200 or 80 or 40x

I think I might know the answer to this but here goes anyway. I have
Nikon F5 that I rarely use because I have a mental block now against
film. Stupid, I know.

The lenses I have a

Tokina ATX Pro 28-70mm 1:2.6-2.8 w/ a 77 mm filter size. a wonderful
lens which I dropped and Tokina fixed it once but know they have to
fix it again. I'm not sure if they fixed it right the first time. It
will be about $100 to fix again.

Tamron SP 90mm AF Macro 1:2.8

Nikon ED AF Nikor 70-300mm 1:4-5.6

Kenko-Tokina N-AFd 2x teleconverter MC7

Nikon SB28 Flash

From an old Nikon FE I have a Series E 75-150mm 3.5

What do I take picture of now...well a few big weddings coming up and
even though we have photographers...well you know. After the weddings
babies. Family gatherings. I do business valuations so I use it for
that although I bought a Kodak 8 MP C875 for our trip to Italy that
never happened because of the two weddings. I don't know that I'd
take a big Nikon to Italy in July or August. However, next summer we
are going to San Diego for a wedding, driving up the coast, my wife
won't drive down the coast to San Francisco and we may even land in
Vegas, see the Grand Canyon then go to the wedding and then the drive.
For that I'll take a camera with good lenses.

I am buying a present for a friend's daughter who is a sophomore in HS
and I know she wants the D40, so I am buying it for her either that or
the D40x because the kid just started taking pictures and she has a
GREAT EYE. She has no lenses and I wonder if I can give her the Nikon
Series E 75-150mm.

So, what do you suggest for me? I'd get the D40X for myself but I
don't think I'll be able to use any of my F5 lenses.

So friends, I am ready to buy now but not sure what to do. The I saw
something about a d300. If it's more than the D200, it's over what I
want to spend. And with either the 200, 80 or the 40x, will I be Ok
with just the lenses above?

Alan

Alan wrote:
[]
I am buying a present for a friend's daughter who is a sophomore in HS
and I know she wants the D40, so I am buying it for her either that or
the D40x because the kid just started taking pictures and she has a
GREAT EYE. She has no lenses and I wonder if I can give her the Nikon
Series E 75-150mm.
[]
Alan

Get her the D40 with the "kit" 18 - 55mm and, if you are feeling generous,
the 55 - 200mm VR lens. Lightweight and very good value for money.

David

I just figured out the problem with the Tokina ATX Pro 28-70mm
1:2.6-2.8 that I had fixed after it was dropped.

When you zoom the connection with the camera loosens and it gives me
and F - - or an F E E message. I then have to move the aperture ring
toward my left hand (a larger opening) and firmly back toward the
right. This doesn't happen with any other lens.

If you look at the back of the lens, the flange on the top ring is not
straight...it inclines up a bit as if it was bent...it is bent, Since
the camera and lens fell only once, this must not have been fixed the
first time when I gave THK Photo $189 to fix it. They wanted
something like $100 this time for fixing something they should have
done the first time. I didn't do it and asked for the lens back. I
am going to send them a copy of this and perhaps they'll fix it right
this time.

Alan

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:46:46 -0400, Alan
wrote:

I think I might know the answer to this but here goes anyway. I have
Nikon F5 that I rarely use because I have a mental block now against
film. Stupid, I know.

The lenses I have a

Tokina ATX Pro 28-70mm 1:2.6-2.8 w/ a 77 mm filter size. a wonderful
lens which I dropped and Tokina fixed it once but know they have to
fix it again. I'm not sure if they fixed it right the first time. It
will be about $100 to fix again.

Tamron SP 90mm AF Macro 1:2.8

Nikon ED AF Nikor 70-300mm 1:4-5.6

Kenko-Tokina N-AFd 2x teleconverter MC7

Nikon SB28 Flash

From an old Nikon FE I have a Series E 75-150mm 3.5

What do I take picture of now...well a few big weddings coming up and
even though we have photographers...well you know. After the weddings
babies. Family gatherings. I do business valuations so I use it for
that although I bought a Kodak 8 MP C875 for our trip to Italy that
never happened because of the two weddings. I don't know that I'd
take a big Nikon to Italy in July or August. However, next summer we
are going to San Diego for a wedding, driving up the coast, my wife
won't drive down the coast to San Francisco and we may even land in
Vegas, see the Grand Canyon then go to the wedding and then the drive.
For that I'll take a camera with good lenses.

I am buying a present for a friend's daughter who is a sophomore in HS
and I know she wants the D40, so I am buying it for her either that or
the D40x because the kid just started taking pictures and she has a
GREAT EYE. She has no lenses and I wonder if I can give her the Nikon
Series E 75-150mm.

