Nikon D40 Upgrade

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willb1983

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Will
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Morning all,

Currently I have a Nikon D40 (first SLR) which has taught me a lot. I feel I have reached the stage where I could benefit an upgrade!

Now for the question that must of been asked thousands of times on here... Canon or Nikon?! Is one better than the other? I've been impressed with my D40 and know the ins and outs of it pretty well. I had a go on a friend's D90 and felt a bit lost with knowing what everything does which leads me to think I'm still able to transition between the different brands. A lot of people have said get a Canon as that's what the pros use!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Budget would be sub £500 if possible but could stretch to a 550D if that is where to go.

Thanks

Will
 
That is what I said but didn't really have the evidence to backup my arguement!

So, staying with Nikon, which would you recommend?

Thanks
 
I started with the D40 too and it happily taught me the basics in the year i owned it. The only upgrade i could see worthy at the time was the D90 and i love it, big step up, 2 command dials and top display make so much difference along with all the added features and of course Low Light capabilities.

Highly recommended and should be almost reachable around your buget body only :thumbs:
 
That has been the camera I've been wanting to get. Quite an investment at nearly £700 on Jessops.
 
willb1983 said:
That has been the camera I've been wanting to get. Quite an investment at nearly £700 on Jessops.
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Hey Will, i waited ages tryin to justify the cost but in my eyes nothing else was worth the upgrade, i felt anything less than the D90 would have just resulted in me upgrading again within a year which in turn would of cost more overall. Now ive had it a year and spend a fortune on lenses i feel it will be with me for a good few yrs before i consider a change, takes a lot to out grow one of these :cool:

I thought about buying used but decided it was worth the extra £'s to ensure 2 yr warranty.

I bought mine a yr ago body only for about £620ish, quick look now and i found it here for £539.99 inc. VAT - free 5yr warranty .....

http://www.camerabox.co.uk/product.asp?ProductID=5761&gclid=CPqw6YL7rKUCFQFO4QoddyOgXQ

Good luck with you decision!

Mike
 
If you don't have too much invested yet in the Nikon system, there's no real reason why you shouldn't make the transition. A few Nikon fit lenses and a flash would certainly make me think twice about dumping Nikon for Canon.

If you're not decided, visit a retailer who stocks the bodies you aspire to and have a play with them. If the Canon feels significantly better and the buttons fall better under your digits than those on the Nikon, the swap may well be a good idea.

While it's true that SOME pros use Canon, some also use Nikon and if you trawl back through the threads on the forum, you'll probably find that more seem to be crossing from Canon to Nikon recently due to the better high ISO performance of the higher end Nikons compared to their Canon equivalents.
 
willb1983 said:
Now for the question that must of been asked thousands of times on here... Canon or Nikon?! Is one better than the other? I've been impressed with my D40 and know the ins and outs of it pretty well. I had a go on a friend's D90 and felt a bit lost with knowing what everything does which leads me to think I'm still able to transition between the different brands.
Click to expand...
I've only started out in photography this past summer and I got a D90 3 weeks ago as my first DSLR. Its actually really straightfoward to use once you get used to the extra buttons. I really love my D90!

The best thing to do is to try out the equivalent Canons (550D or 60D) and see how they feel. Then go for what you feel comfortable with.

Don't worry about what people say about what the 'pros' use - I was told the opposite - probably because the pros that I happened to know all use Nikon. But that wasn't why I bought a D90 - it just felt right in my hands.
 
OP
Hmm tricky question. More would be budget and what to control more.
I have the d300 and I would easily recommend the d300s (12mp)...

However the d7000 is looking pretty tasty (high iso and 16mp). Sure it has some teething issues (read problems, some highlighted in this forum) but still looks like a winner!

If you really really like photography and have a budget for it have a look at the d700. Full frame and half a d3x/s body. But of course that may limit your lenses.


In fact, go to you local jessops and handle them all.
If you have a particular area you like to take, make sure that lens is on them so you can compare weights, sizes, balance etc.
Bonus from Jessops is (I think) that they have interest free credit for up to 12 months (depending on spend). Worth having a play tho, and you can always walk away... heh
 
I have been very tempted to just order a D90 from Jessops on their interest free scheme. Would rather just pay in one hit though I think.

I haven't got a specific area I like shooting at the moment. I love going on some urban exploration shoots as much as I love going to a race track and shooting cars. Trying to get to grips with landscape photography at the moment too.

I'll do some research on the models you suggested.

Thanks
 
Mr Mike said:
In that case if a d90 is the one then camerabox...

£539.99 inc. VAT - free 5yr warranty

Bought a few items from them and all UK with warranty as advertised
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It's not a Nikon warranty though, it's their own as the cameras are grey imports....
 
Mr Mike said:
In that case if a d90 is the one then camerabox...

£539.99 inc. VAT - free 5yr warranty

Bought a few items from them and all UK with warranty as advertised
Click to expand...

Google "camerabox review" and you won't use them OP.... :nono:

I just upgraded from D60 to D90 and it the perfect upgrade. Got it 2nd hand in mint condition from avfourms classifieds for just over £400 for the body.
 
