Buy D40 or D40x...?

[chanjyj]

thanks to all gurus for ur advise... wasn't able to reply cause of working schedule... i think i will go for d40 cause of my budget... hehe... so now is the second question liao... where to buy... hehehe....

You are the 2nd person to ask me this week (1st person ask me through PM and now sms).
Buy anywhere you want, as long as price is not above $900 and not below $840, and not a grey set. (if you don't mind crap customer svc).

Btw, just to give you an idea of how tiny the D40 is.. it's not much bigger than an SB-800. (I don't compare with other cameras because that don't give you a sense of scale. I use things like 15cm ruler, 30cm ruler, 15 inch laptop screen etc)

http://forums.clubsnap.com/showthread.php?t=296969&page=14

 

[jeffbong]

Prob because this thread ended up degenerating into technical things which he was not looking for (and don't understand, including me), eg flash lowest shutter speed :dunno:

Like u can set the 1/4 or 1/8 or 1/6 for slowest shutter speed with Flash on. Understand??

 

[chanjyj]

Like u can set the 1/4 or 1/8 or 1/6 for slowest shutter speed with Flash on. Understand??

Okay

N.B. Just use shutter piority and set you shutter speed, aperture will auto adjust and flash output will also adjust (via pre-flash) for you.

 

[BrandonSit]

Given the price of the D40 kit with AF-S 55-200mm lens at $1199 and the D40X kit at $1188 with free SB-400 flash.

Which is better deal for a newbie who is getting his 1st DSLR ?

 

[xtradot]

chanjyj, you have become an ambassador for the much-maligned but excellent little d40. :bsmilie:
Im sure nikon is pleased! lol

Brandon - regarding the 55-200mm you are talking about, does it come with VR? If it doesnt, (and from the pricing I would hazard a guess that its the older version which does not have VR) then its definitely better to go for the SB-400. VR is critical for slow tele zooms with small max apertures.

 

[scorpioh]

chanjyj, you have become an ambassador for the much-maligned but excellent little d40. :bsmilie:
Im sure nikon is pleased! lol

Brandon - regarding the 55-200mm you are talking about, does it come with VR? If it doesnt, (and from the pricing I would hazard a guess that its the older version which does not have VR) then its definitely better to go for the SB-400. VR is critical for slow tele zooms with small max apertures.

it does come with vr

 

[fungoer]

Yup! I took the deal of D40 at COMEX. It's $1199 bundled with AF-S 55-200mm VR & many freebies. Before, I did asked for D40x, which is $1188 with SB-400, & need to top up $399 for the 55-200mm VR len. I therefore went for the D40 deal.

 

[geraldkhoo]

it does come with vr

Go for the D40 + 2 lenses... I think it is a better deal. I personally prefer the SB600/800 above the SB400 when I was looking to buy a flash sometime back. The SB400 may have a tilting head, but it does not have a rotating head (which the SB600/800 has), which I have found very useful.

 

[tltan]

one would be limited by lens range. my friend who bought a D40 is facing it now. manual focusing is no no. I agree that the camera is a great beast in a small package, but then will miss out alot of capable non-AFS lens like 50 mm, 85mm. Even if nikkors come up with the AFS version, dont think the price will be comparable. So do consider this very carefully. Dont regret and then have to upgrade. get a second hand D50 i feel is much better also. But if you dont intend to upgrade lenses, this is the camera for you.

 

[snappyshawn]

I have taken a picture using D40...http://www.flickr.com/photos/11126699@N03/1281742742/

Attention to all gurus... pls help me choose whether to buy a d40 or d40x...? is d40x worth it...? pls pls pls...

 

[geraldkhoo]

one would be limited by lens range. my friend who bought a D40 is facing it now. manual focusing is no no. I agree that the camera is a great beast in a small package, but then will miss out alot of capable non-AFS lens like 50 mm, 85mm. Even if nikkors come up with the AFS version, dont think the price will be comparable. So do consider this very carefully. Dont regret and then have to upgrade. get a second hand D50 i feel is much better also. But if you dont intend to upgrade lenses, this is the camera for you.

