nikon d40 upgrade to built in motor

neastguy

I'm thinking about upgrading to a Nikon cam that has a built in focus motor.. most likely used.. I have a lens that is not auto focus and its starting to annoy me (having to try to get that pic with little one not staying still... missing shots).. to replace it with the built in motor would be an extra $200, therefore I would think upgrading the body would be a better route.. any suggestions on what camera would be a good choice.. I do like the compact size of the d40, but is not a deal breaker.... thanks..

swintonphoto

Well, the cheapest route would be to get a D70 or D50. They pretty much have the same sensor as the D40. Otherwise look for a D80. The D80 is an upgrade. The D50 will be most similar to the D40 in size. My brother has one and it's very nice to use.

Tim Kamppinen

swintonphoto wrote:

Well, the cheapest route would be to get a D70 or D50. They pretty much have the same sensor as the D40. Otherwise look for a D80. The D80 is an upgrade. The D50 will be most similar to the D40 in size. My brother has one and it's very nice to use.

The D50 is quite a bit larger than the D40, roughly the same size as the D90. I upgraded a few months ago from the D40 to the D90, and I love the new camera. Much better at high ISO's, able to autofocus with non-AF-S lenses, much easier acess to key controls like WB and ISO, two dials, one for aperture and one for shutter speed, etc, etc. That said, if the D90 is out of your price range I'd definitely look for a used D80 as a D50 or D70 would be pretty marginal upgrades from a D40 and would probably actually be worse at high ISO's.

neastguy

thanks.. the d90 looks like a nice upgrade.. how do you know it has the built in AF for lenses that don't focus on there own.. well you know what I mean, just don't know the terminology

ziggy53

neastguy wrote:

thanks.. the d90 looks like a nice upgrade.. how do you know it has the built in AF for lenses that don't focus on there own.. well you know what I mean, just don't know the terminology

So far, I believe that only the Nikon D40, D40x and D60 lack the in-body focus screw mechanism for Nikon AF-D lenses.

If you ever want to use manual focus, Nikon "F" mount lenses, with focus confirmation "and" metering, the list becomes much more exclusive.

jziegler

ziggy53 wrote:

So far, I believe that only the Nikon D40, D40x and D60 lack the in-body focus screw mechanism for Nikon AF-D lenses.

If you ever want to use manual focus, Nikon "F" mount lenses, with focus confirmation "and" metering, the list becomes much more exclusive.

Very close, but you missed one. The new D5000 does not have the focus motor either. That said, for the original poster, is there a specific lens that you want that does not come have an AF-S/HSM version? I bought the D60 knowing about the motor issues, and decided that the selection of the lenses with motors is good enough that my needs could be met. It does make finding used lenses a bit more difficult though.