Please Help Me

CaboWabo · Jun 15, 2011

Hi First off I am a noob , I would like some help on understanding what is what when it comes to getting a used camera . I have read many posts on here what to buy and still dont understand . like all things some like cannon and some like nikon . I would like to get a nikon but I dont understand how that a older D40 can go for the same as a D3000 . I have been watching ebay a D40 goes for 300 and brand new at best buy a d3000 can go around $465 . Can some one recommend to me what Nikon model to get , I want to shoot architecture both day and night and I really want to be able to shoot HDR in the day . I am on a limited budget thats way I am asking maybe $300 to $500 . Thanks to anyone that can help me

KmH · Jun 15, 2011

CaboWabo said:
Hi First off I am a noob , I would like some help on understanding what is what when it comes to getting a used camera . I have read many posts on here what to buy and still don't understand . like all things some like cannon and some like nikon . I would like to get a nikon but I dont understand how that a older D40 can go for the same as a D3000 . I have been watching ebay a D40 goes for 300 and brand new at best buy a d3000 can go around $465 . Can some one recommend to me what Nikon model to get , I want to shoot architecture both day and night and I really want to be able to shoot HDR in the day . I am on a limited budget thats way I am asking maybe $300 to $500 . Thanks to anyone that can help me

The D40 and the D3000 are entry-level cameras. In fact, the D3000 replaced the D40 in Nikon's line up. At that basic entry-level, the $165 difference in price is pretty substantial (35%).

For your price range I would recommend a well cared for D40 with the standard 18-55 mm kit lens. For both architecture and HDR you will need a stable tripod and tripod head, so check eBay for one of those too.

Both the D40 and the D3000 use a CCD type image sensor. Most other DSLR cameras use a CMOS image sensor. Mainly because it costs less to make CMOS image sensors, but there are also some technical image quality advantages, like the fact CMOS uses less power which reduces thermal noise allowing the practical use of higher ISO settings.

Camera lenses have a number of optical aberrations. For shooting architecture you will want to have a lens that has minimal barrel or pincushion distortion. Another problem with shooting architecture is that if you point the camera up, the plane of image sensor and the plane of a building facade are no longer parallel and an image has keystoning distortion. There are lenses, known as a tilt/shift (T/S) lens, that can address those issues. Unfortunately T/S lenses are not inexpensive.

A common mistake many make when using the HDR (High Dynamic Range) technique is shooting what is actually a low dynamic range scene.