Nikon d40 right choice for my son

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I am going to buy my son a camera for xmas and decided possibly on the D40, I myself have a D200 and a D300.

Nikon D40 SLR 6MP 18-55 Lens

My question is that someone said previously that the D40 has no auto focus, is that true ?

I also read that you get auto focus from af-s lenses, well would the lens that comes with it the 18-55 have auto focus. It would need to as my son is 16 and really never touched a camera before as complex as this but is keen to start. Your comment welcome to help me make my decision wehter this is a good started DSLR?

Thanks
 
I would defiantly go for a d80, the advantages over the d40 are too many to list.
 
the lens on the D40 have to be AFS, you still can use other lenses but you have to manually forcus with em. i totally loved my D40, but get a D80 if possible.
 
The 18-55 will be absolutely fine. It is an AF-S lens (rather than just a plain AF lens). The D40 is an entry level camera and would be ideal for your son. I think the D40 even has a menu/display system ideally suited to beginners.

A D80 would be much more expensive, and I'm guessing that's not where you want to be. :)
 
Although many would suggest going for the d80 straight away I personally think your son would be better 'learning the ropes' as it were with the d40. The menu system and settings are not as complex and the d40 is a beginners slr.
 
Joe T said:
The 18-55 will be absolutely fine. It is an AF-S lens (rather than just a plain AF lens). The D40 is an entry level camera and would be ideal for your son. I think the D40 even has a menu/display system ideally suited to beginners.

A D80 would be much more expensive, and I'm guessing that's not where you want to be. :)
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I never understood the meaning of an entry level camera. In reality its just another way of saying its a bare bones lowest spec model. They aren't good value, they just take out all the stuff worth paying for. I had a D40 before i got the D80 and i can say 100% positivitly, it didn't help me learn photography, or how to use a DSLR any easier than a D3 would of. If your son has any taste for photography he will outgrow the D40 very quickly.

Terrible autofocus, most compacts are more advanced, it obviously has no inbult AF motor (i won't bother saying why this is a disadvantage), no bracketing, and although the ISO is going to be better than any compact/bridge camera out to date, its still one of the worst i've seen on a dslr.

The size of the camera is subjective, i soon found once you add a retatively large lens, you hold the lens, not the camera. It also has no genuine battery grip either. Im not sure what the actual tech specs are, but i noticed the D80's viewfinder to be far nicer too (I have no idea if there is any difference though).

Edit: Just thought i would add, you need to understand photography to use a dSLR, not the other way around.
 
Just thought I would add my opinion on this having bought my own dSLR for the first time recently - I'm 18 and literally just getting into photography, and although I considered the D40 I figured that if I got at all into it I would outgrow that camera and want something better very fast - which would just be a waste of money. The D80 would be a much better choice in my opinion, but obviously it comes with the added price tag - and that may not be an option for you.

I'll still say though that I think your son will be happy with the camera whether it be a D40 or a D80; they're both nice cameras and a beginner to photography wouldn't know the difference in all honesty.
 
Thank you very much for your quick replies and realise that in the long run I will be beter with the D80. It's great being able to ask for advice from people that have been in that situation.

Thanks again.
 
also depends on budget

the d40 has been a great starter kit for me, for not costing as much as the other options.
 
Just let me say, if I may, since Jan. last year I've bough 3 D40 ... love them to bits, sometimes they get more use than my D200 (now sold) and my D300.
 
I got bought a D40 buy my friends for my 40th birthday earlier this year, not top of my list when I was looking around, I was considering a D480. But seeing as I'm just starting out I have found it to be a great little camera to begin experimenting with. The 18-55 lens is fine and does AF. But I managed to get a bargain 55-200 Sigma lens off ebay for £26 and it performs really well with this lens. Plus the price is coming down now too.
One tip, don't buy it from Amazon as I had a problem with the flash on mine and it took
a lot of messing around trying to get an exchange. Got my mate to get a refund in the end then went to Jessops and got a new one there.
Been great since.

Good Luck.
 
The one thing I would say is that whilst having nice gear is not paramouont it can realoly help with the enjoyment factor. Certainly I dont regret stretching my budget to buy a better camera when I first got into SLRs


Alex
 
The D80 is a much much better choice, with its easy uability and great features. this is what i started with.
 
i think the d3x is a better choice ,
 
TempusV said:
Just thought I would add my opinion on this having bought my own dSLR for the first time recently - I'm 18 and literally just getting into photography, and although I considered the D40 I figured that if I got at all into it I would outgrow that camera and want something better very fast - which would just be a waste of money. The D80 would be a much better choice in my opinion, but obviously it comes with the added price tag - and that may not be an option for you.
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I can second this theory. I know by now where I am, in my first year of photography at college I would of rapidly grown out of a D40 which I was cosidering buying over the D80.
 
