Jim wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
D.Duck wrote:
"Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq." wrote in message
news Don White wrote:
Wife wants to upgrade from my 3 yr old HP R707 compact digital camera.
This camera works fine...although the original battery doesn't seem
to hold its charge as long anymore while sitting on the shelf.
Costco just happens to have a super price $270.00 CDN
for its popular Canon A650 IS compact.
I also see the Nikon D40 on sale here with lens at just under $500.00.
I can't justify the higher end SLRs...especially when they seem be
be somewhat obsolete every three or four years
vs the old manual film SLRs that were still fine after 20-25 years
.My usage these days is more snapshot than trying to be
artistic...although I do like to do justice to scenery.
The D40 is a great simple to use camera, that can be used in it's
auto settings or allow you to manually adjust all settings.

It is light weight and you and your wife will absolutely be pleased
with the quality.

As far as the "obsolete" factor. The digital cameras will only be
obsolete, if you want the new and improved features of the newer
improved digital cameras. If you are pleased with the camera, you
can expect over 100,000 photos from the D40. A digital camera will
have an expectant average life similar to the average film cameras.


Just curious. What is the *wear out* mechanism in a digital camera?


The shutter and mirror mechanisms are a problem with both digital and
film. It needs to flip up to take the photo, but not allow any light
through when it is in the down position. They can lock up or lose
there ability to close completely and not allow any light to pass
through. My wife had an old film camera that the foam around the
mirror (to block the light in the down position), dried up and needed
to be replaced. It was not worth the expense to repair.

With Digital cameras your image sensor can burn out or get enough bad
pixels that you will want to replace them, but I have never heard
anyone who replaced a camera due to this problem.

I have a Cannon A7 that had the sensor wash out. The camera was 3 yrs
old at the time. Turns out it was a known problem and Canon replaced the
image sensor for free. Turn around time was 1 week. I was very
impressed. We went on a trip last month and I forgot my camera. I picked
up a Canon 470. Turns out it is a very nice camera for casual snapshot
takers like myself and the wife.

My son used the Canon 470 when he traveled to SE Asia, India and Africa.
He started with the Canon A570, it was stolen from his room, and he
purchased a Canon 470. They both took great photos of his trip.