My Poor Nikon

As I looked at photos I had taken the other day, I realized that I was getting spots on the pictures taken with my Nikon D40.

I had not noticed this before, but a glance back through some files indicates that these spots have been there a while.

A search on the Internet shows that the sensor in the camera needs cleaning.

The camera is six years* old, so I have been lucky to have used it this long without issue.

But I did not know where to get it fixed. I phoned a few friends, one of whom told me I'd likely have to ship it off, or maybe drive it to northern Virginia.

One business told me that they could repair it but they sent it off. It was rather expensive, too.

This did not sound good.

I also discovered that the Nikon D40 apparently has been discontinued and if I wanted to replace the camera I would need to go to a different model.

I mentioned the problem to my husband last night and he suggested that I send a note to one of the firemen he works with. He loves cameras.

The fireman suggested Lee Hartman & Sons.

I called there this morning and after talking to the technician I felt my camera would be in capable hands and so dropped it off shortly thereafter.

Now all I can do is wait for my little baby to be returned to me, hopefully sans dust bunnies.

I will be much more careful about changing lens in the future. I have always felt that was an issue with these DSLRs, and while I do my best to keep the dirt away, sometimes you fail, I guess.

Meanwhile, I spent some time looking at point and shoots, which have come so far in the world as to be deserving of some grudging respect.


While I am not buying a new camera right now, I like the looks of the Nikon Coolpix P100, which has an incredible 26X zoom. My Canon Powershot, which is actually a year older than my Nikon
D40, has a 12X zoom, which seems comparable to the 200mm lens on my Nikon DSLR. A 26X zoom would give me some great close-ups of those deer and turkey, would it not?

For about the same money, Canon has a Powershot SX20 with a 20X zoom. I have enjoyed my Canon point and shoot, too, although I tend to prefer the picture saturation of Nikons in my photos. But for everyday photography my Canon has been terrific.


*It was pointed out in a comment that the camera wasn't released until 2006. Apparently I have only had the thing for three years but it certainly seems like a lot longer.*