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Question: Having problem with my D40 When I try to take a picture of the sky with my D40, it won't take a picture. Don't know why. Any suggestions?
Document: Overall, I think this camera is great. The only problem i have is that in all my pictures with the sky there is a black mark right in the middle of the picture. I tried to clean the lense and everything, but it is still there on only the blue sky part of the picture. It might be a scratch or something. All other pictures are fine. I think Amazon just sent me a defected one.
Now after reading some books I started to use some other modes to take picture of landscape and portraits. I am absolutely happy with the camera. It makes me want to know more about photography. I know there are cameras that are 10 times more expensive than D40 but do they produce picture 10 time better than D40... Well at least for a beginner it is more than good enough. The camera may be a 4 years old model but unless Nikon is going to make a replacement for ths DSLR.
This was our first DSLR and I had done a lot of research on it. The camera is light but hearty, and very easy to use. It takes amazing pictures and actually makes you want to keep shooting. It's ready to go a split second after you turn it on and I like the big screen and the ability to delete right after you take a picture. Shutter lag is not a problem.
Many times I got the picture and they did not! about 4 months into it the camera started to jam. At first I was perplexed and went online and found others with the same problem. Some said when the shutter button locks you can take the battery out and put it back in and it will work after that. True but I miss the photo op doing this. Eventually I shipped it in for a repair and paid for shipping and insurance as Nikon requests.
I had this camera for a few months. Everything is good until the error message "Error, press the button to release the shutter again" appears every time I take a picture. I have to push the button at least three times to take one picture now. Sometimes even worse: the error message just keeps coming and I can never take one in some mode. The problem made me missed a lot of good shots.
My first DSLR, and I'll keep it until it breaks. Lots of features for an entry level DSLR, including in camera editing functions, remote control capability, automatic highlight detection, etc. Makes it easy to know if you got the shot at the EXACT moment you take a picture.I can't write enough good things about it. The included 18-55 kit lens is one of the sharpest I've ever seen.
This over exposure problem might be true in all the modes, I'm not sure. It is a very sturdy camera I love the large Screen. The built in flash is also extremely nice if you sync it correctly. If you know how to shoot in manual mode this camera is amazing; it is a great camera for so many people because of its cheap cost and ease of useFilm is still my favorite but for a DSLR the D40 is a great camera.Hope this helps.
Feel free to capture those moments and be assured that they will come out great. Colors are crisp and the built flexibility is beyond the scope of this review . There is one problem however. These D-SLRs make you feel a better photographer and makes you crave for better and bigger lenses. Suddenly you want to take that picture of horizon or mountains zoomed night photos. The kit lens is limited to low zoom (high quality though). Also, vibration reduction does not come standard.
Photos taken with its auto settings come out good, but not spectacular. I often found that shots taken of Orthodox churches in Russia, where there was a great deal of contrast between the building and the background sky needed a fair amount of touchup in Photoshop to make a suitable photograph. People pictures are generally good, and the D40 is small and light enough to take to family gatherings without lugging a huge weight around on my shoulder.
Frustrating. At this point I picked up a third party lens. It was a bit slower but it did the trick and was built much better than the Nikkor lens. A few months later, the camera took another spill while in the bag. This time it was the flash that broke. It would open and continue to click and try to open itself. A quick google search showed this was a very common problem.
Answer: The camera probably can't find anything with enough contrast (light vs. dark areas) to focus on. Focusing systems won't work on featureless scenes (like a white wall). Try focusing on a cloud or the edge of one and, while half-pressing the shutter release, reframe the scene as you like. You can actually focus on anything that's also very VERY far away and reframe the sky scene since its all considered at "infinity" by the camera.