I am struggling to understand some comments here? How the hell do you 'outgrow' a camera with a MANUAL setting? Some people forget Pro cameras 20 years back were the ones with FEWER features. Look at an F4 Nikon, or an F1 Canon? Just built to a spec so you could use one to hammer nails in. Otherwise, VERY basic tools.

My thought? Find a used D50. Jake started with one, and still has it, it works alongside his D200. I just found 2 in LCE Leamington, £150 each, with an 18-55 on. The D50 has the screwdriver connection for older Nikkor AF lenses. They are just as capable as my Olympus E-1s were.
 
catmangler said:
I am struggling to understand some comments here? How the hell do you 'outgrow' a camera with a MANUAL setting? Some people forget Pro cameras 20 years back were the ones with FEWER features. Look at an F4 Nikon, or an F1 Canon? Just built to a spec so you could use one to hammer nails in. Otherwise, VERY basic tools.

My thought? Find a used D50. Jake started with one, and still has it, it works alongside his D200. I just found 2 in LCE Leamington, £150 each, with an 18-55 on. The D50 has the screwdriver connection for older Nikkor AF lenses. They are just as capable as my Olympus E-1s were.
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You can outgrow anything ;)
 
So buy a RED? Fully modular system, from 5 to 50 grand for a body...
 
I think the D40 will be the best choice, its cheap and you can get great photos from it.

From what i have herd its not worth upgrading to a D80 from a D40, So stick with a D40
 
catmangler said:
I am struggling to understand some comments here? How the hell do you 'outgrow' a camera with a MANUAL setting? Some people forget Pro cameras 20 years back were the ones with FEWER features. Look at an F4 Nikon, or an F1 Canon? Just built to a spec so you could use one to hammer nails in. Otherwise, VERY basic tools.

My thought? Find a used D50. Jake started with one, and still has it, it works alongside his D200. I just found 2 in LCE Leamington, £150 each, with an 18-55 on. The D50 has the screwdriver connection for older Nikkor AF lenses. They are just as capable as my Olympus E-1s were.
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In the case of the D40 you could outgrow it simply through the lack of an AF motor - it isn't just a case of the technical specifications; the D80 is a generally more advanced camera, and less of a low-spec entry-level camera.

I must agree with the D50 idea though; if I had a choice between a D40 and a D50 I'd go with the D50 any day :)
 
I started with a D40X. Great 1st camera, but the limited choice of lenses was one the reasons I upgraded to a D200 (plus the fact i use alot of older AIS lenses and wanted metering).

I know its a slightly older model, but what about a D70? Would be ideal as a 1st camera (if in fact it is his first!), plus it will autofocus with all nikon AF lenses, not just AF-S, so he could nick yours :). Even better is that you could pick a minter up for less than a D40 :)
 
One thing I notice from all the comments, is that no one has mention the D60, most jump from getting the D40 to D80 ?

Have you thought about the Fuji S5 pro?
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I want him to be able to use my Nikon lenses later, if they are compatable and since I am used to the Nikon it will help him I suppose.

He has signed up for a digital photographery part time course at the local college which starts in January. (lol more than I did)

I was looking at getting his D40/D80 from Argos, but bought my D200 & D300 from Jessops so will probably go there for reason that they are very close to me, quite a large one in Edinburgh and always been fair. Not the cheapest but always reliable.

Thanks for comments
 
The D60 really isnt worth the cash difference from the D40 - the only difference, if I recall correctly, is the D60 is 10mp vs 6mp and it has sensor dust removal. The D80, on the other hand, has a lot of extra functionality over the D40.

One minor thing I don't think has been mentioned, when shooting in manual mode, because the D40 only has one dial you have to use that to set both the shutter speed and the aperture (with the use of a 2nd button which I could never remember). I used to find it irritating and as such never used manual as it was a bit of a faff. The D80 has 2 dials so one is used for shutter speed and one for aperture. I have this on my D300 and find it a LOT more intuitive and as such have been shooting a fair bit more in manual.

I certainly would look at a D50 over a D40, it has more focus points and a built in Auto Focus motor so is compatible with a lot more lenses. If the budget can stretch to it then a Fuji S5 pro would be fantastic as long as he isnt wanting to shoot sports and motor sports. Otherwise a D80 should be a good option.
 
