The Nikon D40 camera is more for the expert than the novice, and allows manual settings changes, but it does have automatic modes if you prefer. The Nikon provided clean crisp excellent photos.  The first week we got it with the stock 50 mm lens, and paid a little less than $600.00. We took the camera to Florida and it took great pictures from the sunsets in Key West to the sunrises in Fort Lauderdale. This is the 5th Digital Camera I've used in as many years and it is by far the best with a 6 Mega Pixel limit. In this time I have used Sony, Polaroid, Cannon and a couple of lesser known brands...