Looking for a new Nikon body

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smith.james0

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James
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Hi I am new to the forum ;)

At the moment I am looking to upgrade my Nikon D40 body, I have had the camera for just over a year and I am starting to want a few more features like more Pixels and bracket exposure. I use my camera for the normal family, travel and garden wildlife photos the camera has traveled quite well to going to China, Hong kong, Dubai and if I don't change it, it will be going to Switzerland, Katmandu and a road trip round Europe, as you can see it gets used!

I am wondering what people recommend as an upgrade I have had a quick play (5 min before the battery went flat) with a d3000 i liked the 11 point AF but I wasn't smitten with the swivel LCD screen, it reminded me of my Sony H9. I would also like it to be compatible with the older lenses as my Dad has quite a few from film camera days.

My kit at the moment
D40
18-55 mm
18-200 mm
SB600
70-210 mm

Can anyone help?

Thanks James
 
Budget?
Fairly important, that...
I'd say buy a D700, but if you don't have £2k to drop on a new camera, that advice is worthless...
 
D3000 is not really much of an upgrade from the D40 tbh.....you'd be better off with either the D90 or perhaps the D5000 (the route I chose after a D40). The D5000 is like a 'lite' version of the D90, all the lenses you have will work on it without issue.I has the same sensor and focus system as the D90 as well as the auto-bracketing that you need. It has a very similar menu system to the D40 too. The D90 is a little more involved, with a few more functions like remote flash control. It also has an inbuilt focus motor, although that wont be an issue with the lens you have.

If you are anywhere Middlesex let me know and you can have a go of mine.......

Neil

EDIT:Just re read your post.......Get the D90 and you 'should' be able to use your Dads old lenses
 
I also recently upgraded my D40 (back-up camera) to a D90. So far, apart from a fairly rare back-focusing issue (repaired under warranty), I've been extremely pleased with it :). I think that the this and the D5000 are your only realistic upgrade options, without getting into four figures :|.

I don't know the full feature set of the D5000, so I can't easily compare, although I understand that the D5000 has similar performance to the D90, but in a smaller body with less direct access buttons (a bit like the D40 that you want to upgrade from).

In favour of the D5000 (for traveling) it is smaller and lighter and uses a much smaller battery (same as the D40's), which will probably last every bit as long as the 'pro' size battery of the D90. In favour of the D90, I would argue that it feels closer to a 'pro' body and handles a lot better, making it likely to satisfy for longer :).

As you only need to buy a body (you have all the lenses already), then your looking at either 468GBP (Warehouse Express) for a very portable camera with a similar feel to the D40, but a 'better' sensor, more AF points (crucial) and a decent HD video function (the D5000), or 659GBP (WX again) for a camera which is not all that far behind the D300s in terms of features and should be robust enough for your travels for many years to come (the D90).

Good luck in deciding :thumbs:.
 
Here are the dimensions of the three cameras mentioned so far.....the D5000 isnt as small as people think it is!

Nikon D40: 124 x 94 x 64 mm (4.9 x 3.7 x 2.5 in)
Nikon D5000: 127 x 104 x 80 mm (5 x 4.1 x 3.2 in)
Nikon D90: 132 x 103 x 77 mm (5.2 x 4.1 x 3 in)


Nikon D40: 522 g (18.4 oz)
Nikon D5000: 590 g (20.8 oz)
Nikon D90: 703 g (24.8 oz)
 
Hi James, I was in the same position as you not so long ago so know what you're going through :)

I discounted the D5000 as the step-up from the D40 just wasn't enough and I knew that within a few months I'd be looking to upgrade again - and facing a loss due to initial depreciation on the D5000. In your situation it also falls short of the ideal in that it won't AF with older lenses.

My brother-in-law has a D80 and I found the controls and features were to my liking so bought a used one BUT I hadn't really thought about low-light performance - I do a lot of judo shots in poorly lit gymnasia. The result was that I ended up getting worse results than with the D40!

Within about 6 months I had upgraded again to the D90 - almost identical controls and much improved high ISO/low noise performance - purchased from a fellow TP member. I'm now in love wih my camera again and the itch to upgrade has gone completely. It's difficult to fault the D90, in my opinion, and if your budget will stretch that far then I would whole heartedly recommend it to you.

HTH :wave:
 
Agreed, a D90 sounds like it will fit the bill especially if you want to use your Dad's older lenses (the D3000 and D5000 won't work with them).
 
Agreed - if you can stretch the budget that far, then the D90 makes a lot more sense...
 
totally agree

I went from a D40 to a D90 and what a difference it made, also being able to use AF lenses was a big plus point

I also have the MB-D80 grip which imho gives the camera a better feel and more balance
:)
 
Thanks for all of the replies. I had a play with a D3000 when one of the staff at work bought one. I had been looking at a D90 on the web, might pop into the local camera shop to have a closer look :-)

James
 
Been the same rout recently. My issues were weight and animated screen . . . because I have a lot of grey hair:) getting down and dirty can be a problem, the animated screen helps here. Dragging loads of heavy lenses around is hard work, so I went back to basics, one lens 18-70mm.

Go D90 if the above is not a problem, plus, you get to use some of the old classic lenses, otherwise, I can thoroughly recommend a D5000, in physical operation it is a halfway house D40-D90, in performance . . . I say, my pictures now are better . . . :thinking: Yes, I had a D90 and could not get on with it, kept going back to my D40X.

That tells me, its all about handling, be comfortable . . . :thumbs:

CJS
 
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