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Nikon D40?
My dad and I want to do a little father-son thing during his upcoming retirement and we're both thinking photography.
He's got a strong background (Photo major in an LA art school and a combat photographer in the Army). Back in the early 70's he sold off his equipment (Leica's in many formats) to help fund my upbringing
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Plus, I've been a Photoshopper since v5 (I currently have CS). I use a Mac G5 and Dad will be on a Dell. I'll get him CS2 (or 3?) when the time comes.
Bottom line is that he and I are both manual types. Auto functions are not in our mind set.
I'd like to set both of us up with basic, but capable systems. The Nikon D-40 seems pretty good for the price. Perhaps I missed it on Nikon's site but from what I can tell, the cam does have a full manual mode (including manual focus).
I'm wondering what the general opinion is on this cam. Steve's Digicam site has not yet reviewed it.
It comes with an 18-55mm lens. I'm thinking of getting the 18-200mm they make as well. Good idea?
Thanks.
He's got a strong background (Photo major in an LA art school and a combat photographer in the Army). Back in the early 70's he sold off his equipment (Leica's in many formats) to help fund my upbringing
.Plus, I've been a Photoshopper since v5 (I currently have CS). I use a Mac G5 and Dad will be on a Dell. I'll get him CS2 (or 3?) when the time comes.
Bottom line is that he and I are both manual types. Auto functions are not in our mind set.
I'd like to set both of us up with basic, but capable systems. The Nikon D-40 seems pretty good for the price. Perhaps I missed it on Nikon's site but from what I can tell, the cam does have a full manual mode (including manual focus).
I'm wondering what the general opinion is on this cam. Steve's Digicam site has not yet reviewed it.
It comes with an 18-55mm lens. I'm thinking of getting the 18-200mm they make as well. Good idea?
Thanks.
A Nikon D90 plus some Nikon, Sigma & Tokina lenses.
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Have you held one? they're small and will cramp up big hands. If latest and greatest isn't what you need, but want better ergos, a very nice used D70 can still be had for the same as a new D40.
moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]
So the D40 is rather new? I guessed the smaller number (40 vs 50, 70, 80) meant older. I (we) don't need the latest neccesarily.
A used D70. Hmmm? Kind of a scary thought. I've never bought used before, especially 2. Have to look into it some more.
Never even seen a D40 in person. Still just looking for a direction to lean toward, then we'll head to the store for a look and feel.
1. D40 is the newest Nikon body. It is essentially a "D50 lite" because there is NO internal focusing motor. All AF Nikon bodies to date have had a motor in the body, not this one, a la Canon, the motor must be in the lens. So in terms of autofocus ability, you are limited to what are currently "the best" Nikkor lenses = AFS
2. If you want to manual focus, the nice part about Nikkor, is that you can mount any Nikkor lens that is of the AI generation or newer. Pre-AI glass (~30yrs old) can be modified to work, F-mount has been the same, just AF and aperture tabs have changed.
3. Don't be afraid of buying used. Did you notice my signature? I run a tight ship and can recommend other such forums.
moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]
What DrIT is trying to say is that you can not use manual-only lenses with the D40, meaning any older non-autofocus lens.
Don't tell me what I'm trying to say when you read my reply incorrectly.:nono
Actually, it is now you doing the confusing thanks to your misunderstanding of Nikon mount.
Guys, it's quite simple:
D70, D50, D2- = HAVE internal focus drive
D40 = does NOT have internal focus drive
AFS lenses = HAVE a focus drive
nonAFS lenses (AFD,G) = do NOT have focus drive
Therefore, as any review of the D40 will tell you, it can only autofocus with AFS lenses.
moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]
If you want one lens, get the 18-200mm. If you have the 18-200mm, I see no reason to have also the 18-55mm, unless you want a (physically) smaller lens. If that is the case, then consider also the 18-70mm which is a little faster aperture at the tele end, and is nearly as small as the 18-55mm.
Here is why I went with the K100 over the D40
1) Built in Image Stabalizer: It really works. I have used it and its great. I am so happy that I don't have to spend $500 extra per lens to get this feature.
2) Awesome kit lens: there was no comparison...the Pentax was worlds better than the Nikon or Canon in my opinion.
3) Better 11 Point Auto Focus: Just my feelings. The Pentax AF is awesome. More flexible than the D40 and as accurate as any of the competitors.
4) Status LCD on top: nice feature...in every professional camera. D40 cuts it.
5) It has a drive motor -I would not be able to use any of the newer f/2.8 zoom lenses offered by tamron or sigma with the D40.
6) The both have great lenses but the quality of the pentax primes that I have used was also a factor in tipping the scale. Their limited lenses are really amazing. (I've only used the 31mm though...so thats not an authoritative comment or anything)
Also:
If you are serious about image quality you would do better with 2 lenses over getting the 18-200mm. Thats a long range and the image qualty wont be as good as say an 18-50mm and a 50-200mm combo.
