Nikon D40

[marvweide]

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Leica's Panasonic copy of a Cosino replaceable lense camera appears to be over shadowed by the new compact dsl D40 by Nikon! At $599 with an 18-55 lense many of us with a collection of Nikon glass will reconsider the switch to the 4/3 lense system.

 

The compact size cameras are here to stay both for the casual and pro!

 

Marv Weide

[robsteve]

Deos it take Leica lenses?

[Joseph S. Wisniewski]

Deos it take Leica lenses?

I've used my Leica Photar, Macro Summar, and Repro Summar on the Nikon PB-4 bellows with Nikon D100 and D2X before. D40 should be fine.

[marknorton]

Leica's Panasonic copy of a Cosino replaceable lense camera appears to be over shadowed by the new compact dsl D40 by Nikon! At $599 with an 18-55 lense many of us with a collection of Nikon glass will reconsider the switch to the 4/3 lense system.

 

The compact size cameras are here to stay both for the casual and pro!

 

Marv Weide

 

I know, I'm going to join a forum and lurk for 2.5 years before posting my first pointless and completely irrelevant post. Is this all you could come up with? Nice job! Oh, BTW, the single of "lenses" is "lens", not "lense".

[earleygallery]

Marvin,

 

Your post doesn't make any sense. Apologies if its just down to your lack of correct language but what is 'Cosino' ?

 

The D40 is aimed purely at the type of person who has up until now used a P&S compact. The kit lens is simply not comparable to Leica glass but agreed if you have a Nikon film camera, a collection of Nikon lenses and want to use them digitally then it represents a very cheap way of doing so. However, its not really something of much interest on this forum.

[Guest malland]

Actually, it's "lense" when you buy it at Ye Olde Lense Shoppe.

 

—Mitch/Lubumbashi

[marknorton]

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Lubumbashi? As in Zaire that was? I spent three happy months working there for IBM in 1975. Had a great time...

[Guest malland]

Yes, Katanga Province: I'm here until Friday.

 

—Mitch/Lubumbashi

[Joseph S. Wisniewski]

Marvin,

 

Your post doesn't make any sense. Apologies if its just down to your lack of correct language but what is 'Cosino' ?

Cosina. The folks who make the Voigtlander Bessa, the Zeiss Ikon, and the Epson RD-1.

 

The Digilux 3 is a Panasonic built, Leica branded "four thirds" system DSLR that has the porro optic viewfinder of an Olympus Pen-F, so there is no prism hump and the eyepiece is on the upper left corner, instead of centered. Digilux 3 has an outer shell styled to look like a rangefinder (although the larger SLR lenses sort of give it away).

 

Apparently, the original poster considers the Digilux 3 to look more like a Cosina (Bessa or Ikon) than an M. Personally, I disagree, and find it very M'esque.

The D40 is aimed purely at the type of person who has up until now used a P&S compact. The kit lens is simply not comparable to Leica glass but agreed if you have a Nikon film camera, a collection of Nikon lenses and want to use them digitally then it represents a very cheap way of doing so. However, its not really something of much interest on this forum.

I guess the original poster had his sights set on a Digilux 3, and is now considering a D40 instead. I don't consider them to be in the same niche. Not to mention, price wise and feature wise, the Digilux 3 lines up against the Nikon D200. It's about the same weigh as a D80. I can't see it lining up against D40 at all, in any category.

[earleygallery]

Not being one to 'nit pick' but if he's talking about Leica's Panasonic Consino replacement lens camera he's talking about the M8 surely?

 

No Panasonic link but then the D3 can't be compared to a rangefinder - its an SLR

 

Compare an M8 with a D40?

 

As I say, the post just don't make no sense! Suspect it's someone from Nikon PR.....

[ho_co]

Marv--

I'm on your side, guy!

 

If you lurked for a couple years for fear that your post would be trashed for its grammar, you are redeemed! That's exactly what happened.

 

Rest of you--

T.O.P. has a link for a site which claims that the D40 actually has Nikon's best to-date high-ISO noise performance. A very interesting little camera.

 

As for grammar--don't blame a non-English speaker! Many of the column writers don't distinguish between the contraction "it's" and the possessive pronoun "its." My sister is a school teacher and I just got an email in which she makes the same error.

