New Nikon Entry Level DSLR on the Horizon - the Nikon D40

[aphex]

Link to Engadget

Curious to see what the price point on this ends up at, im guessing $499 MSRP, street $399.

Interesting to say the least...

 

[paulney]

I wish they had an D90 - the step between D200 and D80
That would be perfect for my needs. Give me everything in D80, but with CF instead of SD, and a couple of perks from D200 for about $900 - $1k body - and I'm sold.

 

[jpeyton]

No autofocus motor?

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
No autofocus motor?

not a problem if modern nikon bodies and lenses have the motors in the lens, rather than the body. which i think they do. can't use the first gen nikon AF lenses, i guess. F mount compatability has been a crock of sh!t forever anyway.

 

[Brentx]

No AF motor doesn't sound right. I couldn't see that going over very well with consumers. I have a D50, and even though I love to shoot in manual mode, I sometimes just like to use AF, like when shooting shots that aren't meant to be anything special.

 

[soydios]

Nice find.

That camera is SMALL, at least width-wise. Moving the scene selector wheel to the right side (from the back) of the speedlight mount really lets them trim down the camera. Nice big screen, too. Looks like it retains enough features to be used by a point-and-shoot user wanting better low-light and a little more creative control.

No AF motor isn't a huge issue, as all the Nikon kit lenses are wannabe AF-S (integrated autofocus motor+gear, requires a physical switch to disengage for manual focus), and all the high-end ones are true AF-S (integrated autofocus motor around base of lens optics making an hourglass-shaped lens body, requires only a touch to the focus ring to switch to manual focus). The old lenses and the midrange ones (like 50mm primes and such) use the autofocus hookup in the camera.

Personally, I have a D50, and the D40 looks like a huge step down (I don't really care about multi-area autofocus, give me center area and I'm fine), but I really like having the information-dense top info panel. I still say that the D50 is the best bang-for-buck among DSLRs ($550 for body, $650 with 18-55mm, $850 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm). The only two features I'd like on my D50 would be an illuminated top panel and the ability to use the D50 as the master for an SB-800 remote speedlight group.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: jpeyton
No autofocus motor?

not a problem if modern nikon bodies and lenses have the motors in the lens, rather than the body. which i think they do. can't use the first gen nikon AF lenses, i guess. F mount compatability has been a crock of sh!t forever anyway.

yep

 

[JMWarren]

Originally posted by: aphex

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: jpeyton
No autofocus motor?

not a problem if modern nikon bodies and lenses have the motors in the lens, rather than the body. which i think they do. can't use the first gen nikon AF lenses, i guess. F mount compatability has been a crock of sh!t forever anyway.

yep

But that means so many cheap AF primes won't AF on this camera! BIG MISTAKE NIKON!

 

[GTaudiophile]

I guess they went down in number because they couldn't go up? Nikon D60 wouldn't sound right given the Canon D60.

 

[getbush]

If those specs are true, it is just too neutered. A D50 used fro $400 would be a much better deal.

 

[BRObedoza]

i love the sharpness and speed of my primes. i'd rather get a d50 than this.

 

[NFS4]

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond40/
http://press.nikonusa.com/gallery/product.php?c=nikon/Digital_SLR/D40/

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Like a lot of others have said, this is much too neutered.

No exposure bracketing?
Only 6MP?
Only 3 autofocus areas?
It looks like it'll be as small as the XT.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Like a lot of others have said, this is much too neutered.

No exposure bracketing?
Only 6MP?
Only 3 autofocus areas?
It looks like it'll be as small as the XT.

It's smaller than an XTi with a BETTER handgrip. Just crazy

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Like a lot of others have said, this is much too neutered.

No exposure bracketing?
Only 6MP?
Only 3 autofocus areas?
It looks like it'll be as small as the XT.

I guess you don't understand who the target audience is.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Like a lot of others have said, this is much too neutered.

No exposure bracketing?
Only 6MP?
Only 3 autofocus areas?
It looks like it'll be as small as the XT.

It's smaller than an XTi with a BETTER handgrip. Just crazy

That's great...so bigger, faster lenses will feel really awkward on this body then?

Good job Nikon...you just released a camera that's not even as good as my 3 year old Canon 300D.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Like a lot of others have said, this is much too neutered.

No exposure bracketing?
Only 6MP?
Only 3 autofocus areas?
It looks like it'll be as small as the XT.

