Among the major differences between Nikon and Canon is in the delivery (or the launch) of their products. Noticeably, Canon releases modified versions and upgrades in short intervals (much like Nokia in the realm of mobile phones) such that when you finally decided to, say, buy a Canon 350D, Canon 400D is already on the way. Nikon makes us wait, and in a practical sense at that. IMO, Nikon users don’t get the feeling that their DSLRs become obsolete quite fast, and by the time the new “upgrade” is released, everyone’s ready to take the leap.

The release of the Nikon D40 Kit blew me away and made me think that maybe, this is it. I’m in love (again.) ♥ And considering that this camera is NOT pink, I figured, this must be true love. Hehe.

The basics: D40 takes over D50, and is now the starting point for Nikon’s line-up of Digital SLR cameras. It’s small and handy, it comes with an 18 - 55 mm lens, long battery life, and best of all, it’s affordable.

Truth be told, among the few things that’s holding me back from doing serious photography is the investment part. I’ve always thought that photography is a very expensive hobby. Back then, aside from the main SLR, you need to invest on lenses and other accessories. And then you need a lot of money to develop rolls and rolls of film. Talk about jurassic era. Then again, when DSLRs came to grace our lives with their existence, the investment is still way too expensive for most of us to handle.

The new Nikon D40 cuts through that particular “consideration”. Priced at just $599, and with features that match monster cameras that are available in the market today, I know in my heart that I found my match. So I spent a good 2 hours of my Monday day off, hopping from one review site to another, drooling, and wishing I was part of Picturetown — that small community at Georgetown, SC, whose residents were lucky enough to get 200 free units of Nikon D40. WOW.

Anyway, *wiping the drool away*,

Nikon didn’t cut a lot of corners to keep the price down, either — this is a very capable camera. It has a 6 Megapixel CCD, a large and sharp 2.5″ LCD display, full manual controls, an elaborate help system, and the kind of performance that you’d expect from a D-SLR. Did I mention that it’s also very compact? (Via DCResource.Com)

Yep! Very compact, indeed, it’s almost like regular point-and-shoot cameras.* Prior to this, I was considering on buying a new p&s digital camera (somewhere in the line of a Canon Ixus or a Sony Cybershot — and a pink one at that) since the Kodak Easyshare p&s I was using had gone blpht. Needless to say, I need a handy digicam because what good is it to be a camwhore and NOT have a camera?

So hey, I’m still weighing them all down. This Nikon D40 makes me drool but I’m still recovering from the expenses I’ve put up (and still putting up) with the laptop. So I’m giving this a month or so. If this love continues to grow deeper each day, then there’s no more holding back. I’m going to take the leap.

Below are more Nikon D40 reviews I found helpful:

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If I’m going to answer this in one sentence, I’d simply say, “because my Ninong Dave says so.” Haha. I know. I’m gullible that way. But let me defend my being gullible.

Since I started playing with the idea of joining the DSLR craze, I’ve become aware of the prevailing “Canon vs Nikon” war going on in different digital photography forums, and the Google SERPs, and even offline discussions among photographers and wannabes. It’s easy to get convinced to buy a Canon DSLR when many of your online and offline friends are Canon users. And it’s even easier to be influenced to buy a Nikon DSLR when your Ninong’s been trying to convince you that Nikon is the way to go. But for the purpose of denying total gullibility over my Ninong Dave’s biases, I have to say I happen to know of some people from both sides of this Canon vs Nikon war.

Truth be told, I have more friends who are Canon users. There’s Sheila Juan and her Jorem. There’s Jayvee. And Markku. And Jake. And JV, Normi’s brother, who also recently bought a Canon 400D. And then I happened to have met several Canon users from Digital Photographers Philippines when they had this photo session slash EB in our church back in January. (There, they took photos of the street kids from our church’s shelter program, and had an informal Canon vs Nikon discussion with us, aspiring photogs.)

These Canon people, however, might get disappointed to know that after much convincing from their end, and the more I try to investigate, research, and ask around, I’m now on the verge of becoming a Nikon convert. Most of my opinions mirror Ninong’s, of course. But mostly, since I have little (if not none at all) actual experience experimenting with a Nikon or a Canon DSLR, reading through comparisons online strengthens my decision to want Nikon more.

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