I sold by D40x recently to my friend, but I really really like that cam. As you said, it is limited to the type of lenses to choose from (basically only AF-S), but depending on the person, the D40/x may suit that person just fine. One of the reasons I upgraded is because of the limited lens range, but what I can says is that a D40/x with a AF-S 18-200mm VR can do a whole lot (of course you can have that as 2 lenses, i.e. 18-55 + 55-200). The question I ask myself is how far I want to take photography as a hobby, and that is why I chose to upgrade. I don't regret buying the D40x, as it helped me learn many of the basics of photography... but now I've decided to upgrade.

The suggestion to get a 2nd hand D50... or even a D70/s is also a great way to go. you can actually explore more about photography that the D40/x could not provide, e.g. bracketing. With hind-sight now, if I understood more... I wound have bought a 2nd hand D70/s first to learn... but then again... we all learn from experience...

As for manual focusing... you can do that as well in D40/x cameras. So I'm not quite sure why you say manual focusing is no no. There are times I had to just switch to full manual mode to capture a certain shot.

 

[BrandonSit]

I did the calculations and found out that going by the comex deal, D40 dual lens kit + SB400 (Ard $200) = $1399

D40X kit + 55-200mm lens ($399) = $1587

Difference is $188 and you get extra 4.1mega pixel..

My sis is sponsoring some of the money so i can take some photo for her on her wedding day with the camera although she has already engaged another photographer to cover the whole event.

So which is a better choice ?

 

[zac08]

I did the calculations and found out that going by the comex deal, D40 dual lens kit + SB400 (Ard $200) = $1399

D40X kit + 55-200mm lens ($399) = $1587

Difference is $188 and you get extra 4.1mega pixel..

My sis is sponsoring some of the money so i can take some photo for her on her wedding day with the camera although she has already engaged another photographer to cover the whole event.

So which is a better choice ?

Get the D40X kit and a SB-600 minimum, the SB-400 may not be enuff for a wedding... the rest can wait.

 

[chanjyj]

Get the D40X kit and a SB-600 minimum, the SB-400 may not be enuff for a wedding... the rest can wait.

I have used SB-400 for wedding and even dinner and dance before. (Don't want to name the company, big nono but it's a very large and prominent CAMERA company)

That said, SB-800/600 may be easier for the newbie since they MAY need to bounce flash off the ceiling and SB-800/600 can rotate the entire head to do that. Add to that, the SB-800/600 focusing light which will help in low light.

 

[chanjyj]

chanjyj, you have become an ambassador for the much-maligned but excellent little d40. :bsmilie:
Im sure nikon is pleased! lol

Aiyoh.... not another one! I expect my PM box to be flooded with queries again :cry:
Seems like all the newbies with D40/x all PM me instead of posting on forums :sweat:


and even potential buyers PM me for help... :dunno:
Nikon owe me big discount on future purchase ;p

 

[zac08]

I have used SB-400 for wedding and even dinner and dance before. (Don't want to name the company, big nono but it's a very large and prominent CAMERA company)

That said, SB-800/600 may be easier for the newbie since they MAY need to bounce flash off the ceiling and SB-800/600 can rotate the entire head to do that. Add to that, the SB-800/600 focusing light which will help in low light.

Well as I mentioned, it may not be enuff for some. I rather have more gun than be under-gunned...

 

[lsisaxon]

Aiyoh.... not another one! I expect my PM box to be flooded with queries again :cry:
Seems like all the newbies with D40/x all PM me instead of posting on forums :sweat:


and even potential buyers PM me for help... :dunno:

Help... I just advised my company to purchase a D40 for the microscope and general shooting.. We'll be getting the camera next week... ;p

 

[chanjyj]

Help... I just advised my company to purchase a D40 for the microscope and general shooting.. We'll be getting the camera next week... ;p

:hammer:

You with your Coolpix 2100, Coolpix 5000, FM2, F3HP, F4, F5, D70s, D200, D2X; Minolta G400 and who knows what can help yourself :flame:

 

[chanjyj]

Well as I mentioned, it may not be enuff for some. I rather have more gun than be under-gunned...

Anyway the dinner and dance was 480pax :think: I used 24 batteries. :bsmilie:

(Maybe that's why my SB-400 died?) rofl ;p

I understand your viewpoint. Let's hope newbie understands AA, TTLBL, TTL RPT functions.

 

[lsisaxon]

:hammer:

You with your Various Nikon PnS, SLR and DSLR; Minolta PnS, Panasonic PnS and who knows what can help yourself :flame:

Help me get discount from Nikon also leh! Previous company, I advised them to buy D70 +PC-Micro85/2.8 leh!!