It's smaller than an XTi with a BETTER handgrip. Just crazy

That's great...so bigger, faster lenses will feel really awkward on this body then?

90% of the people who use this camera will keep the kit lens on it, and maybe add another kit telephoto.

 

[jlbenedict]

Looks like a nice little camera to me. Good for a beginning photography buff that wants to get their hands on a SLR without emptying the wallet.

Most likely to compete with the likes of Sony, Panasonic and the Canon's prosumer, fixed-lensed cameras.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Like a lot of others have said, this is much too neutered.

No exposure bracketing?
Only 6MP?
Only 3 autofocus areas?
It looks like it'll be as small as the XT.

It's smaller than an XTi with a BETTER handgrip. Just crazy

That's great...so bigger, faster lenses will feel really awkward on this body then?

90% of the people who use this camera will keep the kit lens on it, and maybe add another kit telephoto.

And leave them wanting more if they decide they want better glass.

My 3 year old Canon 300D is a better camera and can be had for about the same $ on the used market.

 

[jlbenedict]

"Available: December 2006

$599.95 ESP Includes 3x 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens.
ESP (Estimated Selling Price) listed is only an estimate. Actual prices are set by dealers and are subject to change at any time."


So, what type of real pricing should we see on this? $499 ?

 

[GTaudiophile]

Well, there have been a ton of DSLR threads here lately and for many it seems that the price of entry is still too high for the D50/XTi.

The D40 might just be what the doctor ordered.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Like a lot of others have said, this is much too neutered.

No exposure bracketing?
Only 6MP?
Only 3 autofocus areas?
It looks like it'll be as small as the XT.

It's smaller than an XTi with a BETTER handgrip. Just crazy

That's great...so bigger, faster lenses will feel really awkward on this body then?

90% of the people who use this camera will keep the kit lens on it, and maybe add another kit telephoto.

And leave them wanting more if they decide they want better glass.

My 3 year old Canon 300D is a better camera and can be had for about the same $ on the used market.

How would it leave them wanting more? The only thing this camera lacks is an internal AF motor and AF points. I'd buy a camera with 1 AF point, right in the middle.

Yeah, casual snapshot people are going to run out and buy a tired used camera when they can buy something brand new for the same price.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: jlbenedict
"Available: December 2006

$599.95 ESP Includes 3x 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens.
ESP (Estimated Selling Price) listed is only an estimate. Actual prices are set by dealers and are subject to change at any time."


So, what type of real pricing should we see on this? $499 ?

You can still buy a brand new Rebel XT for $569 which is an 8MP camera, 7 point autofocus and will take all of Canon's EF/EF-S autofocus lenses.

You'd have to be quite the Nikon fanboy to buy this camera even at $499.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: jlbenedict
"Available: December 2006

$599.95 ESP Includes 3x 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens.
ESP (Estimated Selling Price) listed is only an estimate. Actual prices are set by dealers and are subject to change at any time."


So, what type of real pricing should we see on this? $499 ?

You can still buy a brand new Rebel XT for $569 which is an 8MP camera, 7 point autofocus and will take all of Canon's EF/EF-S autofocus lenses.

You'd have to be quite the Nikon fanboy to buy this camera even at $499.

Gawd dude. Stop looking at this from a camera fanboy/enthusiast perspective and look at this from the prospective of someone going into Best Buy looking for a NEW, cheap D-SLR. Hell, half of the people in the market for this camera don't even know what the heck an EF/EF-S lens system or 7-point autofocus means. They have two things in their mind "D-SLRs are supposed to be superior to P&S -- gimme the newest, cheapest one ya got"

Sheesh, you are making this WAY too hard and taking it WAY to personally.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: jlbenedict
"Available: December 2006

$599.95 ESP Includes 3x 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens.
ESP (Estimated Selling Price) listed is only an estimate. Actual prices are set by dealers and are subject to change at any time."


So, what type of real pricing should we see on this? $499 ?

You can still buy a brand new Rebel XT for $569 which is an 8MP camera, 7 point autofocus and will take all of Canon's EF/EF-S autofocus lenses.

You'd have to be quite the Nikon fanboy to buy this camera even at $499.

People buying this camera don't give a sh!t about specs. They care about price. If they didn't care about price, they'd get a D80 or a Canon 30D. That's why the Olympus E-500 is selling so well. It's got probably the most terrible viewfinder on the face of the planet with terrible high ISO noise, but people still buy it like crazy. Why? Because it's a body and 2 lenses for $700.