D40 or D50?

smyth · Jan 19, 2007

Which one should i get. I have made my mind up that i want a Nikon, and I know some of you will say to buy better up in the Nikon line, but the fact is that I don't have the $$ for that. (i'm just a high school student)

So, I am looking at the D50 kit with 18-55 mm f3.5-5.6 G-ED Lens or
the D40 kit with AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 G ED II

I can get the D50 kit for 699$ CDN , and the D40 for list.

in your opinion, which is the better option?

Sw1tchFX · Jan 19, 2007

Go to a camera store (not best buy) and feel them. Buy whichever feels best.

smyth · Jan 20, 2007

i've held both, and they feel very similar. I'm just asking because the D40 has a higher ISO, but it only has 3 AF sensors where the D50 has 5 AF sensors. Also the D40 is not compatible with lenses that don't have an AF motor, because the D40 itself does not have an AF motor.

The feel is all well and dandy, but i can adjust to that; however i will be stuck with the features the camera has.

Sw1tchFX · Jan 20, 2007

I'd go with the D50 personally becuase it has a top LCD, 2 more AF sensors, is compatible with AF-D lenses, and is bigger.

stc9357 · Jan 20, 2007

GO with a D50 the D40 is just a watered down D50 made for people who want a something jsut a little bit better then a point and shoot.

clarinetJWD · Jan 20, 2007

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40/

Based on that, the D40 looks like a serious competitor, though there may be one feature that makes you decide one way or the other. When I was on the market, the choices were D50 or D70, and I really wanted two command wheels, so that made my decision. If there's no extra features on the D50 that you'd use (the top LCD is probably the biggest difference), go for the D40 and pick up a nice Polarizer, IR filter, or Lensbaby for the difference in price.

After all that advice...If I were buying for you, with a price tag difference within $100 of each other, I'd go the better camera (D50)

Alex_B · Jan 20, 2007

from my genera feeling (being a totally biased and unqualified Canon-shooter though), I would not go for the D40 ... people seem to think it is a step backwards ...
but then again,
I am not a Nikon-shooter so I would not know.

smyth · Jan 20, 2007

i actually heard that the D50 might be discontinued, and that would be why it is cheaper than the lower end model. One thing I like about the D40 is the massive LCD screen.

Only other question I have is this: are those kit lenses actually any good?

D-50 · Jan 20, 2007

I wouldn't let the LCD screen size be a determining factor. It really doesnt make that big of a difference. I would think the lack of auto focus and the lack of compatibilty with many lenses the D-40 has would be a bigger issue. You only use the LCD on a DSLR to view the picture you took you cannot compose a shot with it. The kit lenses are good to begin with but they are not great. I replaced the 18-55 with Nikons 18-70mm when I bought me D50 and initially I felt the 18-70 was adecent lense, as it was much better than the 55-200mm but as I have started to use other lenses I realize the 18-70 is not as good as I originally thought. Dont get me wrong though I think the 18-70 is a great lense to begin with.

smyth · Jan 20, 2007

True, though the larger LCD makes it easier to see how well a picture came out. Trust me it won't be a large determining factor. Also, i think my first lens purchase would be a 50mm f1.8 D because of it's wide extreme utility.

clarinetJWD · Jan 20, 2007

smyth said:
True, though the larger LCD makes it easier to see how well a picture came out. Trust me it won't be a large determining factor. Also, i think my first lens purchase would be a 50mm f1.8 D because of it's wide extreme utility.

Honestly, with the 1.5 crop it's not really that useful in a lot of situations. Don't get me wrong, I love the lens, and the optics are amazing, but I find myself using the 18-70 and 75-300 much much more

smyth · Jan 21, 2007

clarinetJWD said:
Honestly, with the 1.5 crop it's not really that useful in a lot of situations. Don't get me wrong, I love the lens, and the optics are amazing, but I find myself using the 18-70 and 75-300 much much more

Maybe so, but I plan on doing some sports photography, Hockey and Baksetball in particular, giving me photos like this:

Of course I realize that a fast 70-300mm lens would be just as useful, they run pretty expensive from what I understand.

P.S. I took this pic with a D50 with the 50mm f1.8. Not mine of course, borrowed it from school yearbook.

D-50 · Jan 21, 2007

Using a 50mm prime for sports photography will severly limit your shots. I think when you go homeand review your shots your going to find every shot has the same feel. Although 50mm are inexpensive and a good investment you may want to look into some different options if you are going to be shooting sports.

Sw1tchFX · Jan 21, 2007

Right, and the D40, D50, D70, and D80 barely have fast enough AF for sports photography. I run into that problem all the time with my D70s/80-200 f/2.8 combination.

smyth · Jan 21, 2007

D-50 said:
Using a 50mm prime for sports photography will severly limit your shots. I think when you go homeand review your shots your going to find every shot has the same feel. Although 50mm are inexpensive and a good investment you may want to look into some different options if you are going to be shooting sports.

True, but you didn't read what i wrote. The 50mm will be my FIRST lens purchase.