After a few years of fooling around with my Casio Exilim, I’ve finally exhausted every possible tweak with the camera. In the previous months, I find myself no longer having the urge to take that many pictures as I used to, mostly due to the fact that I’ve understood my compacts’ limitations and have decided that it wouldn’t do justice to a particular scene without even taking any shots. So what’s a hobbyist to do then? Well, get an affordable SLR of course!

So say ‘hi’ to my Nikon D40. It’s currently the cheapest digital SLR around, costing around RM 1900 for a bag, 2GB SD card, a UV filter and a tripod. If you decide that you need none of those things, the price could go down to RM 17xx, depending on where you are shopping. Compare this with a RM 1999 Pentax K100D and a RM 2000 EOS 350D for the camera alone, the D40 is slightly cheaper, which means savings for future lenses. The 6 MP and 3 auto-focus areas might put-off some, but I think those are acceptable sacrifices for the price. Of course, the D40 is still a budget SLR, which means as a photographer, you’ll have less assistance from it. I’ve handled a Sony Alpha 700 (RM 5688 for the body alone!) and it was a dream. In a poorly lit indoor environment, it’s ultra-zoom lens allowed me to take sharp portrait pictures. I take this is due to the built-in image stabilizer in the camera.

Still, I very much look forward to some occasion in which I can really use my new D40. For the time being though, I’m spending time going through Ken Rockwell’s site, particularly the D40 guide.