Nikon SLR Digital Cameras |

I have a Nikon N75 and want to purchase a slr digital camera (Nikon D50). But I'm trying to figure out if it is cheaper to purchase the body only and lens separately or if possible to use the lens I already have (Quantaray Lens compatible with Nikon N75). Do you know if the N75 lenses are compatable with the D50? Or is there a website where I can check?

The Quantaray will work with both cameras. I too have a Quantaray for my N75 that I am using now on my D50. I also have a Nikkor 70-300mm that works on both the N75 and D50. In general, the Nikon Lenses for the Nikon film SLRs will work with the Nikon DSLRs, but not necessarily the other way around. Of course, manual focus lenses will not auto focus on either camera, and the older Nikon "non-CPU" lenses will lose certain functionality (like the different metering options and iTTL flash). Nikon has a line of lenses that are designed for their digital SLRs and will not work correctly with their film SLRs.

http://digitaalcamera.blogspot.com/

Well, now that you have the camera, I'd say it was worth it. If you asked this before you bought the D50, I'd STILL say that it was worth it. It's a shame that you got tied up with one of those bait-and-switch retailers before checking in here. However, what's done is done.

I don't know how much you paid for the camera or what you consider to be an expensive battery, but in the end, it probably didn't make a huge difference. If you got a Nikon brand battery, don't worry about it. At least you know what it is instead of wonderingn if the alternate brand is going to explode or hold a charge, etc.

In order to help you appreciate your D50, I'll include a couple of things I have written in praise of the D50, which is the camera I chose for my wife.

For a few dollars less, you could have had a D40, but I think it is an actual full quantum below the D50. The obvious difference is that the D40 no longer has a status LCD on top of the camera. All of the same information is available, however, on the larger rear LCD. I don't know what impact this has on battery life.

The less obvious difference is that the D40 only has 3 autofocus zones and, therefore, only 3 spot meter zones. The D50 has 5 zones. The D50 also lets you define the size of your center-weighted metering zone and the D40 does not.

The D40 will not autofocus with anything other than the newer AF-S and AF-I lenses, while the D50 will autofocus many older AF lenses, including G and D lenses as well as most other CPU lenses. If you do not own any lenses, this will not present a problem, but if you want to expand your lens collection (and who doesn't want to eventually?), you will have to bear this in mind before you make your purchase. There are MANY older lenses that are excellent and still available new.

One thing I like in the D40 is adopted from the more expensive cameras in the Nikon line. You can set a maximum ISO in the auto-ISO mode and you can set a minimum shutter speed in the auto-ISO mode. Frankly, I have the same features on my D200 and I don't use them, but I can see how they might come in handy if I was in a rapid-fire shooting session (haha) where I couldn't pay attention to these values for every frame.

I do use the programable FUNC button on the D200 and I see that the D40 has this feature also.

The D40 has a lot of in-camera retouching, but I would never use this as I do all of my own work on the computer. If you are going to use a store kiosk to do your prints, maybe you would like this feature.

If you read the review from the page I list below, you will see a comparison of the D40 and D50 right on the first page of the review. They used a green highlight for the "winner" of each category.

The bottom line is, my wife has the D50. I use it and like it. If we waited and bought the D40 for her, I am sure I would like that also. The biggest thing I would miss is the 5-zone auto-focus/spot-metering capability.

Check out this comparison page. Click on "In-depth review" and "Read Owner Opinions" for each camera. Be sure to note that the reviews are many pages long so you don't stop after page one. Check the sample images, also. You can enlarge these to full size images if you click on the link below the picture. You will have to then put your cursor in the white space to the right of the picture and click once. After that, you can pass your cursor over the image and it will turn into a magnifier. Click it as a magnifier once and the image will go to full size and you can really examine the detail or look for artifacts like fringing or noise.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_post.asp?method=sidebyside&cameras=nikon_d40%2Cnikon_d50&show=all

~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Nikon/nikon_d50.asp

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/nikon_d50.html

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d50.htm