Nikon Upgrade?

[dana]

I have a Nikon D40X. Can the next models up give me a better picture, all things being equal, than the attached? Photo info - f32, .06, ISO 100, 40mm, WB auto.

[bob_r]

Dana,

What did you want the picture to look like? You could improve your results a little by not using f/32. Diffraction will nearly always occur to some degree at that setting.
IMHO, your picture looks like it could benefit by a little more post processing too. I took the liberty of adding a little more contrast and sharpening to see if this is more what you had in mind (let me know if you want me to delete it and I will).

Dana's pic.

danas edited copy.jpg (202.44 KiB) Viewed 1096 times

[dana]

Thanks for your comments. I don't like to do much pp. I'd rather set up the shot as good as I can. The pp I do is to make the pix look like my eyes saw it. I was just wondering if a camera with a better sensor, etc would give me a better picture - sharper, brighter.

By the way, I like what you did with picture. How much contrast and sharpening did you add. I have PS Elements 6.

Thanks again.

[bob_r]

Thanks for your comments. I don't like to do much pp. I'd rather set up the shot as good as I can. The pp I do is to make the pix look like my eyes saw it. I was just wondering if a camera with a better sensor, etc would give me a better picture - sharper, brighter.

By the way, I like what you did with picture. How much contrast and sharpening did you add. I have PS Elements 6.

Thanks again.

Dana,

I don't do much post processing either, but I think all digital images benefit from a little PP. I think I adjusted the levels a little and added minimum sharpening in Photoshop.
I don't know how much a new camera would benefit you, but you can look at some comparisons shot with different cameras in this link and it may help you decide:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/IMCOMP/COMPS01.HTM

Edited to add: Dana, I couldn't remember the exact settings i used in PS, but using "auto-levels" and unsharp mask settings of amount 100, radius 1 and threshold 10 produced a very similar image.

[dana]

Thanks for your comments. I appreciate the help.

[Justin_Smith]

Besides the Photoshop work and shooting at f/32 (I never use it unless I want diffraction stars at night), you can also really improve your photos by turning off auto-WB and choosing your own. Use what looks best, and remember that shooting RAW means you can change the white balance afterwards in your software. Another thing you can do is avoid shooting during the middle of the day when the sun is really intense. It not only gives you harsh highlights and shadows, but it also kills colors. For most things, it's best to shoot at the beginning or end of the day.

I'm saying these things because I think that if you only upgrade your camera, you're going to be disappointed, and perhaps angry that you spent all that money. Don't be fooled into thinking that a more expensive camera will automatically give you better pictures. It will give you more options, but they won't present themselves on their own. D40x is a fine camera for most purposes. I use an "inferior" (6 MP) D50 for all of my shots, and I'm only hindered by tangible things like lack of high ISO for low-light shooting or lack of built-in Commander mode for using off-camera strobes, not with more ambiguous things like the pictures not being good enough.

By the way, re: Post-processing... Some people don't like to post-process because they feel like it's cheating. That's okay, but you should know that all of the old film pros years ago spent much longer in the photo labs doing just as much post-processing as we do now in Photoshop. They had ways to adjust contrast, shift the color balance, and even "clone out" undesirable elements. Using Photoshop to get the shot you desire is no more dishonest.

[dana]

Thanks for your comments

[jk]

I agree that the camera does not make the photographer. Don't use "auto" anything on the camera if you can help it. Think of "auto" as letting the camera "average out the scene". Shoot in RAW and you can ever so slightly tweak an image. A D40x is a good camera, I love mine. Sure, I would upgrade if money was no object but.... Use what you have to your best and it's best ability. Read everthing you can, soak up as much knowledge as you can and practice practice practice. Here's my D40X contribution.... compressing the shot for the web does weaken the clarity a bit but trust me it's a clear as can be in the original version and there was no pp applied.

jk

[dana]

Thanks guys. I'll star shooting in raw from now on. Thanks again.