Conclusion
I was worried my memories of the D40 were somewhat rose tinted, that the camera and its images would be a total dog through 2025 eyes but that is very much not the case. In fact I am surprised just how good the images are and how nice the camera is to use. Yes, it’s extremely basic, it has only the the bare minimum features you need as a photographer but that is the whole point. If you are a beginner, moving up from a smart phone, and you’re not sure if you will take to this new hobby, and you have no idea what ISO, Depth of Field, Aperture, Shutter Speed, Flash Sync modes, Focal Length selection and Telephoto Compression mean or any experiencing using them this camera is all you need to learn. Displayed on almost any monitor or printed up to A3 or 19×11 inches, you would struggle to blindly pick out images taken wit this camera vs a brand new one.
You don’t need more than this to learn and create fantastic images.
For $100-$150 with two lenses, all in very nice condition, you’re spending a tiny fraction of what you would on a brand new entry level camera which would cost you at least $649. And if you decide photography isn’t your thing, you can sell it for what you paid for it losing no money. Try that with any new camera!
If you enjoy the hobby and start to feel limited by the camera, maybe you want better focusing, a faster frame rate, even blurrier backgrounds in portraits, or better low light performance at least you will know from experience what you actually need, vs just buying an expensive brand new camera based on a spec list that means very little to you and YouTube and social media hype.
If you must have more pixels I suggest picking up the D40x which has 10megapixels (so can fill a 4k screen) and should only cost you $10 more. Alternatively if your budget stretches to $300 for the kit I suggest the Nikon D3300 from 2014 which has 24megapixels (perfectly acceptable even today) and improved specs in every way I’ll review one of those soon!
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