I finally joined the DSLR club

[casualmadness]

My recent excursion to New York got me thinking about cameras. I played the tourist bit and had a lot of fun seeing all the sites and taking pictures. However, as you can see in my thread, my pictures leave a lot to be desired. Some look good, mind you. My digital p&s was top notch back in it's day (2003 or so). But now I can't even find replacement memory cards for it. So I'm stuck with a 64MB and two 16MB cards.

So I decided after my trip, I would look into DSLR. I'm no pro; and have no plans to become one. I'll never photog for hire. It's simply something to capture the moments as they pass in the most elegant and inexpensive way possible. So I don't need a $1000+ camera.

After several days of very thorough research, I decided to go with the Nikon D40. I actually just bought it a few minutes ago at lunch. I bought a kit. So it came with a zoom lens, a battery, memory card, etc.

The D40 hit the market in late 2006 and from what I can tell, it's still about the best non-pro DSLR that Nikon makes. At least that is the popular opinion.

The guy in the store really pushed me to upgrade to the D60. But all of the reviews that I read (seriously, like about 30 or so) all said that for the price, the D60 doesn't offer that many upgrades. But the clincher was one review I read at www.kenrockwell.com He basically said that if someone is trying to convince you to buy up to a D60 or D80 or higher, it's usually the sales person or someone who merely is impressed with the prestige that comes with owning a $1000 DSLR. So I decided that since I only want clearer, crisper vacation pictures, the D40 would be fine.

So I'm really stoked to try out my new camera. Of course this is my first SLR and I have to read up and learn to properly use it first. My p&s is an advanced camera. When I bought it new back in 2003 and it was the latest thing, it was almost $600. SO it has a lot of features that a SLR has. But it's old and outdated. So I decided to make the upgrade. Though I will keep my old p&s around to take pictures.

So any other DSLR users out there? Anyone else using the D40? Gripes? Complaints? Love it? Like it? Hate it?

[FL Knifemaker]

It's a great camera. I used one for about a year in between owning two Nikon 995's and the D200 I have now. The D200 is a phenominal camera but I only use about 10% of what's it's capable of

[casualmadness]

Originally Posted by FL Knifemaker

It's a great camera. I used one for about a year in between owning two Nikon 995's and the D200 I have now. The D200 is a phenominal camera but I only use about 10% of what's it's capable of

Yeah I looked at a D200 for a long time. Ultimately I just had to put it down and tell myself that I don't need it. Same thing with the D80. I just don't need to spend $1000 for something to take pictures of my g/f and I taking weekend road trips.

Of course since I've been back from lunch, from buying the camera; I;ve found a few articles telling me that I should have purchased the D80. Where the hell were those aritcles this morning??!!? ANyway, I'm gonna go check it out this weekend and make some pictures. Hopefully it will be a good camera for what I need.

[Busker]

Congrats on your new camera.

The body is probably great, and plenty capable. The kit lens may be perfectly suitable for general picture taking, but if you get serious, you may eventually want a better lens or two.

Most of the quality of the photo has to do with the lens, as you probably know.

[FL Knifemaker]

Originally Posted by casualmadness

Yeah I looked at a D200 for a long time. Ultimately I just had to put it down and tell myself that I don't need it. Same thing with the D80. I just don't need to spend $1000 for something to take pictures of my g/f and I taking weekend road trips.

Of course since I've been back from lunch, from buying the camera; I;ve found a few articles telling me that I should have purchased the D80. Where the hell were those aritcles this morning??!!? ANyway, I'm gonna go check it out this weekend and make some pictures. Hopefully it will be a good camera for what I need.

If you look at my website, most of those pics were taken with the 995 which isn't even a SLR. The rest where taken with the D40. Only the most recent ones are from the D200. By looking at them on the site, I doubt anyone could tell what camera was used. Most of my shots are done in a lightbox, long exposure, etc. Some are outside. Other than the dog pics I posted here a few days ago, I never use the onboard flash. The D200, DOES have a good, IDIOT PROOF, point and shoot function

[casualmadness]

Originally Posted by FL Knifemaker

The D200, DOES have a good, IDIOT PROOF, point and shoot function

I hope the same is true for the D40. I tend to require the idiot proof gadgets.

[casualmadness]

On this same topic: Those familiar with the D40; is it true that I have to buy motorized lenses? Also, I've heard that out of all of the lenses made by Nikon, there are only a few that work with the D40? Is this true?
I'm thinking that a good zoom and a good macro will be sufficient for me. I like up close, heavily detailed pictures. I also like big and full pictures that encompass everything. Anyone of you guys have any lens advice/reccomendations?

[tplyons]

Canon EOS 20D here. I didn't buy the 30D for the same reasons. The 20D is plenty good for my needs.

[sarcastro83]

I'm a D80 man, myself. I used to be an analogue purist, but then I went out shooting with a D80... it's just so... bloody... convenient...

damn you, Nikon. Damn you.

Congrats on the camera.

[Joe Gress]

At work there is a Canon DSLR (I don't know what model) that we use to take pictures of merchandise for our website. That and photo shop CS3 make data entry real fun. But other than that I have only used ones borrowed from friends while on trips. There pretty nice.

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by sarcastro83

I'm a D80 man, myself. I used to be an analogue purist, but then I went out shooting with a D80... it's just so... bloody... convenient...

I said the same thing. All I shot was black and white on an old Minolta XD-11, mostly 400TX, some 125PX, and a bit of infrared. I still use the Minny for IR work, but that's few and far between.

Frankly, I spent too much time in the darkroom being a perfectionist, so I figured the switch to digital would allow me to catch up on sleep.

[burk48237]

I'm running an old ancient D60 (from back when the typewriter was competition for Microsoft) I like it until I want to go larger then 11 X 14. It's very good but I'm still longing for the reseloution I got with 35mm and Fuji Velvia. And the 6mp is not there, I'm not sure the color will ever be there. That said I am lusting for D300 badly. Here's a couple of shots from the Smokies this spring.
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[dave64o]

Welcome to yet another world of G.A.S.


I bought my first dSLR (Canon Digital Rebel XTi) a little over a year ago and have been loving it. In that time I've replaced the one lens I bought with the camera and bought 4 other pretty nice ones as well as a nice flash unit that I'm still trying to figure out how to use.

Photography is as big a money pit as bass gear, but it's also a lot of fun learning a completely different art.

[Mark Latimour]

+1 on the money pit.

I have a 400D with the 17-85mm IS USM lens. I just picked up some crap in NYC like lens hoods, UV filters, a 70-300mm IS USM lens and a 50mm f1.8 prime lens. Prepare for all your money to disappear!

That said, much like basses, 99% of what you can do is in you and not the camera. Here's a couple of pics - only one was take with my SLR, the others were with a point and shoot:

[Ben Lesser]

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

+1 on the money pit.

I have a 400D with the 17-85mm IS USM lens. I just picked up some crap in NYC like lens hoods, UV filters, a 70-300mm IS USM lens and a 50mm f1.8 prime lens. Prepare for all your money to disappear!

I've got that same 50mm lens and it's my main lens now for just about everything, particularly casual photography.

I've eyed that 70-300mm IS lens before, but it's got a hefty price tag on it, at least here, and I'm not ready to upgrade from the 75-300mm lens I got with my camera.

Did you upgrade from one to the other? If so, how much better do you like it? It's still a long way off, but I might pick one up next year.

[Mark Latimour]

Originally Posted by Ben Lesser

I've got that same 50mm lens and it's my main lens now for just about everything, particularly casual photography.

I've eyed that 70-300mm IS lens before, but it's got a hefty price tag on it, at least here, and I'm not ready to upgrade from the 75-300mm lens I got with my camera.

Did you upgrade from one to the other? If so, how much better do you like it? It's still a long way off, but I might pick one up next year.

No, I didn't get the kit lens with my camera as I heard they were a bit plasticy. Instead I just went with the single 17-85 IS USM lens which is a good all round performer. I was in NYC and was going to get the 70-300mm IS USM DO lens, but it was about $1200 with tax and the non-DO, IS USM lens is half that price. After looking at the two side by side, the space saving in the DO lens wasn't enough to justify it so I went with the cheaper lens as it performs the same without the shorter length of the DO lens. To cut a long story short, I can't compare it to the kit lens. However, the IS lens is handy when you are using the long zoom because the IS really has an effect then. I almost never use it on the 17-85 except in low light conditions, but its really handy on the longer lens.

