Help Picking Camera - D40 or D70s?

[gigman1_shmo]

Hi,

I need help picking a camera. I was intrigued at the price for the D40 kit and

so I bought it. Now looking around the internet I have found a D70s with two

Sigma lenses. The D40 kit that I have now only has one 18-55mm lens. The D70s

(as shown here http://www.bwayphoto.com/product.asp?id=nkd70ssgkit ) has an

18-50 and 55-200 lens in the kit. The price difference is marginal from what I

paid for the D40. So my question is, should I upgrade to the D70s? And, the D40

has a Nikon lens and the D70s has two sigma lenses, I was told that I should not

even think about buying any other lenses than a Nikon, is this true or are

Sigma?s ok too?

 

Thanks for all your help

-Gigman

[james_martin9]

First of all, anyone who tells you buy only Nikon lenses is a fool. You will here people claim they only way to go is all Nikon or all Canon. That is the biggest bunch of garbage. I own a Sigma 10-20 and a Tamron 28-75. Both produce crystal clear pictures with little distortion, good bokeh, etc.. I also own a Nikon 70-200 2.8VR which by any standard is a pro-lens. THe images produced from that lens are marginally better, but the price difference between the Nikon 17-55 and my Tamron 28-75 is almost 1000.00 USD.

As for the camera, you already own the D40 so are you going to take ti back. The D70s is a great, and I repeat great camera. However, the only thing you loose in the D40 is the inability to use lenses that lack an internal focusing motor such at the brilliant 50mm 1.8 which is around 100.00. For this reason, I would not purchase the D40, but all things being equal, if you like your kit lens and this is a starter camera for you, keep it. The D40 has received very high ratings and produces brilliamt images.

[ShunCheung]

Your problem is that Broadway Photo has a rating of 0.8 out of 10:

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Broadway_Photo

 

You already have a bird in hand. Good luck getting that kit from Broadway at the advertised price.

[steve_hunt1]

You might want to visit www.kenrockwell.com. He reviews all the Nikon digitals. He likes the small size and weight of the D40. The 70s has a small LCD screen and I think it will be discontinued soon. I would stick with the Nikon lenses, they are the most important component.

[simon_hickie1]

I'd stick with the D40. I have the D50 & produce sharp enlargements to 10 x 15 inches. Your D40 will be no different. The glassware is more important than the body. A used D70s may also have had enough work to limit its useful remaining life. Nikon glass will always have better resale value than Sigma etc, so if you wanted to upgrade to better glass in the future, you would get a better price. The D40 will only be a limitation if you plan to use non-AF-S glass - it will not autofocus with it! Simon

[gigman1_shmo]

Well whoever sent me that link to the .8 rating, THANK YOU! I would have never checked! Well the main thing that I think I would have trouble with was the no auto focusing. But I can?t attest to how hard that would be, as I have never used a camera with no auto focusing. If buying non-Nikon lenses is not a problem then that?s definitely a good thing, because I was looking at some of the prices! Wow there goes your life savings for some glass! So does anyone only have a manual focus camera? Is it hard to learn/pick-up from a manual? And are there other lenses with motors in them (like the Nikon lens that I have now) or is that only exclusive to Nikon?

 

Thanks for all your help

-Gigman

[Peter_in_PA]

Gigman

 

"Wow there goes your life savings for some glass!"

 

There is an ancient proverb that gores something like this.

 

You get what you pay for.

 

Some off-brand lenses are garbage. Some Nikon lenses are garbage. Fewer Nikons I

suspect. Check out a lot of reviews on any lens you buy. But a 1000 dollar lens will be

much better in many respects than a 100 dollar lens for sure, all things being equal.

 

Check reviews carefully. You will find very few very serious amateurs and pros who shoot

Nikon touting non-Nikon glass. That should say something, although there are a few off-

brand lenses that are excellent.

 

You will be limited to buying AFS lenses if you want to use AF on the D40. If you don't

already own a bunch of lenses, it's no big deal. Just buy the AF-S glass. There are some

in-lens motors from off-brands, especially Sigma (they call it HSM). Probably a lot more of

that to come. There have been some compatibility issues, but last I heard, they had been

pretty much worked out with regard to new lenses shipping. Old stock or used lenses is

another story. Buy only from a reputable vendor with a return policy. Adorama, B&H are

my favorites.

