Camera Labs

so now its a choice between the canon eos400d and the nikon d40x.
The canon seems to have a better body spec than the d40x, however the lenses seem to be very expensive and the one it comes with has been pretty poorly voted
The nikons main flaw seems to be that is only has 3 focus points rather than 9 or so which the other dlsr's seem to have. Could someone explain to me what this means, will it make it harder to catch fast moving action with fewer focus points? and if so, how much harder........
It boils down to the fact that i have found them both at the same price with the standard kit lense 18-55mm and will only have another 150 pounds or so for a lens, which i can get the 55-200mm VR lense for the nikon, is there a similiar competitor for the canon which i have missed?......... its a minefield and any guidance would be amazing.

just a quick thought, is image stabilisation necessary for shooting sport, i will mainly be using it without a tripod?

My opinion: don't bother about 3 vs 9 point AF. It's not neccessarily a guaranty, that more AF-point make it clearer to the cameras CPU which point to focus at
The D40x with this lens combo (esp. the VR 55-200) will make you very happy! And can give you excellent shots.

(yes, there is a Canon EF 55-200mm 4.5-5.6 II USM, albeit without IS. See a test here. It is a little better at the borders at 55mm, but otherwise forget about this lens. VR/IS rules!)

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Canon has a new EF-S 55-250mm lens with IS, but sadly no USM...

As for 3-point versus 9-point (or more), I guess it depends how small the moving subject is and how much it moves around the frame. If it is small and is moving a lot, then I'd probably go for 9-point or more, but if it's a larger subject or can be kept over the one of the three AF points in a 3-point system, then you'll be ok.

Ultimately this is one of those things where personal expectations are everything, so I'd suggest asking to try both bodies in a cmaera store, take thme outside and try them tracking the focus of people or cars coming towards you - remember to switch them to their tracking focus modes first though!

Gordon

thank you very much guys, it looks like i'm back onto the idea of the D40X being the one for me since i wil tend to use the camera for shooting larger objects like poeple and so on.........