[JohnR]

I was, to be honest, a little bemused by what I saw as almost hostility towards the Nikon D40 when it was introduced. This body will only auto-focus with lenses that carry the "AF-S" designation -- in other words, lenses that have a motor built into them. While this does limit the selection of lenses that can be used with autofocus on the D40, I never quite understood why some of the dialog (for example, on dpreview.com) was so vehement.

But, since I'm coming from manual focus lenses, perhaps I have a different perspective. To me, the D40 was a great way to get a digital sensor on the back of older lenses, that could now be considered to be great glass at a bargain price. I was, as it turned out, surprised at how much I liked the kit lens that came with the D40. The low cost, usability, close focus capability, and especially the light weight, all make it into a winning combo with the D40.

But, to return to my original intent, today I put my 85/1.4 onto the D40 and went out and took a few shots. Apart from anything else, I've been thinking about getting a longer lens for more "reach", and today's exercise has convinced me that the best path for me is to get a high-quality manual-focus prime of 180 or 200 mm.

My 85/1.4 is an AIS lens, although I believe the following applies to AI lenses as well. It mounts on the D40 just like you would expect. To use it, set the camera to manual mode, set the aperture on the lens, set the shutter speed on the camera, point, focus, and shoot.

Obviously, auto-focus doesn't work with this lens. Focusing without a split-prism is easier and more accurate than I expected. Plus, the camera has a "digital rangefinder" that lights a green LED in the viewfinder when the camera thinks that the lens is in focus. As I understand, this uses some kind of contrast detection, and so is purely based on optical properties of the image. In any case, it seems to work quite fine. Understanding depth-of-field helps, too, of course.

Metering doesn't work either with this combination. Well, it's digital, so the approach here is to simply take a best guess. Take a test shot, then view the image on the LCD. You can also press the "down" button to display the histogram of the image, which will give you a pretty good idea of whether your exposure is usable. If not, adjust the aperture or shutter speed and shoot again. Or you could, of course, just use an external meter.

All in all, if you have a little experience with manual exposure metering and shooting, this is a piece of cake.

Here is one of the first photographs of today:

Here is a 1-1 crop of this image:

Here are a few more (as you can tell, I like rocks... ):

[Whitese]

Dang, those are nice pix....

I also have been thinking of digi-Nikon to complement my FE-2.   I hate carrying all the film needed for a trip.  So the older lens like for my FE-2 will fit the D40 but without the AF of course?  I have an 80--210 which is no big deal, but I have a 500.00 dollar FE-2 vintage NIkon 35 mm, with the lowest aperture you could find ( and i would love to use it with a D40).

[JohnR]

Hi, thanks! Is it the 35mm f1.4 you have? I have the f2, I'd be happy to take some shots with it on the D40 next weekend. Bear in mind, though, that a 35mm lens on a DSLR will have the same field of view as a 50mm on a film camera.

[RoadTripper]

What does not having a motor in the lens have to do with its light meter? Also, do you know if it is true that the D40 can't be bought body only?

[Whitese]

Hi, thanks! Is it the 35mm f1.4 you have? I have the f2, I'd be happy to take some shots with it on the D40 next weekend. Bear in mind, though, that a 35mm lens on a DSLR will have the same field of view as a 50mm on a film camera.

yeah, its a 1:1.4 nikkor lens....

I actually want something for autoracing,,,high speed action and from far away...any ideas that wont break the bank?

[brj]

Nice pics!

I think some of the "hostility" toward the D40 was that by supporting AF-S lenses only, it was one of the first (if not the first?) Nikon camera that didn't fully support 20 year old lenses.

I've played with the manual focus on my D80 with both my current AF lens and the old manual focus lenses I used with my old N2000.  I've had a few good shots with the D80 in manual mode, but I have to say that I really miss the split ring/gradient focus of the N2000.

[JohnR]

Didn't a similar thing happen when they stopped metering with non-CPU lenses?

auto-racing... the slower 200 and 300 primes are pretty cheap on keh.com. Worth a look?

Seminarian, no direct connection, I was explaining how this lens works with this body. Here's a lens compatibility chart from Ken Rockwell:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/d40-performance.htm#lenses

[Levi]

Nice macro shots there John.

[Vapor Audio]

I actually want something for autoracing,,,high speed action and from far away...any ideas that wont break the bank?

Sigma 100-300/4 is the best sub-$1000 motorsports lens, the Sigma 120-300/2.8 is the best sub-$2500 motorsports (or any sports) lens.  I have both, as well as a Nikon 80-200/2.8 AF-S and a Nikon 200-400/4 VR ... I'm a professional motorsports photographer btw.   I've been covering GrandAm, American LeMans, D1GP, Drag Racing, and a few other series for the last 4-5 years.

JohnR - in my opinion the D40 deserves all the slams it gets for discarding the fantastic collection of Nikon screw drive lenses.  I guess it's understandable when you consider the target market, but any serious amateur shouldn't buy a Nikon without a screw drive focusing motor ... since Nikon doesn't make a single short AF-S prime.  I've tried a D40 with my Nikon 85mm/1.4D autofocus lens, and the metering was WAY off.  There's no doubt it can take fantastic pictures, just too many sacrifices.

[JohnR]

JohnR - in my opinion the D40 deserves all the slams it gets for discarding the fantastic collection of Nikon screw drive lenses.

Hm, well, I guess that's the kind of statement I don't get. It doesn't "discard" those lenses at all, they will mount, meter, and take a photograph. They just won't autofocus. If autofocus with non-AFS lenses is a vital part of your camera usage, then just move up to the next model, the D80. Same thing with metering -- if you really have to have in-camera metering with AI lenses, then you can move up to the D200. Like usual you pay more, you get more... I don't see why that means people think they should "slam" the lower-end product. Personally I think the D40 should be lauded for setting a new standard in performance/cost

I guess it's understandable when you consider the target market, but any serious amateur shouldn't buy a Nikon without a screw drive focusing motor ... since Nikon doesn't make a single short AF-S prime.

Well, unless you use manual focus primes...

[TONEPUB]

Nice pics!

I think some of the "hostility" toward the D40 was that by supporting AF-S lenses only, it was one of the first (if not the first?) Nikon camera that didn't fully support 20 year old lenses.

I've played with the manual focus on my D80 with both my current AF lens and the old manual focus lenses I used with my old N2000.  I've had a few good shots with the D80 in manual mode, but I have to say that I really miss the split ring/gradient focus of the N2000.

Actually, the only Nikon digital body that fully supports all of the manual focus lenses is the D2x.

I seriously wish they would give you at least one metering mode on the other cameras....