[joseph_smith3]

I would not limit myself to only AF-S lenses and therefore I would never buy a D 40, but that is me. You have to make that lens limitation decision. I would check out the viewfinders in both cameras to see if they are acceptable to you for the kind of photography you will be doing with the camera. Never buy any camera without holding it in your hands first and looking through its viewfinder. Joe Smith

[ombrello]

Word to the wise - Do not consider purchasig anything from Broadway Photo. They sell gray

market products (as USA product) and jack up the prices of everything else. Been there! Deal

with a reputable dealer, i.e. B&H.

[louisekennedy]

I echo everyone else, Broadway photo has terrible ratings. They aslo have other names, A&M

Photo World, Regal Camera, Prestige Camera, Preferred Photo et al.

 

I'd stick with Adorama, B & H, or look at Keh.com you might find some good prices there.

[hiro]

The D40 is limited to AF-S lenses only. I would find that limiting since many of the excellent non-afs lenses have a great performance/price ratio. The 35mm f2, the 85mm 1.8, the 50mms, third party lenses, etc. The list of these is long.

 

I recently saw an ad at Staples.com for the d50 and 18-55 lens for $405.00. They are reportedly out of stock, but some have mentioned they used the ad and got price matched at other retailers.

 

The D70s looks good also. B&Hphoto had it going for around $600 last time I checked.

[elliot1]

"First of all, anyone who tells you buy only Nikon lenses is a fool."

 

I think most people who make this claim are people who have used both extensively, like me.

 

So although I used to have 3rd party lenses and thought I was getting great results, I learned the hard way that I wasn't, and that you should, in general, use Nikon lenses on Nikon cameras. (Yes, I am sure there are exceptions.)

 

At the time, I was just too foolish to realize it).

[james_martin9]

Perhaps my language was a bit harsh; however, I stand by the pricipal. If someone is a professional photographer who makes a living with his or her camera and can afford several hundred dollars per lens, than yes Nikkor lenses are the way to go. However, if someone is considering a D40, than there is a good possibility he or she is a beginner and will benefit from an excellent Sigma or Tamron lens. The Tamron 28-75 2.8 Xf DII is a magnificent lens. The comporable Nikon lens is absurdly expensive and does not produce results for most people worth the cost difference.

[gigman1_shmo]

Well as the response above says, I am a 1. New (or newish) to photography (previously I had a coolpix 5700) and 2. I?m not going to be dropping tons of cash on one lens. I would like to know, however, will a mirrored telephoto work on a D40. I would like a telephoto lens and mirrored seems to be cheap. Using a telecoverter I could get super-tele range for not much money. Has anyone used mirrored teles? Is this even a good idea?

Thanks for all your help

-Gigman

[ShunCheung]

I can pretty much guarantee that it will be a very frustrating experience to use a mirror lens, especially on a DSLR. There is no point to repeat the arguments. If you don't mind, please try to read this very long thread:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00IdpJ

[tom_jenner1]

Biggest mistake as far as lens purchasing that I've made is buying a Sigma 600mm F8 mirror lens. Save yourself frustration and avoid the mirror lenses. Bob Atkins had success with a Tamaron 500mm F8 but it could be the case that he got a sharp one (they'll almost always be some sort of gaussian probability distribution function as far as samples of lens quality).

 

Second biggest mistake is buying a Sigma 400mm F5.6 non-APO.

 

Mixed feelings on buying a Nikon AIS 300mm F4.5. My lens was a bit soft.

 

-Tom

[gigman1_shmo]

Well as far as the mirrored tele goes I didn?t even know that they existed until reading a pop photo magazine telling about how great they were. But maybe they were wrong. It was the Pop Photo Volume 67, No.8, August 2003 edition of the magazine; I found it in the library with a cover promising cheap super teles. The writer (Herbert Keppler) of the article says that the 500MM f/8 Phoenix/Samyang is a good deal, but I don?t think he used a DSLR.

-Gigman