Nikon user interface - differences between D40 and D3300

deepfriedl · Sep 17, 2016

My GF and I have a pair of D3300's and I recently bought a used D40x. I briefly tried a D40 before this D40x, and despite having to send it back, I updated it to the latest firmware. The D40/D40x user interface and the D3300 UI are very different. I was expecting the newer camera's UI to be as different as a new version of computer OS, for instance, but I can't say that the D3300 UI looks or feels like the UI on the D40/D40x at all. I've played with the D40x a bit at this point, and like taking photos with it so far. I bought the D40x so my 12-year-old daughter has a camera for photography trips that can use our other Nikon lenses, and it will be used mostly in auto mode for now, so the UI doesn't matter too much.

Is there a good breakdown of which Nikon cameras use what style of UI? I assumed that if I decided to buy a high-end Nikon at some point, the new camera would have a similar UI to my D3300, but the difference with the D40 makes me wonder.

robbins.photo · Sep 17, 2016

Well I haven't seen the d3300 myself, but the d600 I shoot now has a very similar menu system to the d5100 I started with, as well as the d5200 and the d7100 I eventually upgraded too.

Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk

astroNikon · Sep 17, 2016

Essentially the d3x00 and d5x00 have a beginner consumer friendly UI. The cameras above it are more reliant on user knowledge and offers faster ability to change settings and also offer more flexible and better features. Some of the older nikons before the d3000 and d5000 have this more upper end type, albeit older, interface. Keep in mind, the LCDs of the old cameras are much smaller than they are today.

The menus behind them though are similar.

nikon d40 - which looks like the predecessor to the d3x00 and d5x00 screen