Cristiano on Tech/Life

I love my Nikon D40 ever since I got it, but it has it’s limitations. I have been playing with some other Nikon models the last few months and learned a lot about the differences between any upgrade possibilities that are out there for any Nikon user. This article gives a quick summary for a user coming from a Nikon D40 thinking of upgrading or extending their camera equipment.

Photo: Nikon D40 by Allen Qu

The Nikon D40

The Nikon D40 (announced in November 2006 and since replaced by the 90% similar D40X and D60) is Nikon’s entry-level DSLR. The camera is clear compromise between features and price, scrapping many conventional features to keep the weight of the camera limited and the price low. It is the perfect first DSLR for the beginning photographer and therefore a popular choice among switching amateur enthusiasts. [a full review can be found on dpreview.com]

This low price does come with some clear disadvantages for any amateur that wants to bring his/her photography to the next level. Most importantly the Nikon D40 doesn’t have built in focus motor, which means that it will only auto focus with the relatively new AF-S (since 1992) or AF-I (since 1998) lenses. To make things worse, none of the ultra-light sensitive and affordable prime lenses like the 50mm F1.8 (about £60 on Amazon) are available in AF-S, making the D40 worthless as an evening photography camera unless you want to invest in a decent flash or expensive alternative lens (starting at about £250 on Amazon).

Upgrades

So given the fact that you like the D40, and most likely already have one, what are the options for well priced upgrade? This is exactly the question I ran into when I decided I could spend £250 on the Sigma 30mm 1.4 lens, or £75 on the Nikon 50mm 1.8 AF-D instead and invest in a second body. The options for a second Nikon body within a relative specification and price range of the D40 were the D40x, D50, D60, D70, D70s and the D80. The D40x and D60 are no real contenders as they are nothing more than some very badly designed upgrades of the D40 with the same inherent problems. The D70 and D70s, though interesting, where not on my shortlist because of numerous reasons, ranging from the fact that they used CompactFlash (not SD), had very small LCD screens, where relatively expensive to the other models, and were generally regarded inferior to any of the other cameras. So that left me between a D50 and a D80.

Nikon D50 by deleepgeorge

Nikon D50

I actually managed to get my hands on a Nikon D50 on eBay for about £150 but I must admit that they tend to change hands for quite a lot more. The D50 (introduced April 2005) is the technological predecessor of the D40, containing much of the features as the D40 like the 6MP sensor, new generation menus, SD card for storage, and the optical pentamirror. Add on that the clear advantages over the D40 like a build in focus motor and would think the D50 is a great deal for anyone that is used to a D40. [a full review can be found on dpreview.com]

Well, unfortunately that assumption is wrong. Because it was the predecessor to the D40, it has most of the specs of the D40 in a more bigger and professional body, but with the obvious drawbacks of it being a camera thats an entire generation older than the D40. The white balance is awful, especially inside or in cloudy conditions. Most of my photos ended up greenish, leading to me just shooting everything in RAW and setting the white balance by hand afterwards. The auto-focus is horribly slow and inaccurate, and the menu system is no way near as intuitive as that of the D40. In general the entire camera just felt like a lesser product than the D40, which is not the feeling you want to have when spending this much money.

Nikon D80 by Allen Qu

Nikon D80

Lucky for me the D50 had some other technical issues which meant it had to be send back, allowing me to reconsider my options. I had a look on Amazon this time and found a Nikon D80 body for only £300. That’s more than twice the price than I spend on the D50, I know, but for that you get a 10MP sensor, 11 point autofocus, and most importantly a camera from the same generation as the D40. The D80 was launched in August 2006 (before the D40) but features an identical LCD screen and menu system, full support for SDHC, superior auto-focus, and a fast 3FPS RAW burst mode. [a full review can be found on dpreview.com]

I must admit that I have fallen in love with the D80 about as much as I have with the D40. Although it only offers a few major upgrades from the D40, the superior (more pro-like) body makes and the full range of modern features make the camera feel like a D40 in a superior shell (call it the D40Pro). The body (although from plastic) feels very solid and has mostly the same button layout as the D80. Furthermore, the images (besides being 4MP bigger) are quite similar as on the D40. The camera seems to have the same tendency to overexpose so I set my camera to -0.6EV and the white balance is often spot on. 

Nikon D40 vs D80 by Allen Qu

The only problems with the D80 from a D40 perspective are related to size. First of the camera is quite a bit bigger (522g vs 668g a.k.a. 0.74l vs 1.04l) but the image file sizes are also considerably bigger (6MP vs 10MP a.k.a. 5.5mb vs 12.4mb). Still, I take it you chose for this when considering an upgrade, and realize that most DSLR cameras are actually of the same or similar size.

Additional links

Nikon D40 vs Nikon D50 vs Nikon D80 specification on DPReview.com

I have been running with the idea of a PhotoCampLondon for a while, and under pressure of some friends I decided to finally go with it. So what can I tell you for now? Actually, not much yet, but I can point you to the website and I can you tell you this.

When, where, what, how?

So the idea is to have a photo themed, BarCamp-like, unconference, somewhere in Q1 2009. The photo theme will extend to everything related to photography, ranging from the actual photography, to third party services that provide creative outlets for your photography, to law and copyright. We want to get people from as many different photography and photography-related areas to come and attend.

While it being a BarCamp style event, I doubt we need to make it a true BarCamp with a sleepover (unless demand says otherwise), but I still have to figure out if we want to make it a one or two day event. I think one day should be enough but if we can get enough people attending and a big enough venue two days might just be possible.

Attending

The most important thing that anyone interested in PhotoCampLondon can currently do is put their name (or pseudonym) on the PhotoCampLondon wiki so that we can get a rough estimate of how many people are interested in this event. I also set up a blog on the PhotoCampLondon site so subscribe to that RSS for more news.

Organising, Sponsors, and Venues

The second most important thing you can do is help out organising this event. There is already a few great people helping out, creating a permanent look for the website and designing a real logo, but we need more. The most important thing for now is to probably be able to get our hands on a venue, but I think that highly relies on first getting some fix on the number of people that might want to attend.

Finally, we’re looking to get in contact with as many potential sponsors to see in how far they are interested. We’re not just looking for random sponsors to pay for food and t-shirts, but also for sponsors interested to bring valuable knowledge and hardware to the event. it would be great if it would be possible to get some major market players to come and give a large group some kind of workshop.

Further Information

If you want to know more about PhotoCampLondon, have a look at the site or contact me on cristiano[at]photocamplondon.org.