I went out the day I bought my XT and just started snapping pictures of my car also. I took about 200 shots and came back with not one keeper.
How much do you know about exposure? The WB is way off on that exposure. Are you shooting in Manual mode?
Yes, as long as it's a Nikon lens or made to fit Nikon DSLR's it'll work. So don't worry about having to sell the lens when you decide to get rid of the D40.
I, too, made the same mistake. I didn't know much about cameras but always loved photography. I went out and bought a Sony S2 IS powershot. Soon enough I felt the camera was holding me back and I needed to get a DSLR to really get serious about learning exposure.
I bought a Rebel XT about a...
I'm selling a Canon S2 IS Powershot 5 megapixel. It's an awesome point and shoot and is in great condition. Comes with original box / papers and a 1gig SanDisk Ultra 2 memory card.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=200193184453&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=010
I ended up buying the camera for $500. The only thing it didn't come with that I needed to buy was a memory card. Stupid me I went out and bought a regular SD card instead of a CF one, haha.
I'm loving the camera, though. It's providing a real good platform for me to learn on.
Thanks again!
I'm having the same problem. I got my first DSLR two days ago and am forcing myself to use M mode 24/7. I take 200 shots and maybe like 5 of them. The other 195 are blurry/grainy/over or underexposed. Lol.