Camera Guru's of ScionLife please help me decide which camera to buy I'm struggling deciding between a few. The Nikon D40 I can prolly buy for around 300 online, or getting a point and shoot camera. Right now I'm using a Canon point and shoot camera it's al busted up I can't take pictures in the day time, the photographs come out too exposed. I was playing around with the camera's at the store and the d40 while having less mp's than some of the point and shoot camera it was taking better pictures than than them. So I was wondering how good is this camera? Did the pics just look good because of the quality of the LCD screen? I'm going to be taking pictures of my car and vacations when the time comes for them will this suffice. I would rather not spend over 500...

Thanks Guys.

 

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http://www.wolfcamera.com/product/SLR1160.htm

 

It all depends on what kind of money you want to spend. if you want to buy a digital SLR, you need to know a bit about photography and be willing to spend a bit of money on lenses for different types or shots, and learn to carry a lot of stuff with ya when ya go somewhere. If you get a nice point and shoot, you can stick it in your pocket when you're not shooting, so it all depends on what applications you're going to use it for. And personally if I were to go with a DSLR, I would either go for the D40x (not the D40), the Canon EOS Rebel XTi or the soon to be released XSi for the customization options and versatility.

 

What about buying a used camera? stay away or be cautious.

 

I'd be very cautious with a used camera =/

I think the D40 would be a good one though if you are looking to spend under $500- Honeslty, I've been using my panasonic lumix (just a regular digital camera which was about $350) and once I learned the settings like shutter speeds and ISO, I was able to get some really good shots out of it (with use of a tripod)! But if you are looking for an SLR, and under $500, then D40 is prob your best bet-- I am personally looking to get a D80 (at Costco there is a package for $900 which includes the zoom lens and the carrying case)-- pretty pricey but the picture quality will be excellent =]

 

The D40 is an excellent camera for the money. To be honest, I bet the majority of people would not notice a difference between a picture shot with a D40 or a D80. The difference comes in the lens and more importantly, the photographer. I really like this guys site:

http://kenrockwell.com/

Read his "Recommended Cameras" section. This guy has access to pretty much any camera on the market, and he choses the D40 quite a bit.

 

+1 on the D40.