I'm not sure many people would outgrow a D40 artistically. It is capable of taking 90% of pictures we see unless we begin to specialise in sports or other more demanding area. I know someone with a D40 and standard lens and their imagination and pictures are better than anything I produce with a lot more kit! It is a nice camera and a very good price. £219 online when I noticed a few days ago somewhere. I have a D70s which is older but still very capable, in fact I prefer it's bigger size over a D80/D90/D40. It shares a 6 MP sensor like the D40. It is enough, but not ideal. It can be a limiting factor if cropping pictures but not unless you blow them up quite a considerable size. The D70/D80/D200 etc. also have the very useful top panel LCD that gives information about camera settings and of course all these cameras have the body built-in AF. If you are prepared to buy secondhand a D70/s would be a more 'professional' choice as would a new or secondhand D80 but I'd still suggest that a D40 is a very capable camera. No ofence to the above poster but I wouldn't bother with a D50 if it's price is so close to a secondhand D70. The D70s has improved focussing and some minor tweaks.

I'm not sure why the D40 auto-focussing above is criticised. My experience of it with a friend using for family, landscapes and general photography with the 18-55 is flawless.
 
Credibles said:
One thing I notice from all the comments, is that no one has mention the D60, most jump from getting the D40 to D80 ?



I want him to be able to use my Nikon lenses later, if they are compatable and since I am used to the Nikon it will help him I suppose.

He has signed up for a digital photographery part time course at the local college which starts in January. (lol more than I did)

I was looking at getting his D40/D80 from Argos, but bought my D200 & D300 from Jessops so will probably go there for reason that they are very close to me, quite a large one in Edinburgh and always been fair. Not the cheapest but always reliable.

Thanks for comments
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If its Edinburgh, remember to price match them against Warehouse Express - they always will. Also if you get the guy who looks like Frodo from Lord of the Rings, he is filter-fantastic. He normally further discounts and throws filters in too.
 
I got a D60 about 6 months ago as my first DSLR. As I took more photographs and spent more time reading sites like this I realized I wanted shallower depth of field to make the pictures I wanted. So now I use the 50mm 1.8 on manual focus until I can aford the sigma with built in AF motor. In hindsight I wish I had:

A. Saved money, got the D40, spent it on lens.

B. Invested a little more on a D80.
 
I have the D40X (same as D40 but has 10mp) I love it, it does what I want it to do. It takes some lovely picures and the lens that comes with it does auto focus. Ok so most lenses you get don't but I have not found this to be a problem, I just use manual focus. Manual focus really isn't a big deal, in fact I use manual focus even on the lenses that do have auto focus and I only got into photography in June and this was my first camera.
It doesn't have some of the extra specs some cameras have but as a beginner you don't need that.

As a first DSLR I feel and this is my personal opinion and one of the reasons I bought a basic camera is that I wanted to get a basic camera so I could learn the fundamentals about photography and how to use the manual settings without getting bogged down by all the techie specs and fancy things some other models have.

I think for a 16 year old beginner it is a great camera, also this way when it comes to upgrading he can decide himself at a later point want HE wants in a better model before spending all that money.

But then saying all that I am biased as I have a similar camera :)
 
so all you need to make a camera work then is ,,
a way of changing the aperture
a way of changing the shutter speed

a way of metering the light is also fairly useful ,,,

so there you have it get a d40 and go out and take some luvverly pictures
 
id say D80, i got the D60, and wish i got the D80 (due to AF-S lenses needed on D60)
 
Nicola.P said:
I have the D40X (same as D40 but has 10mp) I love it, it does what I want it to do. It takes some lovely picures and the lens that comes with it does auto focus. Ok so most lenses you get don't but I have not found this to be a problem, I just use manual focus. Manual focus really isn't a big deal, in fact I use manual focus even on the lenses that do have auto focus and I only got into photography in June and this was my first camera.
It doesn't have some of the extra specs some cameras have but as a beginner you don't need that.

As a first DSLR I feel and this is my personal opinion and one of the reasons I bought a basic camera is that I wanted to get a basic camera so I could learn the fundamentals about photography and how to use the manual settings without getting bogged down by all the techie specs and fancy things some other models have.


I think for a 16 year old beginner it is a great camera, also this way when it comes to upgrading he can decide himself at a later point want HE wants in a better model before spending all that money.

But then saying all that I am biased as I have a similar camera :)
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:agree: I agree with everything Nicola says. The D40 or D40X is an excellent first camera, and there is no reason why you can't use it when more proficient. It's just a little more complicated to get to some of the settings than in the D80 and you do need to learn how to manual focus when using non AFS lens, but I thought that was what learning photography was all about. I think the OP is being more than generous planning on buying his son a D40, so guys just stop trying to spend all his hard earned money for him.:shake:
 
I don't think anyone here is trying to spend money for the OP - I think everyone who has posted understands that it is just as much about money as the camera itself; but providing opinions on whether that money spent will be a good investment is what this thread is for.
 
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