Nikon D40

Price: 441.98 - 464.95

Read all user reviews

a jewel1172900682

Pros:

everything a hobbyist could wish from a DSLR, except for..

Cons:

no built-in AF motor

finally did the DSLR move from P&S this early spring. naturally, that took quite some research on the sub-1k range models on the market. at the end the choice was narrowed down to pentax K100D, canon XT, nikon D50, and, you guessed it - the D40.

the D40 won with these 3.5 points:
* ergonomics - it feels damn natural in the hand, is light, and the buttons and knobs are mostly spot-on for my liking,
* uncompromised nikon quality of both output and built,
* the featureset of the newest generation processor & firmware (as found on D200, D80 & D40),
* and finally, the extra long manufacturer's warrany offered here in canada

the manual-only focus with non- AF-S/-I lenses is nothing disturbing to me but i just had to put something in that 'cons' field : ) another con point raised by others but not bothering me is the modest AF-points set - but guess what, 90% of the time i (and possibly you too) will be at central-point focus.

as an actual word of criticism, maybe i'd have liked some of the menus prioritized differently, but hell, nothing is made to my whims in this world! and yes, i could have gotten a slighly better deal on a D50 or a K100D but i'd have sacrificed elsewhere.

the one feature i do miss sometimes is the shake-reduction (the K100D has it) but that only stimulates me to improve my heartrate self-control ; )