new camera! (no pix inside)

[YBlegal]

ok so i just got a Nikon D40($499) tonight. Went ahead and got the 55-200mm VR lens ($150). All in all with the warranty,and 18 free photography classes, and tax out the door it was a grand total of $828. Bought it from the Ritz Camera store in the local mall.

Anyone suggest any particular settings?

Anyone wanna give me a crash course on it? The guy in the store didn't seem to know much about it.

rep will be given for any helpful info... thanx in advance.

[Michael.]

Did you get the kit lens with it as well? I'll sell ya mine! 18-55 :D

Anywho, you can shoot in auto but flash kills things (not literally but it looks like you just pointed it and shot it) so I'd suggest starting in P-program mode. That will allow you to at least adjust your iso. Doing that will help if you are in a darker place, raise the iso so it'll take in more light, however it will become a little more grainer.

But i would really say to shoot in A-aperture priority mode. This is close to program mode but allows you to put the aperture (aka f/stop - f5.6 etc...) to whatever you would like. i.e. the lower the number, the "bigger" it is said to be, because the aperture inside the lens (if you look inside it from the front it'll look like a spiral sort of), that will open more to allow more light in, and then for really bright days, these cameras like f8-11 usually on bright days, but the sacrifice is a slightly slower shutter speed.

Ok, that might be cluttered or jumbled/not clear but I'm up early again and I'll explain better later if you need me too, and so will others I'm sure...

[btuner]

i used this and it suited me very well
Nikon D40 User's Guide (http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/users-guide/index.htm)

[.:Chris:.]

Do yourself the favor of learning what the individual settings are via the manual before you set them blindly according to Rockwell. Setting your exposure compensation to -0.7 off the bat will likely leave you wondering why your images are on the dark side.

There's no magical group of settings that covers every situation, so you'll be doing yourself a favor if you learn the settings that you're changing. There will quickly come a time when you want to change the settings from what he's recommended. :bigthumb:

[btuner]

He goes through all the settings, buttons, menus if you read more than just the first page, (which is how he sets up his camera).

[.:Chris:.]

Yeah, I didn't realize that, but it still stands. Make sure you learn what the settings do/are/mean.

Also, it irks me how he makes strong statements like this one:
A flaw in the D40's meter firmware (same issue as the D80 (http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d80/d80-performance.htm#exposure)) makes most photos too light, so I leave mine set to -0.7.

Different cameras will meter the same scene differently. Just because the D80 and D40 meter differently than my D50 or someone elses D200 doesn't mean one's defective and the other isn't. :nono:

[YBlegal]

thanx for the info guys, ya i fliped through the book last night when i got it. ill actually sit down and read everything today.

[DC Dave]

O god another Nikon user :D


JAY KAY GUYS!!!!

[YBlegal]

^ it was on sale... :lol: