D40 & X and Older Lenses

I recently wrote to you all about buying a camera for a young girl in
high school who shows lots of promise in photography and one for me. I
have the F5 with some nice lenses.

I dedcided that for me it is either the D80 or the D200, since they
both will work with all my lenses except for one old Series E lens
(for which only the d200 will meter)

So, I was ging to get the D40 for the with the 18-55mm lens. Then I
figured if the kid was good, better to get 10 mp than 6mp, so now I am
up to the D40x and at Amazon it's a little over $700..not too bad.

But, if she wants to borrow any of my lenses or get some lenses on
Ebay or wherever, she is locked into only brand new just realeased
lenses.

I know marketing has it's strategies but for an entry level camera,
isn't it better for Nikon to let the new photographer explore what is
available and especially join the Nikon family?

So, Nikon is inviting this kid in but closing her out to the family,
right?



Alan

"Alan" wrote in message ...

I recently wrote to you all about buying a camera for a young girl in
high school who shows lots of promise in photography and one for me. I
have the F5 with some nice lenses.

I dedcided that for me it is either the D80 or the D200, since they
both will work with all my lenses except for one old Series E lens
(for which only the d200 will meter)

So, I was ging to get the D40 for the with the 18-55mm lens. Then I
figured if the kid was good, better to get 10 mp than 6mp, so now I am
up to the D40x and at Amazon it's a little over $700..not too bad.

But, if she wants to borrow any of my lenses or get some lenses on
Ebay or wherever, she is locked into only brand new just realeased
lenses.

I know marketing has it's strategies but for an entry level camera,
isn't it better for Nikon to let the new photographer explore what is
available and especially join the Nikon family?

So, Nikon is inviting this kid in but closing her out to the family,
right?

Alan

Yes. Absurd, isn't it, to save a few dollars making a camera
that sells for $700, just to "encourage" (force...) the purchase
of new lenses for compatibility. Same with the metering of
the D80 vs. the D200 - if the D80 metered properly with MF
lenses, I would have had one long ago! Ah, the "Canonization"
of Nikon marketing - make new things incompatible with the
old and hope the suckers won't notice... I had more respect
for Nikon when they made a real attempt to keep their gear
backward and forward compatible. At least you can still
mount and use MF and non-I/S/G lenses on the D40 (unlike
when Canon changed its mount), but you are on your own
with focus (with a relatively poor VF), and metering (none
but for trial and error, using a histogram).
Sigh....
--
David Ruether

http://www.donferrario.com/ruether

On Aug 20, 10:03 am, "David Ruether" wrote:
when Canon changed its mount), but you are on your own
with focus (with a relatively poor VF), and metering (none
but for trial and error, using a histogram).

I haven't had any trouble with manual focus using my D40, and you can
always use an external exposure meter. These are inconveniences and
annoyances, but they're not crippling*. People are spoiled now. :-)
The original Nikon F didn't have any exposure meter.

On the plus side, the D40 and D40X are the only Nikon dSLRs that can
use pre-AI manual focus lenses. :-)

*Depending of course on what kind of photography you do. They don't
matter so much for landscapes, but they'd make shooting fast moving
sports kind of difficult.

"Mark Sieving" wrote in message oups.com...
On Aug 20, 10:03 am, "David Ruether" wrote:

when Canon changed its mount), but you are on your own
with focus (with a relatively poor VF), and metering (none
but for trial and error, using a histogram).

I haven't had any trouble with manual focus using my D40, and you can
always use an external exposure meter. These are inconveniences and
annoyances, but they're not crippling*. People are spoiled now. :-)
The original Nikon F didn't have any exposure meter.

On the plus side, the D40 and D40X are the only Nikon dSLRs that can
use pre-AI manual focus lenses. :-)

*Depending of course on what kind of photography you do. They don't
matter so much for landscapes, but they'd make shooting fast moving
sports kind of difficult.

All good points, though the Nikon F had a superb VF (really easy to focus
lenses with a "B" or "E" screen installed - and I always thought that the split
and microprism "focus aids" of the "A" screen just got in the way, and the
D80/D200 screen VF is now moving us back in the direction of good VF
characteristics). I used to use two meterless Nikon F bodies, with an old
but very accurate Weston Master, II, or III - but now I have trouble enough
holding the camera, let alone a meter and juggling lenses while I switch
them (and the center of my camera focus eye has become soft, so I need
the best VF I can get for MF and I can only do that slowly now...).
--
David Ruether

http://www.donferrario.com/ruether

Mark,

As a baby boomer, I can tell you that the last thing I want to do is
meter and focus unless I am trying to get a certain effect. Right now
I am even thinking about getting a VR lens. I may be best off just
getting a good VR lens and using the F5, depending on how much film I
actually shoot.

I was surprised to find out that the photographer who is shooting my
son's wedding isn't using digital, according to my future
daughter-in-law. I thought by now they all switched.

As far as marketing, people who have a full library of lenses probably
will not go for a D40 or D40x anyway, as someone else said in another
thread. Most importantly, they are not going to buy something and
give up thousands of dollars of lenses.

Nikon is a very successful company so maybe they know
what they are doing. Maybe they don't want the passing down of lenses
as we know, lots of camera equipment, like gym memberships, go unused.

Alan

On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 08:15:25 -0700, Mark Sieving
wrote:

On Aug 20, 10:03 am, "David Ruether" wrote:
when Canon changed its mount), but you are on your own
with focus (with a relatively poor VF), and metering (none
but for trial and error, using a histogram).