Just my thoughts. The D40 is good, but for me, the K100d was a much better value and produces better results. Good luck on the decision.
moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]
You clarified it for me! Thanks!!
My old Sony F707 is not a DSLR (I think?) and yet it does not have a seperate viewfinder. When I'm looking through the eyepiece or the view screen I get what the lens is seeing. Somewhere on a forum (this?) I read that with DSLR's the view screen does not show the image until after you shoot and then it's showing you the image you shot. So, if true, one would need to compose through the eyepiece. Am I correct on this or will the view screen show a pre-shot, live image?
On my old Canon AT-1, my 50mm f1.4 lens is just that. 50mm, f1.4. In the DSLR world is it a 1:1 ratio? ie, if one can find a 50mm f1.4 lens for a DSLR, are those specs similar to the 35mm type lens?
On SLRs, there are mirrors that allow you to see thru the lens, directly. When you click the shutter, the mirror lifts out of the way, and the sensor gets exposed for whatever amount of time you requested. So the reason you dont see an image on the screen is because the sensor sees nothing as the mirror is in the way. So yes, you do have to compose thru the viewfinder.
The only exception to this is the Olympus E330, and variants, like the Panasonic and Leica versions. These are what I will call 'hybrid' as they provide another sensor, buried in the viewfinder mechanics, to display on the screen what is being seen thru the viewfinder. The Olympus also has a far more complicated version that also provides a direct, live view of the sensor, but you can read about that on dpreview.com.
OK, on your old canon, the size of the 35mm negative and how it relates to how your eyes see it meant that at 50mm lens closely approximated our eyes field of view. Now, this is where math comes in: the reason we said 50mm was like our eyes was because of the relationship of field of view projected on the 35mm film. Change one of these, and the relationship changes. Most DSLRs use sensors that are smaller than the 35mm negative, so that means the 50mm is no longer equivalent to our eyes field of view. (except for the Canon 5D, which uses a 35mm size sensor).
Most call this difference in size vs 35mm the "crop factor". For most Canon's it is 1.6, Nikon's it is 1.5 and Olympus 2.0. this means you need to multiply the lens mm by the crop factor to see what '35mm equivalent" the lens is. In this case, a 50mm on a Canon is similar to a 80mm on a 35mm camera. Most look to 35mm lens to be closer to what the eye sees on DSLRs.
So, to see if I get it:
-The D40 will only let me see the image on its screen after I shoot it. I must compose through the viewfinder.
-A Nikon 18mm lens for a DSLR is the equivelent of 27mm in the 35mm world.
I also noticed to two f-stop designations on the Nikon lens:
f/3.5-5.6G
Not sure what that means as I'd assume the lens would close down past f5.6.
The range indicates the max apeture at each end of zoom range. So you can go maximum 3.5 at 18mm, but at 55mm, it will only open up to 5.6. It will of course close down to 16 or 32 or whatever the lens supports, in any focal length.
Correct, and I might add that the reason maximum aperture information is critical in that effective aperture affects autofocus speed and the ability to use telextenders, as well as more choices in ISO and shutter speed, especially in low light conditions. This is often a distinguishing difference between consumer lenses and "pro" lenses, in that more "pro" lenses have constant apertures, and that the maximum aperture is usually larger on the "pro" lenses.
ziggy53
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
I have a d70, and I'd say my one major, major gripe with the camera is the size of the viewfinder. It's next to impossible to tell when something's in focus through the eyepiece, especially when doing macro. Maybe my eyes are extremely bad (only off by 3 diopters), but I just can't do it. I'm told that the old film viewfinders were much better, because they were much bigger and brighter. I do not know if the d40 solves this problem; I'm told the d80 uses the d200 viewfinder, which means it essentially has solved the problem. Since you only want to do manual focus, I really, really recommend holding the camera you want in your hand and making sure you can focus with it, through the eyepiece.
Second, the crop factor on a nikon or any current, cheaper-than-2.5k camera (ie, not the canon 5d) will be an issue. For instance, if you get a 50mm lens, then that becomes a 75mm lens (on a nikon) and an 80 mm lens (on a canon) and a 100mm lens (on an olympus). If you shoot wide, and aren't planning on spending money for a full frame camera, the nikon has the widest crop factor at 1.5. This means that your lenses will be wider than they would be with other manufacturers, but they still won't be the true width of the 35mm film systems.
It all depends on where you want to start. If your dad only wants to use primes and manually focus, a nikon d80 with a 35mm f/2 (52 mm equivalent) might be a good place to start. Sigma also makes a 30mm f/1.4 for a bit more money that ends up being a 45mm on Nikon, 48mm on Canon, I don't know if they make it for Olympus. But, if I were your dad and I trained on quality, pro glass, I'd think twice before grabbing an 18-200 and hoping I could manually focus through a low-end viewfinder.
I hope that helps.
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I guess the bottom line to all of this is to go to the store and try them all out. Great advice guys. I appreciate it.