As ukaskew does an excellent write up of his new toy I thought I would give you my opinions on the 450D, I have come from a Nikon D40.
I am not saying that Canon or Nikon are better, its all what your happy with, I will compare my review to my D40 as I think it will interest a few.
Handling
Handling is pretty good, I find the grip very nice and easy to operate with the buttons placed very nicely. The D40 is slightly better to hold thanks to a bigger grip, but its not as bigger issue that reviews have made out. Both handle well. The 450d has a better button layout, and you can access a lot more via the buttons, rather than having to go through menu's. It feels more of a complete package than the D40. Saying that, I would still recommend the D40 to newbies, or people who just want an entry level SLR who just want it for better shots than a bridge camera or P&S. I would recommend the 450d to people who want to get more involved with the pictures* (*will explain that reason better in the features section) as its harder to get decent results from the 450D, but they will be better than the D40 if you put more effort in to the camera. Both cameras have standard flashes, they are nothing special and do ok for what they are! Both cameras are very light and built very well, I couldn't say which one is better built, they are both sturdy and well put together.
Features
The screen on the 450D is excellent, bigger than the D40 and when you scroll through the various displays it shows a lot more about the picture detail in text and graphs. The D40 screen still remains very clear, and can't be faulted. RAW is much better with the 450D, the D40 only allows you to take RAW + basic JPEG, the 450D allows you to take RAW + hi-res JPEG. The 450D also has live view, this can be used with a grid or without and although I have not tried it much, it looks like a great feature for DOF previews etc. The 450D also has sensor cleaning, which I know the D60 has now. The Canon has a 9 point focus system, compared to the D40's 3, not essential, but for some shots it will make a difference.
The D40 does not have a focus motor, this limits your lens choice, but not a great deal, a lot of manufactures now put motors in the body.. BUT.. a lot of the expensive fixed length Nikon glass do not have this feature, so If your going pro and want that glass, get ready for manual focusing. The 450D has a huge range of lenses and a lot of older lenses also work, but the old old lenses will also be manual focus only.
The 450D will take better pics, it has the options and glass to out perform the D40, but from the box, taken in full manual mode, there will not be much difference, but when it comes to learning AV/TV/Manual modes, the 450D will reward you with better shots.
Recommendations
I would still recommend the D40 to any new DSLR user, for the money, I don't think it can be beaten for value and picture quality. The kit lens is excellent and for anyone just wanting a great value camera that will take great images without a lot of work, the D40 is for you.
The 450d is also highly recommended, but be prepared to put that extra effort in to getting the pics you want, but you will be rewarded.
That's my un-biased user opinions, I'm sure there will be a lot of differing opinions from Nikon and Canon owners!
I am not saying that Canon or Nikon are better, its all what your happy with, I will compare my review to my D40 as I think it will interest a few.
Handling
Handling is pretty good, I find the grip very nice and easy to operate with the buttons placed very nicely. The D40 is slightly better to hold thanks to a bigger grip, but its not as bigger issue that reviews have made out. Both handle well. The 450d has a better button layout, and you can access a lot more via the buttons, rather than having to go through menu's. It feels more of a complete package than the D40. Saying that, I would still recommend the D40 to newbies, or people who just want an entry level SLR who just want it for better shots than a bridge camera or P&S. I would recommend the 450d to people who want to get more involved with the pictures* (*will explain that reason better in the features section) as its harder to get decent results from the 450D, but they will be better than the D40 if you put more effort in to the camera. Both cameras have standard flashes, they are nothing special and do ok for what they are! Both cameras are very light and built very well, I couldn't say which one is better built, they are both sturdy and well put together.
Features
The screen on the 450D is excellent, bigger than the D40 and when you scroll through the various displays it shows a lot more about the picture detail in text and graphs. The D40 screen still remains very clear, and can't be faulted. RAW is much better with the 450D, the D40 only allows you to take RAW + basic JPEG, the 450D allows you to take RAW + hi-res JPEG. The 450D also has live view, this can be used with a grid or without and although I have not tried it much, it looks like a great feature for DOF previews etc. The 450D also has sensor cleaning, which I know the D60 has now. The Canon has a 9 point focus system, compared to the D40's 3, not essential, but for some shots it will make a difference.
The D40 does not have a focus motor, this limits your lens choice, but not a great deal, a lot of manufactures now put motors in the body.. BUT.. a lot of the expensive fixed length Nikon glass do not have this feature, so If your going pro and want that glass, get ready for manual focusing. The 450D has a huge range of lenses and a lot of older lenses also work, but the old old lenses will also be manual focus only.
The 450D will take better pics, it has the options and glass to out perform the D40, but from the box, taken in full manual mode, there will not be much difference, but when it comes to learning AV/TV/Manual modes, the 450D will reward you with better shots.
Recommendations
I would still recommend the D40 to any new DSLR user, for the money, I don't think it can be beaten for value and picture quality. The kit lens is excellent and for anyone just wanting a great value camera that will take great images without a lot of work, the D40 is for you.
The 450d is also highly recommended, but be prepared to put that extra effort in to getting the pics you want, but you will be rewarded.
That's my un-biased user opinions, I'm sure there will be a lot of differing opinions from Nikon and Canon owners!
