Which is its primary ratget audience? Average customer joe who has no idea that the camera lacks valuable features, and gets drawn by the low price and marketing blurb?
They're valuable to
you.
-The camera has NO internal motor, which makes it not really an option to use a few years old lenses, and lenses that you can still buy like almost the entire range of primes. And which makes it impossible almost to buy lenses from 3rd party manucaturers like Sigma, Tamron, Tokina.
This "problem" wouldn't be an issue at all for my stepfather, who's 60. In fact, none of the things you mentioned would be an issue for him. Give him an 18-55 mm + a telephoto zoom lens and he can photograph anything he'd ever want, and the photos would turn out very good. He'd never take it off AUTO mode, and he'd never most certainly never spend more than $200 on a piece of "glass." You see lenses as something of value. He doesn't.
Why not get a D50? Because it's noticeably larger, and the viewfinder is smaller. His eyes are getting worse, and a good viewfinder and large, bright LCD is more important than mirror lock-up. Haha....my stepfather using mirror-lockup.
😛 😀 If I tried to explain what mirror lock-up was, he'd probably say "Soooo....does that mean the camera won't work?" Agonizing over minute details isn't his style, and neither is mine.
If you were a salesperson and tried to explain all the things you listed as great reasons a 400D or D80 or K100D is better than the D40, he'd probably say "Thanks", then leave the store and never come back. All that crap screams "Sales pitch." Know. Your. Customer.
There's only 3-AF points, right? Think he'd notice? To him, it's just marketing. 3 AF points, 5 point......200 point: Why does it matter if the photos look "pretty groovy"? Even if a photo isn't sharp to me, he might like the photo anyway because of the funny face I made. It's good to be old.
😉
He'd also never print out 20" x 30" photos because of sticker shock, so MP isn't an issue. He could also buy a better camera, but he would probably buy any DSLR for the lowest price possible, but one that allowed him to take nice photos. I'd recommend a D40, and maybe a Pentax for him, but it would depend on whether a Pentax was cheaper because lets face it....he won't care about what you mentioned, only things like LCD and viewfinder size and brightness. Yes, he places value in "photo quality," but that term is different between me, you, and my stepfather.
