Just bought a D40 - Very impressed

[madgames]

Its my sons birthday today and yesterday i sent my A200 in for repair as it kept screwing up the cf cards.

I needed a camera fast to get me by while the Sony was being fixed. So i bought a D40 yesterday from currys in town for £299 and i get £30 cashback from Nikon.

First off i must say im very impressed, my misses took some cracking shots with the kit lens and camera on auto settings. So if anyone wants a cheap GOOD slr for not bad money i guess you could do a lot worse with a D40 , may even flog the A200 and just get some lens for this.

Some samples if your interested , most on Auto settings with no tinkering.

 

[U'R'ss]

Many of us keep saying what a great (cheap) camera it is
lovely shoots

 

[madgames]

yeah i cant believe it , its awesome
One thing that im not sure about is the lens as i hear they need to be motorised or something.
Whats is best prime lens to get and also one for close up of bugs etc ?

 

[h4rri]

One thing that im not sure about is the lens as i hear they need to be motorised or something.

The Nikon-ites will doubtless be along shortly with corrections and recommendations but AFAIK the D40 [the D40x does though] have an in body focus motor system so any lens you buy would need the AF motor on board [believe this is referred to as an AFS motor].

I wouldn't be too concerned though as this is becoming the norm on a lot of both Nikon and 3rd party [Sigma et al] lenses.

Lovely little camera which produces some smashing shots on 'auto' too so you must be chuffed. Did the missus like it? Is she going to want one now

 

[dfrear]

Im no Nikon-ite but im quite sure the D40x doesnt have a built-in motor either (according to dpreview anyway)

 

[h4rri]

Im no Nikon-ite but im quite sure the D40x doesnt have a built-in motor either (according to dpreview anyway)

Ah, my bad. Was sure the 'x' was released with the AF-S motor onboard. Ah well we live and learn

 

[TarMoo]

The best Macro lens for Nikon D40 would be a 105mm f2.8 VR.

 

[madgames]

The best Macro lens for Nikon D40 would be a 105mm f2.8 VR.

Thanks , is that motorised and will work well with the D40 ?

H4rri yeah she likes it , although i may just give her the A200 and keep the nikon myself , although after 1 day i love it so much it may be time to look at the next Nikon up from this one , i guess its the D300 ?
Are they similar size as i love the small size of this, had a canon 40D and sold it as it was quite big and heavy

Cheers

 

[onefunkypenguin]

the d300 is loads bigger and heavier than the d40!

thats why i love the d40, i have small girly hands so it suits me just fine.

you get used to manually focussing, it really isnt that difficult tbh and its not like you need to do it with every lens.

nikon, sigma and tamron all make lenses that autofocus with the d40/d40x/d60 so no need to worry!

 

[madgames]

Thanks for the info

Maybe you can recommend me some motorised lens to go with this camera
I think ill stick with this size wise then as i prefer small camera feel.

 

[Yandros]

Thanks , is that motorised and will work well with the D40 ?


Cheers

Yes it is, and yes it will. It's more expensive than the 3rd party macro lenses like the Tamron 90mm f2.8 (which AREN'T AF on the D40), but it also has vibration reduction, which is great for hand held moderate closeup work

 

[TarMoo]

Regarding the 105VR. It is a great lens - very sharp and because of the 4 stops worth of image stabilisation allows many close shots which would otherwise require a tripod.

Take a look at www.flickr.com/photos/tarmoo/sets/72157604998450350/detail/ and www.flickr.com/photos/tarmoo/sets/72157604865345269/detail/

All these were taken with a 105VR. A great lens because you can take macro photos of flowers hand-held. Also takes nice portraits.

Paulie W has a D40 and a 105VR. Some of his latest pictures on flickr show you what you can do with this combination. ... See www.flickr.com/photos/23893466@N04/.

 

[madgames]

Thansk for that , wow its around £450 price mark , must be good
Also do they do a 50mm prime with motor ?

 

[willykatie]

You could get 50mm f1.8 for portrait. It's excellent lens but no AF i'm afraid
You can get it really cheap for this now.
Also you could get 70-300mm VR for macro as well as long zoom

 

[U'R'ss]

I have a 18-70mm nikon and the sigma 70-300mm macro (with motor) you can get both for around £200 for the pair and are pretty good

 

[Moviebuff]

Another vote for the 105mm 2.8 VR - bought one a couple of weeks ago, and it is a superb lens.

Nice shots by the way - good luck with your "backup" camera ....

 

[madgames]

Yeah thanks
Will look into getting one, wheres the cheapest place to get one ?

 

[Yandros]

I've got some new bird of prey portraits with the 105VR from last week - I'll post them later.

In the meantime, here's a load of pics using it for flower macros...

http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=756921

As Rasputin says, it's a full 4 stops VR system that'll help the little D40 punch even more above it's weight. Talking of weight though - it's quite a chunky lens (heavier than the D40 body!).

 

[madgames]

Cheers there awesome pictures, guess ill buy one
Just trying to find one at the right money
Lucky for me im 2 minutes away from Swains , one of the largest camera wholesalers in Europe, trade only
They let me buy stuff cash over the counter though

 

[onefunkypenguin]

iv just got a new 'kit' lens, the tamron 17-50 f2.8, id consider that too! was just over 200 at onestop and its fully automatic.

 

[ScottBT]

The D40 is a great camera. I've had one just over a year and have bought good glass to go with it. The quality is excellent.

 

[lmccauley]

Whats is best prime lens to get ... ?

The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 gets good reviews. It has a similar field of view as a 50mm lens on a 35mm film camera. It also has a HSM motor.

Just bought one for just over £200 from onestop for my D50.

 

[padi89]

Don't get caught up in "it won't auto focus".For macro work your going to be using manual anyway so the Tamron 90mm is a cracking buy for your D40.I have 3 lens that don't auto focus on my D40 and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.The kit lens and the 55-200mm cover me if i need a lens for action.

 

[mjw123]

Many of us been saying for ages what a stunning camera the D40 is. Glad to see others realising this.

In terms of VFM it's incredible now.

Add the 50mm F1.8 prime, 55-220VR, SB400 speedlight flash and you have a great set-up.

 

[Boldonion]

Another happy D40 camper here. I have the kit lens ( never used ) Nikkor 18 -135 ,Sigma 10-20 HSM, and a 50m f1.8 ( which I can happily manual focus ) . Tamron 17-50 is next on the list . Buy decent glass and you take it with you to your next body. The 50m f1.8 is the only lens i wish would auto focus, but then again I hardly ever take portraits.