The Nikon D40 is a great little camera, very easy to use and quite reasonably priced. It will get you in the Nikon family which is a great place to be. If you buy accessories and lenses, you will be able to use everything on any Nikon that you might upgrade to later on.
Here are a few reviews, in case you have not read them yet. Be sure to note that they are several pages long and some of the reviews also have some sample images that you can look at.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40鈥?/a>
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_revi鈥?/a>
http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3756/cam鈥?/a>
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/d40鈥?/a>
I hate to see people slam the camera because it can't autofocus with older Nikon lenses. It is true that there is a ';slight problem'; with older Nikon lenses not autofocusing on the D40, but if you do not own a bag full of older lenses, it is not going to be a problem. It is barely a problem anyhow. If you check www.nikonusa.com for ';AF-S'; lenses, which are ALL 100% compatible with the D40, you will find 23 lenses, including 7 ';VR'; (vibration Reduction) lenses and one true macro lens with ';VR';. There are another 25-plus lenses in the current catalog that provide all functions except autofocus as well as many (possibly dozens) ';out of print'; lenses that will work just as well. In addition, although these lens will not autofocus, most of them will still give focus confirmation. From the D40 manual: ';If the lens has a maximum aperture of f/5.6 of faster, the viewfinder focus indicator can be used to confirm whether the portion of the subject in the selected focus area is in focus. After positioning the subject in the active focus area, press the shutter release button halfway and rotate the lens focusing ring until the in-focus indicator is displayed.';
The D40 only has 3 autofocus zones arranged horizontally at the center, 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions. This might be considered a limitation, but realistically, most people will find this perfectly adequate, especially if you are moving up from a point and shoot with only a center zone.
You can get the D40 with the 18-55 kit lens at B%26amp;H Photo (available through Yahoo! Shopping or at 1-800-622-4987) for $550 (May 2007). You will want to add a decent SD memory card and I recommend a Sandisk Ultra II or Lexar Platinum II - either 1 GB or 2 GB would be great. You can get one from B%26amp;H also for $30-45. There is an entry-level 55-200 mm zoom lens that does a decent job that you can get for $170. My wife has this lens and it's fine, but we just replaced it with the new 55-200 VR for the advantage of vibration reduction. It only costs $250. I bought one right away, as I kind of figured it would go out of stock soon, since it's a bargain for a VR lens.
Anyhow, you can get your D40 with the 18-55 kit lens (a good lens), the regular 55-200 lens, and a decent card for $750-800, keeping you below your budget limit. You'd have a very nice camera system for a beginner or a not-so-beginner, too.What is the best digital SLR for a beginner?
i loved my rebel xt (its a wicked camera)
but now i love my d80
oly will give the best bang for the buck
unless you want to manual focus the nikon d40 options are limited because many nikon lenses need a higher end body like the d80 or d200 to auto focus while all current lenses of canon and olympus will with any body.
with that limited of a budget i say the oly since you said you needed a long lens and you will need a standard zoom aswell
-if you plan on using flash heavily nikon has the easiest to use system
if you plan on dim light candid shots of things like family events or concerts then look to canons 350d(xt) or new 400d(xti) for best high iso low light pictures
as long as your in good lighting the oly will give you the most features for under 800
Get the most expensive one that you can afford.
Best price and choice for a begginer: Pentax K100.
NO BRAINER.
Check the reviews compare to Nikon D40 and Canon EOS 30D at dpreview.com and megapixel.net
Get the D40. It has huge collection of lenses. You won 't regret it.
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