B&H Photo where I got my lens had a second hand L series 100-400mm lens for sale for the same price as the new DO lens. I would have got it, but the L series was just too big and heavy and looked ridiculous on the 400D body!

[dave64o]

Originally Posted by Mark Latimour

+1 on the money pit.

I have a 400D with the 17-85mm IS USM lens. I just picked up some crap in NYC like lens hoods, UV filters, a 70-300mm IS USM lens and a 50mm f1.8 prime lens. Prepare for all your money to disappear!

If I'm not mistaken the 400D is the same model as my XTi and I have a few of the same lenses. I bought the 70-300mm IS USM for my son's outdoor soccer games and have found it to be a great lens, at least for daytime games. Under the lights, I'd have to spend a lot more thna I did on that lens to take decent shots. But in the kind of conditions it was made for, I think it has great image quality.

I also bought the "Nifty 50" 50mm 1.8 prime. At $75, how could you NOT buy it?!?!?! I actually haven't used it much, but I've found it to be a really nice lens for portraits, especially if I stop it down a little bit. I also have a friend who has taken some spectacular very low light concert photos with it on his 5D.

[burk48237]

I recently reduced my kit considerably. I sold my Nikkor 35-70 2.8, 70 -210 2.8 and my 24 2.8. I replaced them all with the 18-200 3.5-4.6 VR zoom, I know I lost some speed, but the light weight keeps the camera in my hands more, and the VR almost makes up for the lost stops. I still have a 100 2.8 macro and a 300 4. I'm also running the SB800 flash and I use a Kirk Ball head with a Gitzo Carbon Fiber tripod for almost everything. I can't believe the difference the Graphite tripod in vibration for stationary shots. Also, I use either Nikor or B & W polarizers, and Singh Ray graduated Neutral Density filters. I don't like polarizing in Photo shop, the color density is not as good. I must admit the biggest difference is the size of my camera bag when I made the switch, with film I had to have two bodies just to carry a slow and faster film.
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[Ben Lesser]

That first shot is breathtaking, Burk.

[casualmadness]

Ok so I bought the D40 today at lunch. I got it at the post exchange. That's a military retail outlet for you non military types. On the way home from work, I stopped at best buy to check out some camera bags since they didn't have any at the PX. While I was in best buy, I noticed that they had the D40 for like $50 cheaper than the PX. And if I wanted to upgrade my kit to another lens, it was only like $100 more. So yeah...GAS took over and I decided to return the PX camera and buy the one at best buy.

The guy at best buy said that they didn't have everything for the kit in stock. So he got on the computer and found the total package at a neighbor store like five miles away. So I went there; which was right by the PX, that I was going to anyway.

When I got to the new best buy, I grabbed the same card advertising the D40 package that I wanted. While I was waiting for someone to help me, I was checking out the other cameras. I started checking out the D60 and I kinda liked it. I snapped a few pics in the store and really got interested. Then I started scrolling through the different options for kits. Then I noticed a card for the D60 advertising a D60 body and two lenses for less than what I was about to pay for the D40 and two lenses.
So I decided to pay less and get a slight upgrade in camera. Why wouldn't I?

So anyway, the guy finally shows up and I tell him what I want. He gets it and escorts me to the front of the line to a register, since he was not the camera guy.

The guy at the register rings it up and it was $200 over the advertised price on the tag. I told the guy what it should be and he made some calls and finally asked me to show him where I got the price. So we head back to the camera section. The card was gone but the kid who helped me happened to still be there. So I asked him for the price tag and thankfully he still had it.

He showed the tag and there was a moment of like four best buy guys gawking over the price. Then a manager came over. The manager immediately said, "That's a mistake!" But then he told the register guy to "price match it and then throw that card away."

The even more cool thing is there was no tax. I paid exactly what was on the card! Score!

So now I'm learning about my new D60.