Which DSLR to Buy

[james_brown21]

<p>Interested in buying a new DSLR. I currently have the Nikon D40 and I am interested in upgrading. Would like to improve skills enough to take photos semi-professionally. My budget for body and lenses is approximately 2500.00. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.</p>

[CvhKaar]

<p>James,<br>

Maybe you could also mention which lens(es) you already own ?<br>

Since lles Lenses to aquire leaves more budget for new stuff ,.... ...</p>

[james_kennedy9]

<p>I would suggest a used low milage D300 and a SB600 flash. If you want save more $$$ for lenses, then a used D90. The images will be quite similar but the D300 has more pro features.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Do not buy any more camera for now. Improve your skills first until you realize that the D40 is seriously limiting your photography.</p>

[james_brown21]

<p>Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question.</p>

[chrisnielsen]

$2500 could buy you an awesome trip somewhere to take photos with your D40, or you could buy $2500 worth of photo

gear and sit at home taking photos....

[iwong]

<p>"Would like to improve skills enough to take photos semi-professionally. My budget for body and lenses is approximately..."<br>

You know that skills don't come in the body/lens package that you buy? My advice is acquire your skills using your current camera. When you improve to a point and outgrow your camera/lens, then you can start upgrading. The question is, what in the D40 is limiting you now?</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>James, I hope you understand that since you only provided a budget but are not specifying what type of photography you are intersted in, it is essentially impossible to recommend anything that is useful. For example, if someone tells you that he has $30K and wants to buy a car, depending on the purpose, he may want a pickup truck, mini van, sporty coupe, SUV, or a hybrid ....</p>

<p>You are much better off keeping the money and improve your photo skills. Hopefully it'll reach a point that you know what is missing in your equipment and will not need to ask about that in this forum. For example, a "soccer mom" with 3 kids probably does not want a coupe or a truck.</p>

[elliot1]

<p>The D40 can be limiting for an aspiring photographer with its smaller viewfinder, limited AF ability under less than ideal shooting conditions and its menu driven controls. If you have issues with these or other things, you are probably ready to upgrade now. If not, you may want to just get some new lenses.</p>

<p>If you are going to be shooting sports, moving subjects or in low light often, James K's suggestion is probably your best upgrade path because of the D300's excellent AF abilities and low light performance. . Your best choice for an event lens is Nikon's 17-55mm. Other lenses will depend on what you are shooting. You may want to let us know what lenses you currently have</p>

<p>Ultimately, as Shun suggests, you need to explain exactly what you intend to do with your equipment.</p>

[John Crowe]

<p>Well, I disagree. The D40 is limited in several respects with the main problem being that it does not have an internal focus motor which cuts your lens options drastically, and for specialty lenses you will have to pay twice as much for the AF-S version. Purchasing a camera body that makes shooting with used manual focus lenses easier is also an advantage to open up lens options even more, when autofocus is not required. Manual lenses are an inexpensive way to learn photography while maintaining high image quality.</p>

<p>Generally I would always recommend investing in lenses first, but in this case you are much too limited by the D40 restrictions. I also suggest buying used to save as much as possible to be able to broaden your lens range. Consider the D200, D2X, D90, D300, and D300s. The advantage of the D90 and D300s is that they have video mode too which can be useful.</p>

<p>We do need to know what lenses you do have and what you are finding limiting about the D40 to make more specific recommendations.</p>

[ted_laszlo_m.d.]

