If there’s one technical aspect of photography that causes more confusion for beginners than any other, it’s probably aperture. I feel like I explain it a lot, and just this week a friend was asking about a lens purchase and the subject came up again; I thought it was about time to write a quick post on the subject.

The aperture affects how much light is able to reach the camera’s sensor. There’s a bladed diaphragm inside the lens that expands and contracts, depending on how you’re using the camera and what settings you’ve chosen, to allow more or less light in. The aperture is expressed as “f/2.8″ or “f/4″.

What do those numbers mean? The smaller the number, the larger the aperture (meaning more light gets in). That may seem confusing until you think of the expression as a fraction. 1/2.8 is greater than 1/4 is greater than 1/8. Lenses specifications are described in the maximum aperture the lens can achieve — e.g., the Nikon 50mm AF-S f/1.4 can “open up” to f/1.4, which is very wide. Minimum apertures are rarely a concern; that 50mm Nikon can “stop down” to f/16. Cheaper zoom lenses, like the kit lens that came with my Nikon D40, sometimes have variable minimum apertures. For example, my 18-55mm lens is rated as “f/3.5-5.6″. That means that at 18mm it can open up to f/3.5, and as you extend through the zoom range up to 55mm you eventually can’t open it any wider than f/5.6.
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I bought myself a little present tonight: a Nikon D40 digital SLR. When I began my research for a DSLR, I started out gunning for the Olympus E510, but while it was overall quite good and had lots of features it lacked refinement in the image processing department and there’s not nearly as many (affordable) lenses available as a Nikon/Canon. As I was told time and time again, when you buy an SLR you’re not just buying that camera, you’re buying into the brand’s SLR system.

So I started looking at Nikons and Canons, and it came down to the Nikon D40, Nikon D40x, or the Canon Digital Rebel XTi. I knew about the new Nikon D60 (which replaces the D40x), but it didn’t have anything I wanted over the others. So I read and read and read reviews and comparisons and pontifications by professional photographers, and I settled on the 6 megapixel Nikon D40 over my other two finalists (which were both 10MP) because with a lower megapixel rating it’s A) less expensive; B) more sensitive to light because fewer pixels are covering the same size sensor; and C) Megapixels don’t matter unless you’re making prints, and with 6MP I can still make ridiculous sizes like 24″ prints or something.

It was so tempting to go for the ones with more megapixels, but after reading stuff like this from real photographers, lauding the D40 and dispelling the megapixel myth, I realized I needed to get out of the point-and-shoot “more megapixels!” marketing mentality and focus on the other stuff that really matters.
That Ken Rockwell guy I just linked to, for example, has dozens of ridiculously expensive cameras and still uses his D40 more than anything — because it shoots with fantastic quality in almost all situations, is lightweight, and it very easy to use. I found that the Nikon D-series in general has some of the best in-camera image processing, comes with a fantastic kit lens to begin with and has very affordable quality consumer-grade lenses (the Canons tend to be more expensive for good lenses, it seems). I’ll be the first to admit I am totally new to SLR photography, but that’s what I based my decisions on. So I feel like I made a smart choice, and even though I was initially wooed by all the features ticked by the Olympus (LCD live view, image stabilization, etc), I’m glad I did my research so I was able to hone in on what’s really important. Saved me some money too.

The D40 is really small for a DSLR and feels great in my hands. Except for the Olympus E410, I think it is *the* smallest DSLR you can get. It just feels great, and there’s so much stuff to learn. Coming from an older-than-dirt Canon Digital Elph 2.1 MP point-and-shoot that tended to take dark, dingy pictures (hey, it was more than 7 years old…it had its day), I can’t wait until I’m some level of competent with my new D40. I believe I’m actually going to enjoy taking photos again!

• Nikon D40 reviews: Basic, Intermediate, Mind-blowingly detailed
• Buy the Nikon D40

Here’s a few of my first shots…all indoors and nothing particularly exciting, because it’s dark and raining outside, but I really wanted to try it out. I still have a lot to learn. Click on the photo to advance or hover over the caption area to see the thumbnails. Click the “Link” text for a larger version (in a popup).