nah, you'll be able to autofocus, because the kit lens has the motor in the lens. There are certian lenses that require the motor to be in the camera, those won't focus. http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d40/af-settings.htm
The histories of Nikon and Canon are very different. Back in the 70's and 80's, Nikon manual focus cameras were the undisputed camera choice of professional photographers. Then in the early 80's, auto focus was invented. Canon and Nikon both chose very different directions for their auto focus technology. Nikon decided they did not want to fuck over their huge customer base of pro's by making them have to sell every single one of their old manual focus lenses in exchange for new auto focus ones, so because of this EVERY single nikon lens since the 1950's mounts perfectly on your camera. They chose a system where an autofocus motor was placed inside the camera, not inside the lens. This means that it is possible to buy great old lenses for your nikon on ebay for next to no $$$. During the same time in the 80's canon took the other path, and basically fucked over their customer base by completely changing their camera design into the EOS system, where the auto focus engine was not inside the camera but on each lens. So basically every photographer that was shooting canon before the 1980's had to sell all their shit and rebuy everything from scratch. As the canon auto focus system was faster and better (at the time), most sports and photo journalists of the time switched to canon, and because no-one wants to have to sell all their shit and switch again, they have held the share of the pro market ever since. Plus most fags see a pro photographer shooting canon and feel like they have to shoot canon if they want to be in the game. EOS is fine, but it means you can only buy canon lenses made since the 1980's for your EOS camera. (Lame) I love shooting my 1970's 50mm manual focus lenses, they have a real retro feel to the images. Canon people wince when they see you with a Nikon and vice versa, I wince at both now that I've got a Leica, it's just hotheaded fanboy syndrome. Your D40 is better than their canon especially for what you do, because of its far superior flash sync speed perfect for freezing motion in low light with your flash. Look it up on the internet if you don';t know what flash sync is about, or I suppose I could explain it if you want. I personally think Canon rebels feel cheap in the hand next to the entry level Nikons, and the menus and changing settings are so needlessly overcomplicated. Rubbish. But thats me, get your D40. What a rant.
Haha, kmc basically summed up what I said in 2 sentences. Oh well, now you know some history. I think it's quite interesting why canon are on top now.
it's actually the cheapest L glass you can get, and it still cost more than my car. It's amazing though. then there's this. [Broken External Image]:http://www.duanestorey.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/67748045hxh0zjhscanon12005.jpg
Portraiture and sports. I shoot only with my 50-135mm f/2.8 for shooting people. you'll understand why one day werse
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awesome collection. what do you use the back one for? and thanks for taking the time to give us a brief history lesson
Yeah I sent out lots of emails. I was surprised how many I got back. They are always keen for a helping hand so long as their not paying.