<p>Wait a few weeks. Nikon updated cameras will be announced soon. Some of the older cameras will drop in price (new or used).</p>

 

[carl_becker2]

<p>IMHO it depends on what you currently have and what you want to do. The D40 is good at some things and not so good at other things. I have had a D70, D200 and now a D700. I very much miss the light weight and small size of the D70. I do not carry the D700 every where I go and therefore may miss a shot. What is it that you are looking to do?</p>

[Two23]

<p>The whole thing is to match the gear to what you are doing. A Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 is an excellent lens, yes, but a poor one if you photo small birds. It's almost impossible to recommend anything if I don't know what you shoot, how you shoot it, and what lenses you already have. You might actually need a tripod or flash more than a camera, I don't know.<br>

Kent in SD</p>

[daverhaas]

<p>James -</p>

<p>You really need to access the D40 and how it is limited your photography. Is there something that you want to do that the d40 doesn't allow you to?</p>

<p>I've used the D40 to take many "professional" quality photos - including many that have sold as stock. But I know the camera and it's limits - along with my abilities and limits. </p>

<p>The good thing about the Nikon series is that all of their menus / dials / knobs are similar in both form and function.</p>

<p>One thing I'd like to clear up... The D40 will mount 99% of all nikon lenses. The only thing it won't do with the Non-AFS Lenses is Auto Focus. But it still allows you to do that manually. There are some older lenses that it will not automatically meter. Again you can do that manually.</p>

<p>Dave</p>

[leericks]

<p>Sigh. You can't buy a game. Here's what we will do. You take a D3Xs and 20K worth of lenses and we will give a professional with 30 years of experience your D40 and kit lens. Then you guys shoot the same wedding and see who does better.</p>

<p>There seems to be a certain amount of contempt for the skills that make one a professional photographer. Go with what Shun said. Buy nothing for now. Spend $1500.00 of your money on training. Books, seminars, college classes...whatever. Find a pro and follow him around. See what he/she does. Apprentice yourself. Do it to the very best photographer who will have you. Study every picture on the critique forum and figure out the following: How did the photographer do it? Why did he/she do it? How could they have done it better? Can I reproduce the results? Look at all of the digital pictures you have taken. Give yourself a quiz. Ask yourself why you took the picture, how you took the picture, how you could make the picture better and can I reproduce the picture 100% of the time if I want to. </p>

<p>In other words. To become a professional photographer is a journey of learning. Some photographers have one year of experience; some have twenty years of experience; but most have one year of experience 20 times. Be the person with 20 years of experience. </p>

<p>One last thing. There is no such thing as a semi-professional photographer. Either you are producing professional pictures for a customer for money or you are engaging in a hobby. I know of no bride who wants a semi-professional job done of her wedding. I have never had an editor ask me for some semi-professional fashion shots. I have never had a model ask me to produce a semi-professional Zed card. I have never had a portrait client ask me to do a fairly good job on their portrait. Clients comb their hair and put on makeup for a passport picture. Once you cross the line from amateur (even very gifted amateur) to professional the measure of your photographic success will be done by the client. They will decide whether your results are professional or not. </p>

<p>So here is the deal. Ask yourself what kinds of photographs you can produce with the same quality you see in a seasoned professional. Not just your best shots by luck and repetition. I am talking about photographs you can produce 100% of the time and on schedule. Use this list to limit your activities as a professional photographer. You should never ask yourself what you think you can do well enough to give it a try. You should ask yourself, how can I learn to take this picture as well as David Hamilton or Annie Leibovitz? Can I shoot this wedding like Jose Villa or Ben Chrisman? If not who will teach me?</p>

<p>Now. Armed with the skills mentioned above, what do you think you will choose for a camera? I don't know but I will tell you this. Armed with the skills mentioned above you will not need to ask us. </p>

[james_brown21]

<p>Thank you all, for your very informative responses. Lee Ricks, thank you for your direct and honest answer. We are continuing to do all the things you mentioned Lee. We just need an extra camera so we both can shoot. I greatly appreciate all of the sound advise given. We will absolutely continue to use our D40 and learn.</p>

[albert_lee1]

<p>i've had a d40, d5000, d300s, d700 and i can say that a d40 for landscape pictures is just fine. if u want to do faster sports, a d300s or d700 is the way to go. if u want to do timelapses, the d40 doesn't have an intervalometer so u have to choose a better body. if u like taking 720p video with an exterior stereo mic input, the d300s is good for that. however i think if u were just taking portraits and landscape, a d40 + sb-600 flash would be just perfect.</p>