Upgrade from a Nikon D40 to a D5000?
I currently have a Nikon D40, and a 18-105 AF-S VR lens. I'm getting more into night time and sport photography and I'm thinking about upgrading to the D5000. I've done some research on the D5000, but I'm still not completely swayed that I should definitely get it.
Would it make sense to upgrade the D40?
Any opinions are appreciated.
It certainly would be an upgrade, but look at the Nikon D3200.It has one of the new sensors starting to be introduced by Nikon
Here is how the D40, D5000 and D3200 sensors compare.
As you can see the D3200 provides the most bang for the buck
http://www.dxomark.com/...nd3)/Nikon
Even if you have to save your pennies a little longer, buying the D3200 may well be worth it
Does the D5000 have a significant increase in ISO as compared to the D40? That's the night time factor you would need. Upgrading makes no sense is they're almost the same. If your D40 still works, save your money for a really better camera in the future.
Do you mean the D5100? The D5000 is an old discontinued model.
The D5100 is much better and has far better high ISO performance than either the D5000 or the D40.
My wife upgraded from a D60 to a D5100 and the D5100 is much, much better at high ISO. It's actually a much better camera in just about every respect.
It has faster AF; it is more responsive, with more focus points, better and higher resolution sensor, (CMOS on the D5100 which is better than the old CCD sensor), better colour depth, and has live view on a much higher resolution movable screen! You can get reasonably decent shots at ISO3200 and acceptable ones at ISO6400 at a push.
It's actually got the same sensor as my D7000 and it's just so much better than the old D60 or your D40. And it will even do 1080P video if you want it. Go for a D5100 body. You won't be disappointed!
I agree with Martin about the 5100. If you're getting into nighttime photography, consider getting a 50mm f1.8 E or AF S. The former must be operated in the manual mode and you will have to manually focus, but you can get those lenses for approximately $40-$50 compared to $200 for the auto focus, auto aperture latter. I have an E and compared to the f3.5 kit lens, the 1.8 really gives you a lot of flexibility under low light conditions.