D40 or D100, D1X?

[benjamin_hennery]

I thought I knew what I wanted, but after reading and reading, I think the best

bet for me is the D40. Today, I went on a search for a D1X and found that they

are priced too high for me, and other posters think the D40 is a better camera

than a D100. I'm still having trouble accepting the weight/size of the D40.

 

My theory is this - if I get a cheap body, I can buy a bunch of old, manual

lenses - like the 85mm/f1.8 and 50mm/f1.4 and have excellent quality images for

not much money. I think if I could find a D1X for $500, I'd go that route, but

that doesn't seem likely - and paying more than $500 for a 5mpx camera is an

abomination.

 

What are your thoughts on the D40 vs D100? Is it right to go with the newer

technology? Maybe this weekend I can find them together in a local shop.

[ShunCheung]

We are now in the digital era, and the quality of the DSLR body will have a major impact on your image quality too. The D40 certainly has its limitations in terms of features, but I would strongly recommend against buying a DSLR body that was first introduced 5 (D100) to 6 (D1X) years ago.

 

I thought you had pretty much decided on the D80:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00LG2v

If you can afford it, the additional features on the D80 are a pretty major plus over the D40.

[.th]

not to cast doubts on shun, or any posters for that matter, but listening to other peoples opinions on a public forum when deciding what suits you, is a dangerous thing to do... (so ignore everything i just said;)

[benjamin_hennery]

I thought I had decided on the D80, but read more and got more confused. The film camera hierarchy was easier to understand. I was going for the D80 until I realized that I don't need the extra pixels and the D40 should do what I want it to do for half the price. This is an interim camera - until the D2X descends from the stratosphere. Is it just me, or do SLRs cost a boatload more than they did 10 years ago?

[ShunCheung]

Thorir, I am not sure what your point is? A fairly large part of this forum is about opinions. If you are so strongly against it, IMO you should not participate here.

 

Instead, I would say digest the opinions, verify the credability of those who make them, and make your own decisions. It would be very foolish for anybody to blindly follow mine or anybody else's opinion.

[buddy_greenberg]

the d70s can be had for less than $500 these days... and that is a super camera.

[photo5]

Ben,

 

Go for the D40, it is a terrific camera. If you don't think you need the extra pixels/features of

the D80, don't waste your money. The D40 should satisfy you for a time, and you can always

sell it down the road and upgrade if you feel you need to.

 

Dave

[juanjo_viagran]

If you like old manual focus lenses the D1X is an GREAT camera, built like a tank and even at "only" 5.1 MP you get great results, and even better using Nikkor AI/AIs primes.

 

I had a D1X for a few months and enjoy it a lot, I paid $450 for a MINT one with all the cables,software,manuals,2 batteries and original box. And bought it right here, on Photo.net classified.

 

cons. Battery life, D-TTL.

[photo5]

Shun is right.

 

It's important to remember the D1X is a six year old digital camera, and will not provide the image quality that a D40 will for the same price. Also not to mention the size, weight, and much larger and heavier batteries and lower battery life.

 

The D40/D80/D200 would be a better choice than others mentioned here. I wouldn't buy last years computer for the same price as this years. Same with digital cameras.

 

Dave

[akira]

Ben,

 

I use D40 and love it. True that you have to give up all the metering functions when you use manual lenses and you cannot use AF function when you use non AF-S lenses.

 

However, D40 can accept not only Ai and Ai-s manual lenses but also "unmodified" pre-Ai lenses, which is impossible for any prior or more expensive Nikon DSLRs. I personally enjoy using D40 with old unmodified Micro-Nikkor 55/3.5.

[photo5]

Akira,

 

Thanks for your post. It is very interesting that the D40 can take older non-AI lenses. This is

pretty big news, and another good reason to get a D40. Wow.

 

Dave

[clickshot]

I have the D1X, the D70 and the D200 cameras. I have used the D1X in my studio for about 5 years now and have very good results in the controlled atmosphere of the studio. The D1X is very heavy and that should be a consideration if youre going to schlep it through Disneyland or hike up Everest!

 

The D70 is somewhat disappointing...the images are very noisy and it can only go down to ISO200 and the images are not up to my needs. But, I am a professional and I need the images to be sharp and hold up to enlargements of up to 16 x 20 or larger. I am quite happy with the D200 quality and resolution. I have been a Nikon photographer for over 35 years and Nikon film cameras have served me well throughout. However, if I were to begin my collection over again I would most certainly go with Canon. Canon in comparison to Nikon digital cameras are much sharper with much less noise and the Canon lenses are head and shoulders above Nikons.

[tonybeach]

Dennis, you are blowing smoke. Take a look at DPR resolution comparisons for the D2x, D200, and D80. Take a look at DPR noise comparisons for the D40. Take a look at Photozone comparisons of nearly every Nikon and comparable Canon lens. A close examination of these will demonstrate that Nikon's DSLRs resolve as much as Canon's similar DSLRs, Nikon is making great progress in handling DSLR noise, and Nikon makes many of the sharpest lenses you can buy.

[fullmetalphotograper]

I own a D2X and a D70, I am planning to by the a D1x next month. I will shoot it for a while

and then decide wheter to convert it to an Infrared camera or the D70. I looked at getting the

D100, but had a few issue with its buffer. Because of a medical issue I had a few months ago

with a bubble in my retina the D70 is not as easy for me to shoot with. The D1x has the

better viewfinder. The other issue is weight the D70 even with the hoodman grip is to light

for me, with the lenses (300mm f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 VR) I use the balance is bad. The D100

is the same issue for me. One last reason is I use CF Cards a D80 and D40 use sd cards I do

not want two sets of cards.

[rick_helmke]

Can't agree with Shun on this one. The D1-x works with all the AF lenses and the D40 doesn't. The D1-x also meters with anything back to AI and again, the D40 doesn't. Better build quality too. The D40 is the one I actually would NOT purchase. If you can't find a D1-x in your price range my next suggestion would be a D100. A five or six year old camera with low mileage would be a good purchase.

 

Rick H.

[juanjo_viagran]

Agree with Rick about the D1X but absolutely NOT on the D100, for the same money of a D100 you can get a D70 which is many times more up to date like i-TTL (D100 old D-TTL) and have wireless flash commander (D100 doesn't).

[elliot1]

Buy the d40, and if you don't like it (you will), return it and get the d1-x or d whatever, and if you then find you like the d40 better (you probably will), buy the d40 again.

 

 

A camera's size, weight and price do not determine the quality of pictures you will receive. My d40 produces pictures every bit as good as my d200.

[arios_tang]

in this case, The low class nikon never beat the high class nikon in 10 years<div></div>