A Nikon D40
Incredible Pictures... Incredibly Easy! That is Nikon's catch phrase for its entry-level digital single lens reflex camera, the D40. The D40 is a very capable DSLR and comes at an affordable price. Consumers can get the customization and flexibility of a DSLR without the price tag of higher-end equipment. It is compact and light and has many features that can help photographers take pictures of much higher quality than is possible with a standard point and shoot camera.
Focusing
The stock lens included with the D40 is an 18-to-55mm auto-focus lens. The camera has three auto-focus points. In the menu you can select the AF-Area Mode option to choose the type of auto-focus you want: closest subject, center or manual.
The closest subject setting should be used only when you are trying to use the D40 as a point-and-shoot camera. Center or manual auto-focus will allow you to select the object on which you want to focus.
Auto-focus on the D40 works very well. However, if you want to be creative with the depth of field, you can easily switch to the manual-focus mode and use the focusing ring to adjust the focal length.
Exposure
Exposure is the amount of light reaching the camera's sensor. There are three aspects of exposure: ISO, aperture and shutter speed.
Setting the D40 to "Auto" will take care of exposure, allowing the photographer to focus attention on the image in the viewfinder. However, you can set exposure manually.
The D40 can adjust the sensitivity of the sensor with its ISO setting. For lower light situations you will need to use a higher ISO. In daylight and bright indoors settings, use a lower ISO.
The D40 allows you to select from among 200, 400, 800, 1600 and High ISO levels. Using 200 ISO will give you very sharp pictures in bright lighting, while using 1600 or High will allow you take pictures in much lower light.
Shutter speed is the amount of time the lens is open allowing light to hit the sensor. The D40 will allow a shutter speed as low as 30 seconds and as fast as 1/4000th of a second. Typically, you will take most shots with shutter speeds between 1/60th and 1/500th of a second. If you are using a tripod, lower shutter speeds can be used for low light situations; but because of camera shake, hand-held shots with shutter speeds below 1/30th of a second are not advisable.
The last component of exposure is the aperture, or the size of the lens opening. A higher f-stop or aperture reading will mean a smaller opening for light on the lens. The D40's stock lens will allow f/3.5 to f/36 depending on the zoom.
Composition
The Nikon D40 will allow you take great pictures out of the box.
However, here are a few tips for taking some amazing pictures:
Many professionally made photographs will have a blurred background with the main subject still in sharp detail. This is accomplished by limiting the depth of field with a lower aperture or f-stop.
If you zoom the stock lens to 55mm and get close to your subject, your background will have a nice blur effect while your main subject will be in focus.
The D40's three auto-focus areas can be used to ensure that all of your pictures do not have the main subject in the center of the frame.
Another feature of the D40 is the fixed focal length. Once the camera is in focus on a particular object, you can move and zoom the lens while keeping the same focal length. This is useful when photographing a subject in front of a landscape.
Tags: will allow, focal length, main subject, shutter speeds, stock lens, 1600 High, allow take