 

I'm a grammar prig, but we who care have lost!

 

Marv--Thanks for the post. It may not be as clear as some of us fanatics want, but you *tried* to write coherently, and I appreciate that. (Some forum members don't care what form their postings take.)

 

Welcome aboard the forum. Stay with us, don't let our negative response put you off!

 

--HC

 

ps--Joseph: I misread your reference to the Bessa as the "Volkswagen" Bessa. Interesting brain short-circuit from my side.

[carstenw]

James, given that Panasonic has nothing to do with the M8 at all, I am certain that the OP was referring to the Digilux-3, the only other camera which Leica makes which has replaceable lenses and could be compared to a Cosina.

 

There aren't really any facts in the original post, just an opinion. What are we supposed to do with such a post? Nothing, I guess. The D40 is interesting, but the hunk'a'junk that the 18-55 kit lens is cannot compare in any way to the Leica 14-50mm lens which comes with the Digilux-3, so the basis for the comparison has to be restated. In fact, the only lens which it makes sense to compare to the Leica D is the 17-55/2.8, which is much more expensive.

[Joseph S. Wisniewski]

As for grammar--don't blame a non-English speaker! Many of the column writers don't distinguish between the contraction "it's" and the possessive pronoun "its." My sister is a school teacher and I just got an email in which she makes the same error.

Some of us find the run on sentence to be equally appalling. Often, a single comma before a conjunction is sufficient remedy:

 

My sister is a school teacher, and I just got an email in which she makes the same error.

 

My style is to use a single clause:

 

My sister, the schoolteacher, sent me an email displaying this error.

 

A more informal variant would replace "displaying" with "with". One might also try a considerably less formal variant:

 

Even my sister, the schoolteacher, blew it in her latest email.

ps--Joseph: I misread your reference to the Bessa as the "Volkswagen" Bessa. Interesting brain short-circuit from my side.

I like it. Picture the Volkswagen Bessa meeting the Voigtlander Cabrio.

 

The Voles, a local sports team named after a ferocious (but otherwise insignificant) rodent, calls their bus the "Voleswagen".

 

This should end the discussion. Volkswagen, having a car called EOS, is obviously off topic on this site.

[lct]

Remains the question of 4/3 viability if they don't add compactness to the package...

[ptomsu]

Not being one to 'nit pick' but if he's talking about Leica's Panasonic Consino replacement lens camera he's talking about the M8 surely?

 

No Panasonic link but then the D3 can't be compared to a rangefinder - its an SLR

 

Compare an M8 with a D40?

 

As I say, the post just don't make no sense! Suspect it's someone from Nikon PR.....

 

Well, it makes sense if you start comparing prices and quality! But it must not just be Nikon, you also can take Canon D400, another great example of a superb camera, at least as good as a Digilux3 but for a fraction of the cost.

 

This is what I never understood - if Leica wants to enter the lower priced segment, why do they go for products like the L1 / Digilux3, which are - same as Oly330 bad constructions - to heavy, too dark viewfinder, too expensive - compared to some models that Nikon and Canon put on the road. If they want to compete here, then they need to do something different.

 

Peter

[TimF]

At $599 with an 18-55 lense many of us with a collection of Nikon glass will reconsider the switch to the 4/3 lense system.

Is all your Nikon glass AF-S then? From what I've heard, the D40 will only work with Silent Wave glass.

[Enrique Santa]

"The D40 is aimed purely at the type of person who has up until now used a P&S compact. The kit lens is simply not comparable to Leica glass but agreed if you have a Nikon film camera, a collection of Nikon lenses and want to use them digitally then it represents a very cheap way of doing so. However, its not really something of much interest on this forum."

 

Please.........tell us what is of interest on this forum?.

Only leica?, or perhaps talk about photography and tools?. Perhaps some Leica people must take a look at Nikon D80 and 40, Canon E40 , Oly E 400.....talking about this last cam: take a look at the review at camera labs.There are some interesting comparation with Panasonic L (D3), and by the way, no very good for the pana cam, even with the leica lenses, the Oly E400 beats this cam -at 1.100€ - .

So why can´t talk of this cams in this forum. I suposse Leica must be competitive. What is the problem? they have a pro line....but they have a long way to go in amateur and prosumer cams....so lets talk about this cams.