I haven't had any trouble with manual focus using my D40, and you can
always use an external exposure meter. These are inconveniences and
annoyances, but they're not crippling*. People are spoiled now. :-)
The original Nikon F didn't have any exposure meter.

On the plus side, the D40 and D40X are the only Nikon dSLRs that can
use pre-AI manual focus lenses. :-)

*Depending of course on what kind of photography you do. They don't
matter so much for landscapes, but they'd make shooting fast moving
sports kind of difficult.

On Aug 20, 4:22 pm, Alan Calan wrote:

Nikon is a very successful company so maybe they know
what they are doing. Maybe they don't want the passing down of lenses
as we know, lots of camera equipment, like gym memberships, go unused.

What I'm betting on is that Nikon will be coming out with AF-S
versions of their existing lens lineup, at least for zooms (I'm less
confident of the fixed focal length lenses). I don't see Nikon making
any more non motorized lenses, except for some special purpose
lenses. I have some older AF lenses, but nothing special and not that
many. I can make do with them until I can replace them with AF-S
lenses.

Someone who has a large collection of AF lenses is probably better off
getting a D80, or even a used D50 or D70, then a D40. I considered
getting a D50 (about the same cost, without a lens, as a D40 kit). I
decided I'd rather have the new camera warranty and the 18-55 lens
instead of using my Tokina 19-35 as a standard zoom. I may regret
that decision eventually, but so far I'm happy with the D40.

On Aug 20, 11:14 am, "David Ruether" wrote:

them (and the center of my camera focus eye has become soft, so I need
the best VF I can get for MF and I can only do that slowly now...).

I was surprised at how bright and clear the viewfinder on my D40 was.
It's at least as good as my N80, and I think better than my old N70,
which had pentaprism viewfinders. I borrowed a friend's manual focus
FA and FE2 a while back, and the D40's viewfinder is way better than
they were. I don't doubt that the D80 and D200 are better; I hope so,
considering how much more they cost.

I know eventually I'm going to want to replace my AF lenses with AF-S,
but I figured that in the short term I could put up with manual
focusing, and so far that's been the case.

"Mark Sieving" wrote in message oups.com...
On Aug 20, 11:14 am, "David Ruether" wrote:

so I need
the best VF I can get for MF and I can only do that slowly now...

I was surprised at how bright and clear the viewfinder on my D40 was.
It's at least as good as my N80, and I think better than my old N70,
which had pentaprism viewfinders.

I think almost all the older digital Nikons were based on the N80,
which I think does not have a prism finder (and I dislike my N80
rather a lot - what a come-down that camera is from the 8008
that preceeded it in terms of VF and readouts characteristics).
I took my N80 out once, and put it on the shelf, where it has
remained (I bought it and a 24-85mm for a trip and left them
home in favor of my older gear [FA, 16, 20, 35, 85 - all compact
and easier to focus and hand-hold]).

I borrowed a friend's manual focus
FA and FE2 a while back, and the D40's viewfinder is way better than
they were.

?????????????????!!! Those two are among the *very* best for sharpness
at the frame center (though not at the edges - and they "shine" only when
that standard screen with the obtrusive "focus aids" is replaced with a "B"
or "E" matte-centered screen). Of course, you need to be able to see
very well at the 1-meter effective viewing screen distance, or any camera
with a variable diopter eyepiece can look sharper.

I don't doubt that the D80 and D200 are better; I hope so,
considering how much more they cost.

I know eventually I'm going to want to replace my AF lenses with AF-S,
but I figured that in the short term I could put up with manual
focusing, and so far that's been the case.

If it works, it works...! ;-)
--
David Ruether

http://www.donferrario.com/ruether

According to Alan :
I recently wrote to you all about buying a camera for a young girl in
high school who shows lots of promise in photography and one for me. I
have the F5 with some nice lenses.

I dedcided that for me it is either the D80 or the D200, since they
both will work with all my lenses except for one old Series E lens
(for which only the d200 will meter)

So, I was ging to get the D40 for the with the 18-55mm lens. Then I
figured if the kid was good, better to get 10 mp than 6mp, so now I am
up to the D40x and at Amazon it's a little over $700..not too bad.

But, if she wants to borrow any of my lenses or get some lenses on
Ebay or wherever, she is locked into only brand new just realeased
lenses.

Get her a good hand-held exposure meter and she can use the
older lenses in manual mode. She'll learn more that way, anyway. And
with the D40 or D40X, which has no sensor for whether the aperture ring
is stopped all the way down, she can even mount lenses from the very
first Nikon F line -- from before the AI aperture ring came into being.

I know marketing has it's strategies but for an entry level camera,
isn't it better for Nikon to let the new photographer explore what is
available and especially join the Nikon family?

So, Nikon is inviting this kid in but closing her out to the family,
right?

Nikon isn't choosing the camera for her. *You* are. The D40
and D40X are not being made for purchasers who will want special lenses.
And if the purchasers decide that they want to use the special lenses,
they are expected to want to move up to a better (more flexible) body.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

"Mark Sieving" wrote in message
oups.com...

What I'm betting on is that Nikon will be coming out with AF-S
versions of their existing lens lineup, at least for zooms (I'm less
confident of the fixed focal length lenses)....

Their zooms seem to be pretty much all AF-S anyway with only the 24-85 2.8-4
being non AF-S, at least according to the Nikon UK site.

cheers adrian www.boliston.co.uk