My D40 - one year old. Review on Nikon D40

Hi All,

Those who want to enter into DSLR world, just go and grab this beauty.

Pros:

1. Great Image Quality(because, good processing and good kit lens). Sharper than Canons.

2. Rugged and Portable(comparatively)

3. Good battery life

4. Easy to get used to( good Menu system)

5. Universal USB cable, SD card usage.

6. Lesser MegaPixels. So, more sensor dynamic range. So, less noise in photos. It has a con too.(refer Cons.)

Cons:

1. No foucs motor within camera. So, have to buy lenses with AF motor built it. they are costly.

( Nikon, Sigma, tamron have already started unveiling new lenses specially designed for D40/x)

2. Recently, I noticed that when I went to print a cropped portrait taken with my D40, the size did not meet the print requirements because of smaller MP in D40. Might bother some. Not me!

My own Samples:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/madhavakannan/

Alternatives:

1. Many Canons are equally priced. with in built focus motor, Live-view, more AF points etc.

2. Olympus models have LiveView.(actually, Pros dont require LiveViews)

3. Few Panasonics are smaller and lighter than this D40.

BUT, if you want Great picture quality, get a D40. I use this for a year. So, I paid bit heavy price.

Update:

I am happy to see that Nikon keeps releasing new lenses compatible with DX cameras(including D40). The D40 has lenses in the entire zoom range.(only the wide angle category is BIT lacking). the recent launch of 35mm AF-S speaks volumes. In the local market, you get the great 55-200mm VR for a very reasonable price. I have one. it produces killer combination with the D40.

Thanks,

Madhav