Body/glass upgrade? Dilemma

doublemint76

doublemint76

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Dan
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I currently own a Nikon D40 with kits lens and an 18 -200 VRII which is stuck on there the whole time. I have (well the wife is letting me) about £500 - £600 to invest in my kit.

I take lots of pics of my kids and anything really so i have no particular field. I want a 50mm 1.8 and would also like a flash gun, but at the same time i want to upgrade my body as i'm starting to feel very limited by the D40 although it is a great camera.

I have been looking at D90's and D300's and could prob get a D90 and 50mm lens on my budget but am also tempted by a D300 body but then i couldn't afford a 50mm which i really want. I am also thinking of maybe selling my beloved 18-200 VRII to raise more funds and maybe but a D7000....but i love this lens as it covers so much and don't really want to sell it. Really Not sure which way to go at the moment?
 
doublemint76 said:
I currently own a Nikon D40 with kits lens and an 18 -200 VRII which is stuck on there the whole time. I have (well the wife is letting me) about £500 - £600 to invest in my kit.

I take lots of pics of my kids and anything really so i have no particular field. I want a 50mm 1.8 and would also like a flash gun, but at the same time i want to upgrade my body as i'm starting to feel very limited by the D40 although it is a great camera.

I have been looking at D90's and D300's and could prob get a D90 and 50mm lens on my budget but am also tempted by a D300 body but then i couldn't afford a 50mm which i really want. I am also thinking of maybe selling my beloved 18-200 VRII to raise more funds and maybe but a D7000....but i love this lens as it covers so much and don't really want to sell it. Really Not sure which way to go at the moment?
Click to expand...

Always upgrade glass over the body.

When you say that the body is limiting you, in what way?

IS there not enough fancy modes on there, or is the ISO range and shutter speed not good enough?

Adam
 
With the budget of £500-600 you got, you pretty much have a limit on what you going to buy.

If I was you I will sell the D40 and the Kit Lens together to MPB or private sell on ebay etc to raise abit more fund towards your upgrade.

In term of upgrade i see you would like to upgrade body for definate, 50mm 1.8 lens and possible flash gun.

I think you should keep the 18-200 VR lens so your new body can use it.

D90 used you looking at around £400-450
D300 or D300s used you looking around £600-680 or maybe even £500 ish if lucky.
D7000 used you looking around £700 ish.

I won't worry about flashgun unless you really need one because it will add another £200 ish on your budget if going for used flashgun.

01) Get a D90 body used and you can get your 50mm f1.8 prime which you will then have a decent body to use, and 2 lens to play around (prime plus your zoom)

or

02) Get a D300 or D300s used and you just have to use the camera with your current zoom lens which is very good already consider you got a pro build camera.

or

03) same as above but get a D7000 which have very good low light performance.

Your call at the end of the day.
 
inlineadam said:
Always upgrade glass over the body.

When you say that the body is limiting you, in what way?

IS there not enough fancy modes on there, or is the ISO range and shutter speed not good enough?

Adam
Click to expand...

My main issues with the D40 is the lack of bracketing, no ISO 100 and only 6MP. I do alot of zoomed in cropping and could do with the extra pixels.
Also, i have to buy AF-S lenses if i want them to auto focus, and these are more expensive
 
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i personally i would go for the D7000 route and use the D7000 along with your 18-200 VR lens until you have money in the future to buy flash gun and the prime lens you want.

If budget really tight, you can't go wrong with a D90 as it is a very very good camera. That way you can buy the 50mm prime.
 
the d40 is very much an entry level camera and i think you really should upgrade it and then get better glass in a few months when you can afford it. Get a d90, or maybe d7000 second hand :)
 
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