Taking Pictures of Moving Objects at Night

[joanna71985]

I really want to get a Nikon DSLR. How is the D40? It's one of the ones I am looking at.

 

[WDWFigment]

I've recently purchased the D80 (and love it) but have yet to try night shots. Practice, practice, practice is the way forward BEFORE the Disney trip

Yeah, I actually found great deals on both the Canon XTi and Nikon D40, so I bought both and tested them out a bit to determine which I preferred. The Nikon was the clear choice for me since it's slightly more compact, and it offers very comparable performance. About the only "shortcoming" compared to the XTi is the megapixels, but since I don't plan on printing billboards anytime soon, I don't buy into the whole MP superiority bit. I didn't hurt that I'd save around $200 (based on how much I could sell both for) by keeping it instead of the XTi. I think I might buy another lens now though, since after selling the XTi and the 17-85 IS lens I bought with it, the Nikon D40 with the 15-85mm ended up only costing $158.

I've been playing with it a ton. I think I have stationary night time shots down (I've gotten 20-25 second exposures without looking too blown out) fairly alright, but this is a bit more difficult to replicate at home, since it's a nighttime shot of a moving (albeit slowly) object that produces light.

Good luck with the D80 in December! Hopefully you post some of your pictures in the Picture of the Day thread!

 

[WDWFigment]

I really want to get a Nikon DSLR. How is the D40? It's one of the ones I am looking at.

I went over this a bit in my above post, but I think the D40 can't be beat for entry level. The XTi costs more primarily (it seems--the reason I say this is because the now OOP D40x was the same camera as the D40 except it had 10 MP, and it cost the roughly the same price as the XTi) because it has 10 MP instead of 6. The 4 MP difference is irrelevant to most people.

I'm still learning the ropes, but I've posted some pictures I've taken with the D40 in the Picture of the Day (Chit Chat, not WDW) thread. I need to get a lens hood because the kit lens has lens flare problems. Other than that, I love it.

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[joanna71985]

Oops, didn't see the post.

I definitely will! I really want to get a DSLR before I move down to FL in May. So I will be saving up for one.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Good luck with the D80 in December! Hopefully you post some of your pictures in the Picture of the Day thread!

Thanks for the good luck message (I wish you similar good fortune with your D40) Don't worry - if things work out properly there'll be a full blown, in your face, Trip Report with pictures within days of landing !!!!