Nikon D40 Vs. Sony Alpha200

[Soma 115]

Alright, i know you guys have probably been over this a million+ times, but i searched it and couldn't find anything. I'm new to DSLR, yet have dabbled in SLR. I am looking to buy one of those cameras very soon (maybe tomorrow). So heres where you guys come in, which camera do you think would give me the most bang for my buck?? The only reason I'm keeping the Sony A200 in mind is that it has a considerable amount more MP's than the D40. Also I already own some autofocus Nikon lenses, would i be able to use the nikon lenses on the A200?(with an adapter or something?).

Thanks in advance.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

-Dillon

 

[futuremac]

I think the D40 is the best beginners DSLR. There are excellent guides available for the D40 if needed. Put the money you save on this cam towards some accessories. The mistake some novices make is they buy a more expensive camera because they are afraid they will get "beginner quality" images. This is not so true in the SLR world as with point-n-shoot. With an SLR to get better pictures you need to buy better lenses or buy a full frame SLR(thousands of dollars).

If I was going to recommend a D40 beginners package, at minimum it would include:

Nikon D40 18-55 kit.
Nikon SB-400 Speedlight flash
Bag (The LOWEPRO Off Trail 1 is excellent)
Hoya Super HMC UV filter 52mm
4GB+ SD card

In the future you may want to add:
Nikon ML-L3 remote
Tripod (If you have a video tripod you can use that)
Nikkor 50mm lens
Nikkor 55-200 VR lens

The best feature of the D40 is its size. They got it smaller than other SLR's because they omitted the auto-focus motor within the body. This is not a big issue, in fact it also makes the D40 quieter. Nikon have very good and affordable lenses. The Sony may have more features but I'm skeptical of the real advantages and upgradeability it will offer you in the future. The Nikon will take better low light photos, the Sony will take bigger (but not necessarily better) pictures. Whatever you choose be happy with it. Any SLR is miles ahead of a point and click.

 

[Soma 115]

I think the D40 is the best beginners DSLR. There are excellent guides available for the D40 if needed. Put the money you save on this cam towards some accessories. The mistake some novices make is they buy a more expensive camera because they are afraid they will get "beginner quality" images. This is not so true in the SLR world as with point-n-shoot. With an SLR to get better pictures you need to buy better lenses or buy a full frame SLR(thousands of dollars).

If I was going to recommend a D40 beginners package, at minimum it would include:

Nikon D40 18-55 kit.
Nikon SB-400 Speedlight flash
Bag (The LOWEPRO Off Trail 1 is excellent)
Hoya Super HMC UV filter 52mm
4GB+ SD card

In the future you may want to add:
Nikon ML-L3 remote
Tripod (If you have a video tripod you can use that)
Nikkor 50mm lens
Nikkor 55-200 VR lens

The best feature of the D40 is its size. They got it smaller than other SLR's because they omitted the auto-focus motor within the body. This is not a big issue, in fact it also makes the D40 quieter. Nikon have very good and affordable lenses. The Sony may have more features but I'm skeptical of the real advantages and upgradeability it will offer you in the future. The Nikon will take better low light photos, the Sony will take bigger (but not necessarily better) pictures. Whatever you choose be happy with it. Any SLR is miles ahead of a point and click.

Allright this reallly helped more than you know. so where could i possibly buy one of these packages??

 

[Abstract]

Look for a Nikon D40X (10 MP) package anywhere.

 

[cube]

You say you own some autofocus Nikon lenses, which I doubt are AF-S, so that you would have to manual focus on the D40.

Look for a used D50 or D70s.

 

[Soma 115]

Look for a Nikon D40X (10 MP) package anywhere.

See i was looking for a D40x but no where anywhere near me even had them. not even a camera store like wolfcamera.com has them. whats the price on a D40x??? ugh i think i might have to pay up the extra $150-200 for the D60

 

[cube]

OK, so you don't care about your old Nikon lenses.

http://www.beachcamera.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=PKK200D1855

Look at the rebates tab.

 

[slick316]

I don't know what the internet prices are on the D40, but Best Buy has a nice deal going on this week, D40 kit (18-55 lens) w/ the 55-200mm for $599.

I wish I bought the D40 sometimes over the D40x that I have, I really doubt I will ever need to make full use of a 10MP image.

 

[MacMontana]

Costco has a D60 Nikon kit $824.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...c=BC-EC18243-ProdID11243346&pos=0F&lang=en-US

 

[DaveTaylor]

I have a sony a200 and I am happy with it

 

[Soma 115]

I don't know what the internet prices are on the D40, but Best Buy has a nice deal going on this week, D40 kit (18-55 lens) w/ the 55-200mm for $599.

I wish I bought the D40 sometimes over the D40x that I have, I really doubt I will ever need to make full use of a 10MP image.

Well.......after much deliberation (about 4 hours in the 3 stores i went to) I decided to get the d40. after reading the manual and attaching my old school simga 70-300 macro lense i took her for a spin, and i can't easily say w/o a doubt this is my favorite camera i've ever owned. i would advise anyone to buy it.

-Thanks for all your help guys

~Dillon

Oh and by the way for anyone who's interested the D40 kit at circuit city is only $460 right now!

 

[futuremac]

Nice!

 

[cube]

Now you need a 3rd party focusing screen.

 

[Soma 115]

Now you need a 3rd party focusing screen.

Nah... now what i need is a good flash!

 

[GGJstudios]

Allright this reallly helped more than you know. so where could i possibly buy one of these packages??

