Canon 350D or Nikon D40??

[Franglais]

First a question for PJ - why are the dates in this post coming out as 03-13-2007? A bit early for 1st April?

Now try to stick to the facts, assuming that you can get the two for the same price:

- the D40 is an entry-level camera aimed at the mass market while the 350D was aimed slightly higher so it has more features. Advantage Canon
- the 350D has 8Mpix whereas the D40 has 6Mpix. Slight advantage to Canon (but 6Mpix is already enough for most people)
- the 350D is two years old (and discontinued) whereas the D40 has Nikon's latest image processing chip giving better high-ISO performance. Advantage Nikon
- reviews usually say that Canon's entry-level lenses are mediocre while Nikon's are good. Advantage Nikon
- Nikon have much wider range of designed-for-digital lenses. If you want a decent lens from Canon then you often find you have to buy a big, expensive designed-for-film lens. Advantage Nikon
- The D40 can only auto-focus with AF-S lenses. With older lenses - and most third-party ones - you have to focus manually, assisted by the focus-OK indicator. Advantage Canon.

I could go on with snippets I've read about flash performance, autofocus, etc. but you get the picture - both are very good systems. If I were you I would go down to Jessops, take each camera in your mighty hands for a few minutes and see which one you are more comfortable with.

Charles

[dante]

- The D40 can only auto-focus with AF-S lenses. With older lenses - and most third-party ones - you have to focus manually, assisted by the focus-OK indicator. Advantage Canon.

for me it came down to the fact that none of the economical primes (I think) work with the D40, as they're AF instead of AF-S. as for 3rd party lenses, while the Sigma's work (some/most?), Tamron doesn't. I can't even recommend the D40/D40x to my mother to replace her N80 film SLR since she owns Tamron lenses...