Nikon d40x.. Do i need to upgrade body if i want quality lenses??

[lil dvl]

ok so i have a nikon d40x with 18 55 and 55 200 lenses.

i use it for landscape and wildlife and i want to get a better range of lenses such as macro and maybe 500zoom! it seems that to get good quality lenses they are not compatible with this body, is this true?

now im looking at getting a little bit more professional should i just get a new body such as a d300 then buy quality lenses? or will my d40x be ok with quality lenses untill i can afford a body upgrade?

 

[Josh220]

The lenses that will work on a D300 will also work on the D40x. Now, if you had planned on getting a D700 D3, or D3X then you would need to be more selective of the lenses.

I'd build up the lenses before you get the body, then after you mastered the D40x, have a good collection of lenses going, and feel like you are ready for a new body go ahead and upgrade. (This is what I am doing).

 

[benhasajeep]

There are quite a few new lenses that will work with your D40X and any future body (if you go full frame). They are adding lenses a couple at a time that are AF-S and full frame coverage. If you don't plan on going full frame, there is only 1 new DX lens that will not AF on the D40X and thats the 10.5 fisheye.

Now, having said that. You can still use other lenses on your D40x. Just will not get AF.

Buying lenses now makes more sence than buying a better body and keeping the lower level lenses. Just need to decide if you are going full frame in the future or not. If you think your going full frame, then start buying AF-S or older AF-I lenses. They will work with your current camera and future ones. As for third party lenses, have to watch them as you need to look for coverage and if they have onboard motors.

But I would start picking up a lens first.

 

[djacobox372]

With the d40x your limitations are:

1) it needs an afs lens to autofocus, you can use af lenses but focus has to be manual
2) metering will not work with non-cpu lenses

This does limit your lens choices a lot, since out of the 50 or so years that nikon has been making lenses, they've only been making lenses that work 100% on your camera for the last few years.

If you upgraded your camera body to a d200, you'd be able to use just about every lens nikon has ever made with all of it's features. Only the d200, d300, d700, d3, and d3x have full backwards compatibility.