Anyone willing to give me any feedback on a camera I am considering buying? I used to have an Olympus OM10 in the 70's but have forgotten far more than I ever learned about exposure etc.

I am in my 50's and have ankolising spondolosis of the neck, which effectively means I cannot carry anything too heavy over back or shoulders etc., so really need a light (ish) camera.

I love the outdoors and walks looking for wildlife and sunrise/sunsets etc., and am looking at getting into photography as a hobby again. I also love taking pics of my snakes and other animals as well as small wildlife in the garden etc.

I have been offered a Nikon D40x (10.2mp) from someone at work that is 3 years old, and she is now progressing onto something that has more range regarding exposure etc. I have read that a couple of people have had the main circuit board go within the first 18 months or so of having this particular camera, but not too much about this....

She's also offering the 70 to 300mm lens for £120.... does this sound reasonable, and if it may fit my needs?? Sorry, camera and kit lens is £250.

Thanks for sticking with what could easily turn into a novel! ..... J

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The D40 is a great camera, i used to own one :)

If you fancy going lighter, there are also some nice compact camera's on the market which have manual controls as well... there's quite a variety out there actually, and i probably don't know the half of them myself.

I do know, after owning a Panasonic LX5, that it's a decent camera, with pretty good video as well. The ISO for me is usable for a compact, up to ISO1600... It's not clean at ISO1600, but i accept what it is for a compact.

There's some good canon compacts as well. The S90, S95, S100 are all meant to be great.

These compacts are all small enough for a pocket, with decent image quality and controls. The LX5 actually has a hot shoe mount for flash, and it also has an adapter so you can use filters on it as well.

There's also micro 4/3 cameras, bridge camera's as well... which i'm sure Stu might be able to chip in with, but i've less clue about.

The D40 is still better than these compacts though, and you do get the choice of lenses which will always give a proper DSLR the edge if you ask me... but no doubt technology will advance further afield with this at some point.

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Jonny

Jonny Peace Photography