So, what do you suggest for me? I'd get the D40X for myself but I
don't think I'll be able to use any of my F5 lenses.

So friends, I am ready to buy now but not sure what to do. The I saw
something about a d300. If it's more than the D200, it's over what I
want to spend. And with either the 200, 80 or the 40x, will I be Ok
with just the lenses above?

Alan

I knw that I have to get her a lens. Is 6 mp enough? I took picture
for a high school reunion I ran and thank god for getting the good
resolution the film gave me because I had to do a lot of cropping to
cut away the dark areas.

But what about me? Which camera is a better replacement for the F5
with the lenses I listed?

Alan

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 19:27:12 GMT, "David J Taylor"
wrote:

Alan wrote:
[]
I am buying a present for a friend's daughter who is a sophomore in HS
and I know she wants the D40, so I am buying it for her either that or
the D40x because the kid just started taking pictures and she has a
GREAT EYE. She has no lenses and I wonder if I can give her the Nikon
Series E 75-150mm.
[]
Alan

Get her the D40 with the "kit" 18 - 55mm and, if you are feeling generous,
the 55 - 200mm VR lens. Lightweight and very good value for money.

David

On Aug 3, 1:46 pm, Alan wrote:

So, what do you suggest for me? I'd get the D40X for myself but I
don't think I'll be able to use any of my F5 lenses.

So friends, I am ready to buy now but not sure what to do. The I saw
something about a d300. If it's more than the D200, it's over what I
want to spend. And with either the 200, 80 or the 40x, will I be Ok
with just the lenses above?

With the D40X, you'll have no autofocus with any of your lenses.
That's not a problem if you don't mind manual focus.

With the D40X and the D80, you'll have no exposure metering with the
Series E lens. You can still use it in manual exposure mode, but
you'll need an external meter or you'll have to guess at the exposure.

You'll have full capabilites of all your lenses with the D200.

Alan wrote:
I knw that I have to get her a lens. Is 6 mp enough? I took picture
for a high school reunion I ran and thank god for getting the good
resolution the film gave me because I had to do a lot of cropping to
cut away the dark areas.

It's like asking how long is a piece of string! Most of the time 6MP will
be fine, although some might say that if you are print A3 size (~40 x
30cm) 6MP is marginal. With a good zoom (or two), get the picture right
in the camera might be one method to follow.

"Resolution" on film and "resolution" with digital tend to be slightly
different animals in that digital has less grain than film, but a
differently shaped MTF curve with a sharper cut-off but greater
low-frequency MTF.

But what about me? Which camera is a better replacement for the F5
with the lenses I listed?

Alan

I sold all my old Nikon lenses - I think digital is a good chance to
review what you have, simplify, and reduce weight. As Mark says, the D200
will offer the best use of your earlier lenses. Check with the Nikon
compatibility chart to be sure - perhaps someone can post the URL.

Cheers,
David

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:44:45 -0400, Alan wrote:

I knw that I have to get her a lens. Is 6 mp enough? I took picture
for a high school reunion I ran and thank god for getting the good
resolution the film gave me because I had to do a lot of cropping to
cut away the dark areas.

The D40's 6mp should be more than enough. It produces far better
than the 8mp and 10mp of most P&S cameras. In a way it might even
be better than the D40x, because from what I've read, the high
resolution DSLRs make obvious the flaws of lesser lenses (such as
Nikon's inexpensive kit lenses) that wouldn't be as noticeable when
used with 6mp cameras such as the D40, D50 and D70.


But what about me? Which camera is a better replacement for the F5
with the lenses I listed?

I don't know those lenses well enough to really be sure, but
there's a good chance that the D80 would be compatible with them. I
had a bunch of old Nikkor lenses last used with a Nikon 8008
(including a 75-300mm AF, 60mm Micro Nikkor) and they all work
perfectly with my D50. If your lenses are really old, some may not
meter with the D80, and then a D200 would be a better choice.
Someone more familiar with your lenses could tell you if any would
need the D200, but my guess is that the D80 would use all of the
features of most, if not all of your lenses. If you have a good
local camera store, they should allow you to mount your old lenses
on a D80 or D200 so that you could assure yourself about
compatibility. I did that this past April, bringing my old lenses
into B&H, and within minutes walked out of the store with a new D50.
Just in time, too, since when I checked a day or two later, they
were sold out and would get no more.