How about a D5000? If you have the D40 already then you must have motorised lenses.....the D5K is like a 'lite' version of the D90, same sensor etc.
I went from a D40x to the D5000 and like the fact that all the controls are the same. It has 11 focus points instead of the three that the D40 has, it also has some other useful things like exposure bracketing, a tiltable screen and various other things that I cant remember atm!
I'm very happy indeed with mine!

Neil
 
I upgraded from the D40 to the D300

You should get one S/H with a low count for the £650 mark
 
just to add to my post yesterday. I had a D40x, and was dead set on upgrading to a D90. Then Tony advertised his used D300s on here and I was sucked in. I thought long and hard about it, and chatted to him a lot about it, but I realised that with the D90, I'd probably end up doing what we all eventually do and wanting to upgrade to the next level crop camera. So I'd have shelled out for a new D90, then a year or two later shelled out for a D300s, or the equivalent in a year or two. I took a big hit on the D300s, but I know that that's it for me now really. Unless I get really serious with it, or turn it into a living and want FX for, say, portrait work, then I'm more than happy with my D300s
 
I bought mine a yr ago body only for about £620ish said:
http://www.camerabox.co.uk/product.asp?ProductID=5761&gclid=CPqw6YL7rKUCFQFO4QoddyOgXQ[/url]

Good luck with you decision!

Mike
Click to expand...

Grey imports, no UK or other warranty card in the box and the warranty isnt worth the paper its written on.. read the terms and conditions and you'll find they will only replace for the 1st month, up to 24 months its parts and labour, the remaining 3 yrs are parts only .. YOU have to pay the labour costs.

My brother got sucked in by the price on the D90, the first 4 days he said cost him more than the money saved in aggro and he has no UK Nikon warranty on his pride and joy, just this companies own warranty.

PS no Nikon UK warranty = no firmware/software updates etc either
Finally if you get UK Nikon stock then make sure you register the camera online within 1 month of purchase or you won't get the free second years warranty.
 
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iancandler said:
Grey imports, no UK or other warranty card in the box and the warranty isnt worth the paper its written on.. read the terms and conditions and you'll find they will only replace for the 1st month, up to 24 months its parts and labour, the remaining 3 yrs are parts only .. YOU have to pay the labour costs.

My brother got sucked in by the price on the D90, the first 4 days he said cost him more than the money saved in aggro and he has no UK Nikon warranty on his pride and joy, just this companies own warranty.

PS no Nikon UK warranty = no firmware/software updates etc either
Finally if you get UK Nikon stock then make sure you register the camera online within 1 month of purchase or you won't get the free second years warranty.
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Thanks for making that very clear :thumbs: I just looked back to see which lenses I purchased from them and discovered i mixed up camerabox with CliftonCameras, i have NOT bought anything from camerabox so appologies to all that i may have confused! So I highly recommend Clifton Camera's unless someone has anything to add about them? Regarding my D90 body i walked into Jessops for peace of mind, too much £'s to risk for me.
 
A Nikon warranty would be preferable.

A friend of mine is selling is D80, really good condition with a 18-135 lens.

Worth considering?
 
willb1983 said:
A Nikon warranty would be preferable.

A friend of mine is selling is D80, really good condition with a 18-135 lens.

Worth considering?
Click to expand...
If the price is right, for sure. You'd be happy about the extra auto-focus points and the buttons.

I would also take a look at second hand Canon 5D MkI bodies.

By the way, are you still using the kit-lens with the D40? Maybe you should be considering new lenses instead of a new body.
 
Price is around the £350 mark.

I have the stock 18-55 and a Nikon 55-200. There is a 50mm F1.8 I quite fancy too but the D40 body doesn't have the auto focus sadly.
 
willb1983 said:
Price is around the £350 mark.
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Not sure if this is the going rate. Has it been used a lot? Definitely ask for the shutter count.

I have the stock 18-55 and a Nikon 55-200. There is a 50mm F1.8 I quite fancy too but the D40 body doesn't have the auto focus sadly.
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I used the exact same combination for some time. Alas, both lenses focus awfully slow.

Do you use the 18-55 or the 55-200 near the 50mm end a lot? You might want to have a look at the AF-S 35mm f/1.8.
 
I'd be shopping round for a second hand D90 for not much more money to be honest.

just for info, i upgraded recently from a d40 to a d300 and haven't looked back. probably won't upgrade for a good few years if ever.
 
I jumped straight from a D40X to a D200 (this was just before the D300 was released so a few years ago now)....and I love it. The high end ISO may not be the best, but it's bombproof and it's going to be a good while yet before I get rid of it.
 
I'll see what I can find on the second hand market. The Jessops finance is really tempting me now! Certainly going to be staying with Nikon.
 
Mr Mike said:
I started with the D40 too and it happily taught me the basics in the year i owned it. The only upgrade i could see worthy at the time was the D90 and i love it, big step up, 2 command dials and top display make so much difference along with all the added features and of course Low Light capabilities.

Highly recommended and should be almost reachable around your buget body only :thumbs:
Click to expand...

If i was to upgrade i would get this, i love my d40x to bits
 
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