Nikon D40 Advice/Opinions?

I would get the d40x if I had that much money to spend. It has 4 more megapixels, faster shooting rate, and greater iso range. But as a hobbist photographer, I will never need anything more than my d40 and it's around $200(US) cheaper. Yeah, it may not auto focus with some older lenses, but do you have any or are you planning on getting any? I don't. If my photog skills grow, and I need a new camera in a couple of years, then I'll buy the latest and greatest one then. You know it'll better and cheaper than ones out now.

If cost is a really big concern, get the d50 (if you can find one). Stores are getting rid of their stock, and you can find a new one cheaper than d40s. With the d50, you can also find deals on older used lenses and they will all autofocus with the camera. It's a fine camera and it'll take great pictures. The one thing I couldn't get over was the lcd screen. I really need a bigger lcd screen than the d50 has.

When I was looking at dslrs I kind of passed on the canons, even though I did own a couple canon lenses(from my father's slr). Both of them do not feel very too comfortable in my hand, but I would have overlooked that if they were in my price range. I could have probably got an xt within my price range, but it had that small lcd screen.

So the moral of this story is: The right camera for you depends on what features you want and how much money you are willing to spend for those features. For ME, personally, the d40 had most of what I wanted and at the right price.

I've had the D40 for a few weeks now, and can honestly say that it's a terrific buy. Form and function is excellent, and I'm blown away by the image quality. Beautiful, and especially at high ISOs, in my low-light indoor people shots, where I never really expected to get good ones without a really low-light lens. ISO 1600 produces so little noise and almost no image degradation - digital camera processors are becoming dam' good.

I hang out over at the DCRP forums now, under the same name. Seeya, all.

I am considering getting either a D40, D40x or going for an old D70 (second-hand - Ebay). My main desire is to be able to ?stop? racing cars and motorcycles during race meetings. Does anyone have any experience of this photography using these cameras? My main concern is the auto focus aspect, would it be fast enough or would I have to do manual (preset focus) and wait for the car to come to the same spot. Would I be better to use a 10Mp unit so that I can pull back on the shot and then crop?

I purchased a D70 3yrs ago.The D70 has a mode dial on the top left beside the accessory shoe (for the flash).On that dial it has a sports icon(freeze motion in sports shots).Rotating this dial to the desired icon you can choose the mode you need for different types of photo situations(portait,close up,action,nightime etc,).You can do this and not have to worry about exposure issues.You can change your ISO settings(an old film speed measurement)and do a little experimenting to get the stop action or show a little motion in your stop action.
Sometimes at drag races I like to do the stop action thing,and occationally I like to pan my camera(with continuos focusing on).

I never have to consult a menu to take a shot.

My gosh, I hope to goodness that was a joke.

Which menu did you need to access on a Canon DSLR before you could make your shot?

Which menu item did you access even once a day?

I shoot with a 20D. There is virtually no need to get into the menu system to shoot. You set aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focus mode (occasionally), shot mode (occasionally), and focus point (occasionally). None of that requires accessing a menu, and few, if any, need to be changed from shot to shot.

So, why were you accessing the menu?

Grow up, chappie. Bragging about never accessing the menu system is about the weirdest thing I've heard in a long time.

The 20D is not the equivalent of the D40, and with something that large and clunky, I'm not surprised you have more buttons to use. One would hope so. Enjoy your tiny (1.5"? 1.8"?) LCD.

All of this aside from the fact that the fellow was talking about a Canon that required all the menu access, not the Nikon. Hilarious! You shouldn't post while you're under the influence.

Some Canon people, I tell you!