Your SB-28 should also work if it's anything like my SB-24, but
without all of its automatic features. For Nikon's DSLRs you'd want
either the SB-600 or SB-800, which are much more capable
speedlights. Check the (daunting) manuals if you're not familiar
with them. The following URL is for the web page that has links for
PDF manuals for most of Nikon's products, including the D40, D40x,
and D200. Included is a second copy, split in parts in case your
newsreader has problems with the complete URL.


http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin...i=&p_topview=1

http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin...g/php/enduser/
std_adp.php?p_faqid=13948&p_created=1143233777
&p_sid=zS1QjfIi&p_accessibility=0&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9z cmNoPTEmc
F9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9OCZwX3
Byb2RzPTM5JnBfY2F0cz0xODcmcF9wdj0xLjM5JnBfY3Y9MS4x
ODcmcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9ubCZw
X3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1

It is alleged that ASAAR claimed:

The D40's 6mp should be more than enough. It produces far better
than the 8mp and 10mp of most P&S cameras. In a way it might even
be better than the D40x, because from what I've read, the high
resolution DSLRs make obvious the flaws of lesser lenses (such as
Nikon's inexpensive kit lenses) that wouldn't be as noticeable when
used with 6mp cameras such as the D40, D50 and D70.

I took this the other day with the kit 18-55 lens that came with my
D40x: http://www.gordol.org/gallery/NH-Lakes/DSC_1420 (you may have to
click on the image to get it full-size). Those are not lens defects,
those are floaties in the water.

The only problem I have with the lenses (18-55 AF-S and 55-200VR AF-S)
that came with my D40x is with the manual focus: They go from min to
max in less than 1/4 turn, and the far-focus goes beyond infinity.

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

"It's not easy being funny, wearing these teeth." (Chief O'Brian,
STS9 "Apocalypse Rising")

On Fri, 03 Aug 2007 17:23:40 -0400, Jeffrey Kaplan wrote:

I took this the other day with the kit 18-55 lens that came with my
D40x: http://www.gordol.org/gallery/NH-Lakes/DSC_1420 (you may
have to click on the image to get it full-size). Those are not lens defects,
those are floaties in the water.

Very nice. Clicking on the image expands its size in the browser,
but doesn't replace it with a higher resolution version. It looks
*much* better displayed full screen by Irfanview. It seems to have
been just about the right exposure, judging by the blue sky and
clouds, also reflected in the water. Just wondering, did you use a
CP filter?


The only problem I have with the lenses (18-55 AF-S and
55-200VR AF-S) that came with my D40x is with the manual
focus: They go from min to max in less than 1/4 turn, and the
far-focus goes beyond infinity.

When taking some recent pictures of bumblebees using the same
55-200mmVR lens, I quickly discovered that moving the D50 forward
and back by slightly moving my head produced easier, more accurate
focus correction than using the lens's focus ring. My older, much
larger and heavier 75-300mm lens seems to have about the same 1/4
turn (actually less than 1/4, I think), but it also seems to be much
easier to focus using its larger, better designed focusing ring. I
don't care very much for its push-pull zoom, and its front element
rotates when focusing, making CP filters a bit more trouble to use.

It is alleged that ASAAR claimed:

D40x: http://www.gordol.org/gallery/NH-Lakes/DSC_1420 (you may
have to click on the image to get it full-size). Those are not lens defects,
those are floaties in the water.

Very nice. Clicking on the image expands its size in the browser,
but doesn't replace it with a higher resolution version. It looks

It's 1024x685, resized down for posting from the native 3872x2592. I've
only been posting the single size to my site because I don't like how
the gallery software handles multiple resolutions. That may change
after I upgrade the software.

*much* better displayed full screen by Irfanview. It seems to have

It's absolutely awesome in its native size! Everything in the "Stuff"
and its subalbums are taken with this camera.

been just about the right exposure, judging by the blue sky and
clouds, also reflected in the water. Just wondering, did you use a
CP filter?

If that abbreviation means circular polarizer, then yes I did.

The only problem I have with the lenses (18-55 AF-S and
55-200VR AF-S) that came with my D40x is with the manual
focus: They go from min to max in less than 1/4 turn, and the
far-focus goes beyond infinity.
When taking some recent pictures of bumblebees using the same
55-200mmVR lens, I quickly discovered that moving the D50 forward
and back by slightly moving my head produced easier, more accurate
focus correction than using the lens's focus ring. My older, much

Fortunately(?), I don't have to manually focus much. But when I do,
it's typically night shots where I want the focus set to "infinity",
like trying to get a photo of the moon, or of fireworks.

Granted, the moon I can focus in on as I set up, but moving the camera
back and forth that small amount is a) not an option on a tripod and b)
irrelevant considering the distance involved.

And for the fireworks, gotta focus in before they go off, or you'll
miss them.

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

"Greatness is never appreciated in youth, called pride in mid-life,
dismissed in old age, and reconsidered in death. Because we cannot
tolerate greatness in our midst, we do all we can to destroy it." (Lady
Morella, B5 "Point Of No Return")