i've been shooting with my cameraphone, time to get a real camera.

after a bit of reading i was thinking about a Nikon D40.

what say you? yea? nay? maybe?

Well... dont know, everything depends on what you want... for starting, because you say that you've been shooting with cameraphone, i think that its pretty good election, but i would prefer NIkon D80, or D200. Anyway, D40 has the best relation price-quality ;)

One question... it has to be Nikon? Maybe EOS 400D would be also suitable ;)

Sandman

I'll look at the EOS 400D. What is it that you like about that one?

I just looked up the EOS 400D. It's a lot more expensive than the D40. Is it that much better that it's worth the extra hundreds?

Well... its true that its more expensive, but its true that the "sister" of D40 would be maybe EOS 350D, anyway. Particulary i like about 400D the system for cleaning lens and the quality of image, and also that its one of the cameras with less noise, even with quite high ISO.

What i dont like is that the visor is small and with little data and... it doesnt have puntual measuring (that i still dont understand why).

About Nikon D40, it has "just" 6 mpx, its maybe a little small and the quality of the plastic of the body is not as good as i would like it to be, but for the rest is very very nice DSLR for starting and shooting in a very nice way (I cant avoid it, im fan of Nikon)

Like all photography equipment ... its what you're going to shoot, what the quality of the shots you want etc.

There are technical reasons why to go for one platform or anohter (I prefer Canon.. but thats my choice)

I haven't had a chance to have time hands on with a D40 yet - so I can't comment. There is a good review at dpreview.com of it.

I would honestly get to a camera shop and experiment and play with them. See what fits in your hand best, and the weight and everything.

The Canon 400D has some very nice features (the multipoint focusing, automatic dust cleaning, a nice large and the like).

Another point to consider is cost of getting extra lenses if you choose to expand the system , what lenses do you want.. and does that system give you those lenses at a reasonable cost.

Good luck!

My choice would be D80.

D200 isn't really aimed at a beginner to DSLR photography, it dose take a bit of work to get the best out of it.

(I got mine as a first DSLR and to start with did often feel I'd have been better off with a D70).

My only thing against the D40 as a beginners camera is size, for me they just feel to cramped to use. However this is just me, others may find the small size a major plus.

Also stay away from the 17-55 kit lens, it's not good. Instead for for the 17-70 which although not pro standard is a lot better.

I don't have any experience with the new 17-135.

I won't go for the d40, because it doesn't have auto focous with most of nikon's cheaper/older af lens (only af-s lens can actually af). Maybe you should get a smaller camera first b4 u jump into the single lens reflex world. I would give the fuji f30 a look, it's a great and inexpensive little camera that offers some manual controlls.

I'd recommend the Olympus Evolt E-500 2 lens kit. It's 8 megapixels, comes with all kinds of bells and whistles and it's less expensive than a Nikon or Canon. It may not have the "name" status, but the functionality is sure there.

Good luck

Biff

I'm not sure that it is what you've got between your hands that is important but what you do with it and what you really know about it. What's the point to have a top of the line machine if you only (know how to) use 10% of its features? I use both a Sony F828 and a Canon EOS100. I love both for different reasons.

The bast to search would be:
www.dpreview.com

Get a compact supper zoom. Most of those have riley good macro as well as 400mm supper zoom.