Ok so I am looking at the d90 kit and a transcend 16gb card w/reader. But I don't know if they may be more than I need for a first camera and I don't want to go over board if that is way too much camera. I heard the d40 is an amazing little camera and the d80 and 40d. All help appreciated thanks.
If you can afford the D90, buy it. Stay away from the D40. It's fine, but the D90 is way way way less limited. There are about 20 threads on this a week, so search and you'll get a ton more info, but in short... DONT buy the D40.
The D40 is limited in its "utlitity". It will of course take great pictures at 1/3 of the cost of that D90 kit, but unless you are willing to invest in lenses with the autofocus built into the lens, then you are going to be doing A LOT of manual focusing. Which in and of itself isn't bad, but if you are just beginning, you may face more frustration than you are prepared for. So yes it IS an amazing little (LITTLE) camera, but only if you are willing to invest in it. The other cameras are fine choices (especially the D80 and D90).
D40 also only has 3 focus points, has the options to change various things buried in menus or require combination movements that are hard to use, etc. The only reason to buy a D40 is if you want to get into DSLRs and you cannot afford a higher-tier camera.
Agreed. This is the only reason I bought the D40 -- I didn't have the few hundred extra. The things manaheim mentioned have already started to annoy me.
And is also SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than the other options. Yes the D40 is a standard entry level dSLR; however the added features on a D80 or above the OP may not even need to have access to. The only thing I could think of that I would need IMMEDIATE access to on a D40 would be to change the ISO sensitivity (as a beginner). I am not saying that I PERSONALLY wouldn't want the added utility of a higher end body - just simply saying that others may not and saving 800 or so bucks over the competition isn't anything to sneeze at.
Ya the 40d looks like a sweet option for a good price with the 24-135 i think but is the wide angle to close in like instead of 18mm? And I really like nikon but maybe the canon just maybe and would it be a major mistake to get the d80 and not d90?
Well, I did say budget was the reason, but D40 is $500 and the D90 is $839. $350 difference. It's still more, but it's not $800 more. You are right that OP may not need the other options initially, but I tend to think that they are going to at the VERY least grow to a point where they will want more than 3 focus points. It was the very thing that quickly annoyed the crap out of my very amateur photographer mom, who insisted that the D60 would be fine... and three months later was howling because she only had three focus points. If OP intends to grow... the D90 will reasonably grow with them. The D40 will not.