Before you buy, you owe it to yourself to check out RitzCamera.com. While you may be able to find better prices, they have one thing I haven't found elsewhere. Take a look at their Expanded Service Policy. While many have extended warranties or service contracts, this is worth noting:

"Our Expanded Service Policy provides your equipment with coverage from almost every possible occurrence (except fire and theft) while you are using your equipment. Whether your equipment is water damaged or accidentally dropped, your equipment will be repaired or replaced at no extra charge by your Expanded Service Policy."

D40 search results: http://www.ritzcamera.com/webapp/wc...gId=10001&langId=-1&keyword=nikon+d40&x=0&y=0

 

[jhamerphoto]

I'm glad you decided on the D40, and that's something most people aren't likely to hear from me.

I'm pretty dedicated to my Sony A700, and I also have an A100, but I wouldn't recommend an A200 over any Nikon. I love my A700, but I almost regret purchasing the A100 when it came out. Almost. It did get me right into photography.

Overall, I think you'll just like the D40 more.

 

[Fuzzy14]

Wow! Search forums actually works!

Was going to post a thread on this very subject! Decided to buy my first SLR to take general family shots but was loathed to post some questions here because I know you guys get hammered by photo newbies all the time.

I'm also stuck between the Nikon D40 and Sony A-200 but interestingly in the UK they are both available for the same price - £270 (about $550 US?)

The head is saying going for the Nikon, it seems the best beginner camera and I really couldn't go wrong with it, however the heart says Sony. It seems more of a mid-range camera than the entry-level Nikon, and I'm a bit of a Sony nut - TV, camcorder, radio all Sony and I've got battery commonality - useful. My very first digital camera was a Mavica with Zeiss lenses and I loved it! Took better pictures on that sub-megapixel than I can currently get with my point and shoot!

I was a bit worried about Sony's history in the DSLR market until I found out they bought over Konica Mintola a couple of years back and have poured investment into them.

So I'll probably buy the Sony.... but not 100% yet!
Truth be told, if I had the money I'd buy a Cannon 400D!

 

[blackstone]

Was going to post a thread on this very subject! Decided to buy my first SLR to take general family shots but was loathed to post some questions here because I know you guys get hammered by photo newbies all the time.

I'm also stuck between the Nikon D40 and Sony A-200 but interestingly in the UK they are both available for the same price - £270 (about $550 US?)

For your purposes, either one should work perfectly fine. If you can, go to a store and play with the two cameras -- they're pretty different sizes and handle rather differently.

 

[Westside guy]

Before you buy, ...

I think you're too late.

 

[vagabondlife4me]

D40

It was weird as I have been a Canon guy for as long as I can remember. Printers, cameras, digital cameras, you name it. Well after having 2, yes 2 digital cameras break on vacation in Japan I went and broke down and purchased a Nikon D40.

I have been extremely happy with the purchase. Yes it is a new learning curve which has been easy enough but the pictures are amazing for price. Great pictures and ease of use won out. The other big plus is that Nikon accessories are easy enough to find in shop. Not sure if I could say the same about Sony. Although I am sure a lot of the old Minolta stuff may work. We are talking about Sony though. So maybe not!

Vagabond

 

[CMD is me]

Well.......after much deliberation (about 4 hours in the 3 stores i went to) I decided to get the d40. after reading the manual and attaching my old school simga 70-300 macro lense i took her for a spin, and i can't easily say w/o a doubt this is my favorite camera i've ever owned. i would advise anyone to buy it.

So what do you think? I was looking a both as well. Decided to hold off for now, but still looking.

 

[Fuzzy14]

For your purposes, either one should work perfectly fine. If you can, go to a store and play with the two cameras -- they're pretty different sizes and handle rather differently.

Well I went down to my local independent camera chain (PhotoOptix) only to find they went into receivership last week. So I had no option but to go to my Dixons stores group shops (boo!). Currys had the cameras behind a glass case where you had to ask to see each one and talk to a couldn't care less sales advisor. PC World had the cameras on display but they weren't powered up.

I played about with unpowered Nikon D40, Sony A200 and Canon 400D. Thought the Nikon and Sony felt like they were made of cheap plastic (the Nikon a bit more) but I liked the Sony 18-70mm lens and manual focus. Talked to a sales advisor but they wouldn't drop the price of the A200 down from the £299 store price to the £264 on-line price so we walked out. Bought the Sony on Amazon for £284 including a 4GB memory card so just waiting on delivery!

I liked the Canon but couldn't justify paying an extra £100 when the Sony does it all that I require of it (for now)!

So stand by for me to ask newbie photography questions!

 

[ChrisA]

The only reason I'm keeping the Sony A200 in mind is that it has a considerable amount more MP's than the D40. Also I already own some autofocus Nikon lenses, would i be able to use the nikon lenses on the A200?(with an adapter or something?).

First why do you need more megapixels? What are you going to do with the image files? I'd bet you'd be better off with a 6MP camera. "Mega Pixel" is a marketing term and does not mean much. If you do want to compare mega pixel counts in a meaningfull way take the square root if the MP count of each camera and compare the two square roots. It turns out the resolution is proportional to the ssquare root of the total number of pixels. This is why people way the 6, 10 and even 12 are "close"

No way can you use a Nikon lens on a Sony camera. If you have Nikon lenses that will work with the D40 get the D40 but check first. The D40 required AF-S type lenses. You best best might be to buy a D80. The total cost of ownership may be less because you have some lenses already. If the D80 is to expensive look for a good used D50. You can pick one up for just over $300. Then you'd be set. I'd MUCH rather have a used D50 than a new D40.

 

[Soma 115]

So what do you think? I was looking a both as well. Decided to hold off for now, but still looking.

i would go with the D40. Im VERY pleased with it

 

[CMD is me]

i would go with the D40. Im VERY pleased with it

Thanks Soma. I'll check it out.