Hello from sunny south of France

[Nice amature]

Hello everyone.
I am a 42 year old englishman living in the south of France.
I have a substantial collection of cameras and associated gear ranging from antique mahogany plate cameras through to a Nikon D80.
I have a passion for photography, both film and digital.
I develop my own B&W film at home although due to having no dark room, I have to scan the negatives to obtain the final prints.
My collection of cameras includes many where adaptations have to be made with the film or camera in order to put them to use. Indeed many are not light tight which makes life interesting at times!
I have a lot of spare time which could work in my favour if only I could find more motivation to get out there and get on with using all this equipment.
I am hoping, after chatting with like minded individuals, that perhaps I will find some "photography friends" with whom I can share my photography experiences.
I am very approachable and only "bite" if I'm really hungry!! lol so please feel at eas to drop me a line if you wish.
Kind regards

 

[06azrex]

Welcome!

 

[Nice amature]

Thank you........................Like me you're a nooby!!! lol
Are you new to DSLR photography as well as to this forum?

 

[06azrex]

Yeah, I'm new to both... Hope to change that in the next few months.

 

[Nice amature]

The last digital I bought was a D80.......without looking up details, i don't know how that compares to the D40.
Many people have asked when I'm going to upgrade.....I don't intend to!! lol......to be honest I can get the shots I want with the gear I want and although I have been into photography for several years, I still consider myself very much an amature.
What type of photos interest you in particular? Sport? Portraits? Landscapes?

 

[Nice amature]

Ooops

"with the gear I want"

edit that.......with the gear I have!!

 

[06azrex]

Really, pretty much anything. I am a car nut so I love taking pics of automotive stuff. I plan of picking up a new camera myself sometime this year. I just got a smoking deal on the D40 so thats why I went with it, besides I just sold my Canon xsi a few months back.

 

[Nice amature]

Like yourself, I will photograph just about anything although I do tend to find myself drawn to portraits quite a bit ....again like yourself I have a nifty fifty ( 50mm F1.8) ... A superb bit of kit, cheap enough for any slr owner to have in their bag.
As for cars, I'm not such a nut like you but I could easily be drawn to "technical" shots of wheels, dashboards, under the hood shots etc.....I live only half hour away from Monaco which holds the Formula 1 racing each year......Often lots of local people there leave whilst the races are on (they can't do with the noise!! lol) and rent out their appartments to F1 enthusiasts and photographers as some offer excellent vantage points .....How I would love to get into one of them if only for a couple of hours.......unlikely though with the prices they ask!
I've just had a skip read of the D40 specs.....not a bad little number for the price.....I have a D50 which I use alongside the D80 depending what event I'm shooting and I've had some decent shots from it ...good enough to print A3+ size so I'm pretty sure your D40 will throw out some pretty impressive work.
Remember the tools are only as good as the person who uses them!!!