Before getting into the subject, I would like to introduce myself to you. I am a photo enthusiast. I like photography and that is my hobby and passion. After a very long wait, I finally bought the Nikon D40 Digital SLR.
The sites that I referred to are https://dpreview.com, http://www.cnet.com, https://bestbuy.com and https://circuitcity.com. The first two sites gave me some tips on the technical aspects of the cameras whereas the last two sites were used to compare the prices.
I considered the following points to finalize the camera.
These questions did not come to me all of a sudden. It took about 8 months for me to fulfill my desire. Please find my answers to the above questions.
1) How many mega-pixels camera I need?
My desire was to buy a 10 mega-pixel digital SLR because I thought when I’m investing, let me invest in a better, latest and advanced camera. I found that Canon EOS-450D(the Rebel XTi) meets most of my requirements. But then it was too expensive for me that I had to postpone the purchase if I had to buy it.
So I started the research again on Mega-Pixels. I found out that only if it needs to be a blow-up, or use for banners, billboards, flex etc you need higer mega-pixels. I didn’t have that requirement. I also found that 6 mega-pixel is a decent number and then I narrowed down my search to a 6 mega-pixel digital SLR.
The first two manufacturers in the list were Nikon and Canon because I’ve seen most of the photographer’s in Kerala uses Nikon and many of them in the US uses Canon. I asked two professional photographers in Kerala why they use Nikon. They told me it gives them the natural colors. I also found that Canon has got some advanced features and Canon uses its own lens technology.
I compared them and found out that the Nikon D40 is an ideal camera for me in terms of mega-pixels and features, because it had sufficient but less features compared to others(smiles). Then I compared the Nikon-D40 with other brands and found that Nikon-D40 suits my requirements.
*2) What is the purpose of buying this camera?
I know that though photography is my hobby, I prefer it to limit it there. I dont have the urge to become a profesisonal photographer and make it as my profession. So I very well knew there is no point in suffocating myself by buying an expensive camera. I enjoy photography and all I need is a decent digital SLR which can give the depth in the photographs according to my expectation.
*3) What type of pictures I usually shoot?
I’m a nature lover. I love to picture cenaries. I also love to shoot the sky. I hardly take portraits. But close-up of certain objects I often take as part of my workshop.
*4) How often I use this camera?
Since I work for a software company, I knew the extra time I get to do my hobbies are very less. Weekends will be spend mostly with the family and weekdays I’m all the time in office till about 8pm. Even if I buy an expensive camera, I cannot make use of it to the best. Learning to use the camera itself will take a long time. So I knew that I have to buy a camera which has the general features but that also let me shoot the kind of pictures I would love to take.
*5) If I buy this camera, do I feel like upgrading it to a better model soon?
If the camera can meet my present requirements, there are lots of things that I can explore with it. With the limited time I get to spend with the camera after my family and office time, I knew it will take a long time for me to get to the level of having to upgrade the camera. Moreover, I also felt that if I buy a good camera body, I can always get the desired effect by changing the lens. Nikon D-40 with its default 18-55mm lens met most of my photography needs.
*6) What type of lens do I need?
For the kind of pictures that I’m interested in taking, I found out that an 18-55mm lens, a 70-300mm lens and a macro lens would serve all my needs. Among those, the Nikon D-40 was coming with 18-55mm lens. And I felt that let me get used to the camera, learn how to take good pictures using the default lens and then buy the other two lens one by one. Maybe once I learn a bit, my view point about other lens can differ as you get to know a bit about the camera and the lens that you have with you. So for the time being, I decided to have the default lens(18-55mm) that comes with the camera.
*7) How many GB memory space that I need for the memory card?
My ordinary 4 mega-pixel digital camera had 1GB memory card in it. That was more than enough for me to take few hundreds of fine pictures. Since the nikon D-40 is 6 mega-pixels, I thought I’d atleast need 2GB card. Luckily, 2GB Sandisk memory card was part of the nikon D-40 package.
*8) Do I expect after sales service from the dealer as well as from the manufacturer?
*Yes offcourse. Since the money that I spend for the camera was not from the extra cash that I have, I was particular that I get the after sales service from the dealer as well as from the manufacturer. I may had to pay the tax(extra amount) for buying a camera with bill in India. I chose that so that I have the warranty from the manufacturer. Nikon D-40 comes with a 2 year warranty. I bought the camera from Pixetra. They have been dealing with cameras and accessories for years in Cochin. So I opted to buy from them as they have well setup showrooms and experts to advise.
*9) My budget for the camera?
My budget for a digital SLR was about Rs.25, 000. The Canon EOS-450D was costing about Rs.34, 000. So the carry bag, memory card exetra would cost additional which would make it to around 40K. I bought the Nikon D-40 for Rs.27, 000. The dealer was very kind enough to give me an excellent Case Logic bag(bigger one) that costed Rs.3, 000 for a song. Then I bought the UV and Polarized filters, and took membership in Pixetra club which altogether came Rs.30, 000.
*THE SUMMARY:
*I’m extremely happy with the D-40. Its only a matter of getting used with the camera and the camera getting used to you(smiles). I feel that I have made the right purchase. As I stated above, I was looking for a camera that allows me to take the kind of pictures I would like to with some general features. I got that from the D-40. I was a bit particular about chossing a camera with minimal features because I hardly use all or many features.
You can see few of my pics in https://istockphoto.com/josephbastin (for sale) and also in https://flickr.com/photos/28100104@N02/ (these are some of my workshops)
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