New camera advice

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
What lenses do you have? Are they all DX as I would guess they are since you have a D40 DX camera. If so, you would pretty well be limited to an DX camera with your budget. Also, would you consider a used or refurbished camera?
 

mikeee

Senior Member
Refurb D7500 at adorama is $569 for just the body.. I just bought one of these.
They also have refurb body, AF-P 18-55 lens, and Bag for $599. I sort of wish I had went for that one evein though I have the sigma 17-50 f2.8hsm
 

mikeee

Senior Member
Looks like the D40 was suceeded by the D3000, so the most current version of the D40 would be a D3500. That would be the most like what you have now (entry level)
I used to have a D3200 which was 24 megapixels.. I am not sure what's changed between the D3200 and the D3500.
 

Dawg Pics

Senior Member
Looks like the D40 was suceeded by the D3000, so the most current version of the D40 would be a D3500. That would be the most like what you have now (entry level)
I used to have a D3200 which was 24 megapixels.. I am not sure what's changed between the D3200 and the D3500.
Nikon stripped it of its ability to use a shutter cord. You have to download the app and use your phone as a remote shutter release. There is no accessory port. No function button. That is why I suggested skipping the D3500 and to take a look at the D5600. Of course the OP might not care about that. I wouldn't want to have to use my phone for any camera functions.
 

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
I had a D5300 I upgraded from a D40x and it was a nice easy transition, but since then - have upgraded to a D7500 for weather sealing and better button placement. I decided to go with the D5300 in lieu of the D5600 because I didn't think I needed a touch screen. I quickly found out that I wanted to control shutter speed, aperture and ISO with easily accessible dials and buttons on the camera rather than trying to find them in the menu. Good bye D5300, hello D7500.
The only thing that I really miss about the D5300 is the screen, the sideways flip out screen is the best in the industry but I assume since Canon still has it but no Nikon does, Nikon must have gotten in trouble for using that design and went to their current flip screen instead- tilting up and down only. Not bad, not great either. One way around this is the new Snapbridge. Worked ok on the D5300,(with limitations) but is much better on the D7500 and it allows you to use your phone to see what the camera does as well as adjust settings like ISO, shutter speed and aperture, as well as focusing and taking the shot. These are all things that are not offered on the D40 and kind of need to be experienced first hand to see if they're important to you or not.
There's no perfect choice. They all have trade offs. If price is most important, go with what you can afford and live with the limitations. If weather sealing is most important and ease of manipulating settings, the 3xxx and 5xxx are out and you should look at the D7500,( or D7200 for an older model with the less refined snapbridge).
Another nice thing about the 7xxx is you can use older lenses that are still amazing. The D7500 will still shoot the "d"lenses that have the screw drive focus because there is a focus motor in the camera. The D3xxx and D5xxx as such with the D40 do not have a focus motor in the camera. The lenses are a bit slower to focus and a bit more noisy, but if you were trying to invest in glass later down the road, the screw drive lenses are much cheaper than the current counterpart, ( a couple hundred for a 80-200 f2.8D as opposed to a couple thousand for a 70-200 f2.8 af-s, a couple hundred for a 35-70 f2.8D vs 5 times that amount for a 24-70 f2.8 af-s). So if you need new glass too, keep that in mind. Hope this helps.
 

mikeee

Senior Member
Nikon stripped it of its ability to use a shutter cord. You have to download the app and use your phone as a remote shutter release. There is no accessory port. No function button. That is why I suggested skipping the D3500 and to take a look at the D5600. Of course the OP might not care about that. I wouldn't want to have to use my phone for any camera functions.

I thought to mention it since he's coming from the D40 which is entry level..
Wow, D3500 doesn't work with the ML-L3 wireless remote either apparently...
Actually, that's about the only camera he could buy new in his price range..
 

Dawg Pics

Senior Member
@mikeee. Yeah, I don't know why Nikon did that.
Agreed, the budget limits the OP to the D3500 if new, a refurbished model or used cameras. He might like a good used D300 or D7100.

OP, if you ever check back in, take a look at the used market for a low shutter count D7100. Good luck.
 

mikeee

Senior Member
@mikeee. Yeah, I don't know why Nikon did that.
Agreed, the budget limits the OP to the D3500 if new, a refurbished model or used cameras. He might like a good used D300 or D7100.

OP, if you ever check back in, take a look at the used market for a low shutter count D7100. Good luck.

Guess he needs to come back and talk to us more!
 

dachshund

Senior Member
I also had a D40 which I traded for a D3300 and then added a D5600. No regrets, each one is a step beyond the last. Now if I can just get the “budget director” to loosen up the purse strings I’ll get a D7500.
 
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