File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Ok...why was my thread deleted?

Anyway let's try this again. I'm basically a beginner into digital photography and I just bought my Nikon D40 today. All I'm after is how to get the display to show what I'm about to take a photo of, much like most digital cameras do today. I've looked through the manual but to no avail. Can anyone help me out?
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
Hahaha oh wow.
>> Anonymous
>>57328
Thanks for the assistance. Now kindly GTFO.
>> Anonymous
First! Have you read your manual? >.>

>IF< there was an answer to you problem, it would surely be described there.
>> heavyweather !4AIf7oXcbA
in before gb2olympus
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>57331
So, okay, here's the scoop:

What you've got there is a digital SLR. SLR means Single Lens Reflex. I.e., there's one lens and a "reflex mirror" in between it and the imaging surface which, when down, directs the light from the lens up into the viewfinder.

I.e., the light isn't hitting the sensor until you trip the shutter and that mirror flips out of the way.

Some of the newer digital SLRs have some tricks that let them show a live preview (e.g., dual sensors in the Olympus models, and the newest top-o'-the-line Canon lets you flip the mirror out of the way and get a live view on the main sensor), but it's currently still pretty rare, and your D40 doesn't have it.

This is why beginners shouldn't jump right into high-end cameras like SLRs.
>> Anonymous
Press button
Receive photo

Now go take some landscape photos using flash
>> Anonymous
Your camera is incapable of doing that.

It is a single lens reflex camera (SLR), which means that all pre-photograph viewing, framing, composing, and manual focusing is done through the glass viewfinder, which receives the image by light coming through the lens and bouncing off a bunch of mirrors into it. Between the lens and the camera's sensor is one of these mirrors, making no light able to get to the sensor, and hence no visual information able to be shown on the screen, as with a digital camera, which has no mirrors in it.

At the last moment, when one presses the shutter button, the mirrors move out of the way and let light get to the sensor instead of the viewfinder; that's why the viewfinder goes black and your camera makes a loud noise when one presses the shutter: the mirrors are moving.

The only SLR cameras capable of showing the image on the rear screen are based on Olympus's four-thirds lens system. Cameras using this system are made by Olympus and a team-up of Panasonic and Leica. All of the older ones, I understand, are rather suck cameras, but I've read good things about Olympus's newest models.
>> Anonymous
>>57336
>>57338
here.

Dammit.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>57335
>> elf_man !fBgo7jDjms
Since you can't preview, my suggestion is to turn off the auto replay where it shows the picture right away. This is so you aren't constantly chimping and can learn to work with the viewfinder. Take three or four shots of something, from a couple different angles, with varying exposures and aperture settings. Only then replay your shots. I recently transferred from a point and shoot to a d40 and it isn't that difficult to learn to see how exposure will turn out, just a bit of experience helps a lot, but it takes a little discipline. Resist the urge to take twenty shots of something and pick the best later.
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>57338
Corrections:

* Only one mirror moves. And actually there might only be one mirror--good SLRs use a pentaprism to bounce the light from the reflex mirror into your eye. The D40's pretty low-end, though, so it might use mirrors in the viewfinder cave.

* Canon's brand new 1d Mk III can also give you a live view.
>> heavyweather !4AIf7oXcbA
Also, turning off the instant replay after you take a picture will save you SO much on battery life. I forget how many photos dpreview says my D50 is supposed to be able to take, but I've blown that number completely out of the water, many times over. I shoot on the Manual setting, with manual focus, with no image review, and no flash. Doing that, I've gotten 1500 shots out of a single charge, and the battery was still going pretty strong. I probably could've hit 2000. The D50 is better about this than some cameras, but still, do yourself a favor and shoot old school. It has its benefits.
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>57344
Or do what I do. Take three batteries and chimp like mad. ;)

(I still get over a kilopic on a charge, generally. The screen doesn't kill your battery life as much as you might think. Hurts more on P&S digital cameras, since when you're using the screen, you're also using the sensor)
>> Anonymous
>>57336
Only the Olympus E-330 has dual sensors. All others (Panasonic L1, E-410/510, Canon EOS 1D III, some Fuji I keep forgetting) have one sensor and flip mirror up when live view is active.
>> Anonymous
>>57326
I lol now but I also thought this originally when I got my D40.. -.-
But this is actually a good thing. Looking through the viewfinder will help you stabilize the body and avoid shaking it when you take a picture. Don't be discouraged though. Read the manual and some how to guide on photography online and get to it!
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>57354
Yeah, there was a time when I didn't realize that about SLRs, too. I figured it out before I bought one, though. :-P
>> bw !ef8V18P/FY
The instant replay isn't all bad. If one sets it to show the histogram right after the shot (not exaggerating here, histograms are the greatest photographic invention since the light meter!) it can really help you nail down the exposure.
>> Anonymous
>>57396
Why? If one is looking at the photograph on the review, a simple glance will indicate whether it is exposed properly or not. What use is a little graph off to the side? It tells nothing that the photograph itself doesn't.
>> Anonymous
>>57398
I do miss the graph from my old Konica Minolta quite a lot. You could tell instantly if you'd just accidentally pointed the camera on a particularly light area and the rest was going to be underexposed etc.
>> bw !ef8V18P/FY
>>57398
Because the little tiny un-color-calibrated screen on any camera is horrible for judging exposure accuracy, especially in highlights. It's impossible to know the difference between a totally blown highlight and a merely bright area with texture, without either checking the histogram or checking on a calibrated monitor. (And for some odd reason, I don't carry a monitor around with me when I'm out shooting.)
>> Anonyfag of Borneo !bHymOqU5YY
>>57398
When I'm shooting under some harsh sunlight, it's virtually impossible to look at the photo properly. The histogram, along with the blinking area that indicates overexposed area are often my saviour. (400D)
>> Anonymous
You can't, use the viewfinder fagtard!
>> Anonymous
D40 is an slr, there is no need to "see" the picture, looking through the viewfinder is what you do. you get what you see. It is a very good camera (I have one) and perfect as an intro to DSLR. things are different in SLR world :-)
>> Jal
lol, you might wanna read up on stuff before you go buy them. Specially if they are expensive.