbs:

EDIT: Actually, my maths are wrong, thinking of how many shots I get on 4gig card now, not then - basically it was 2 x 4 gig cards filled [raw files]for every one battery, so about 350 shots?
 
I've just gone from a D40x and some similar frustrations to the D90 which is superb and answers all the issues for me. Is currenty connected to my £80 50mm lens which will now also autofocus on it and is equally superb. The price has come down a lot and you can walk into Jessops and get it brand new for £600 tops (maybe less if you can find a lower price for them to match on the web).
 
Defiance said:
I've just gone from a D40x and some similar frustrations to the D90 which is superb and answers all the issues for me. Is currenty connected to my £80 50mm lens which will now also autofocus on it and is equally superb. The price has come down a lot and you can walk into Jessops and get it brand new for £600 tops (maybe less if you can find a lower price for them to match on the web).
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I didn't think Jessops price matched on the web? thought it was only to local shops? As Jessops are the only shop in town that doesn't really work though!!

I must admit to being tempted by the D90 so i get a brand spanking new camera, think i will have a look at one next week (after finding a good price on the web of course!!)
 
The D200 isnt that bad on batteries. I agree it is a little worse than most, but I never really found it a problem. 300 shots per battery seems pretty good to me.
Bad battery life is something like the old Kodak cameras that used a set of AA batteries everytime you turned it on!
Coming from the D40, you will notice a big difference in battery life whatever you chose but dont let that put you off the D200.
Allan
 
At £14.00 inc delivery for 2 extra batteries i wouldn't worry to much about battery life.
 
mak1 said:
I didn't think Jessops price matched on the web? thought it was only to local shops? As Jessops are the only shop in town that doesn't really work though!!

I must admit to being tempted by the D90 so i get a brand spanking new camera, think i will have a look at one next week (after finding a good price on the web of course!!)
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It depends on the branch, they did for mine after I asked them, although at that time the cheapest on the web was only £2 less, so they took that off :lol: Jessops can be very competitive on camera bodies at the moment.
 
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