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The D40 and the F65

My own first SLR is the Nikon F65 which I got in 2001 for about $400 (more than my D40!). It was billed as an entry level SLR for beginners. That's me, a beginner for about a decade now. I've used a digital compact (Canon A510) since 2005 and details of the F65 slowly faded from my mind as it stayed stashed in the closet. But after I got the D40 I began to remember things - didn't it have a DOF preview, didn't it have this? That? So I got it out of the closet and lookee here, the F65 (Nikon entry level film) has:
  1. Depth of field preview
  2. Exposure bracketing
  3. Five (5) AF areas
  4. Pentaprism
  5. Top LCD
It doesn't have two control wheels, but has the control wheel + modifier buttons.

Hmm... methinks the Nikon engineers are losing to the Nikon marketing people (C'mon DOF preview, exposure bracketing, 5 AF areas these don't add to cost - they probably COST money to take away, the only reason to take these small things away is to make people buy the more expensive one isn't it?). The pentaprism is cost and weight, and the top LCD is redundant.
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