Nikon D40x Lens suggestions.

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Well, getting a little tired of the stock lenses that came with the camera, it's time to look further into some different options. I am probably looking at atleast a couple different lenses.

The first I need to get is a zoom, wide angle lens, mostly for scenic shots. I really want to capture ALL of the picture. Too much of my shots are getting cut off. Zoom would be nice to have if I want to get closer.

The second lens I want to replace my stock lenses. Zoom is also good, but will be mainly using for closer portrait type of shots. I really want great depth of field, so if I understand things correctly, I need a lower F stop lens?

I'm such a newb it's not even funny, but I really appreciate a good picture and I take a ton of them. Mostly of the kids and nature shots.
 
For portraits on a crop camera such as yours, you want a 50mm prime. I understand Nikon do one with a max aperture of F/1.8 which will give you all the depth of field control you could wish for.
 
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 AF-S

The only lens you'll ever need. ;)
 
Well the one Giles suggested gives a narrower field of view (especially on a camera like the D40 which isn't full-frame: this means that the field of view you get with the 50mm mounted on a D40 is equivalent to a 75mm lens on a full 35mm frame), so it's a lot tougher to use for anything other than portraits. 35mm on a DX camera like the D40 works out to 52.5mm, which is a lot closer to the 'normal' field of view you get with your eyes. Nikon's current 50mm f/1.8 also won't autofocus on your D40 as it lacks an in body screw drive, but the 35mm AF-S will (although Nikon's 50mm f/1.4 AF-S will autofocus too - AF-S means the lens has a built in motor).
 
If you're talking about portraits, you're talking about people being posed in known light. A lens that's too wide will exaggerate the perceived depth of objects; a person's nose will look to big, their ears too small. If you have one person behind another, the back person will look further away. For that kind of stuff you want the 50mm, and autofocus is not an issue; people are sitting still, right?

If you're looking to grab shots of the family as things are going on, maybe the 35 would be better.

The thing you give up with zoom lenses is speed, the lower end of the f-number range. An f-1.8 lens is ove 2 stops faster than an f-4 lens, which may be the difference between getting a picture in available light or not. Also, shooting at very low f-sops gives you a very narrow depth of field, with the item in focus beign sharp, and blurriness starting just a matter of inches away. Also, with some of the really cheap zoom lenses you give up sharpness and correct geometry; they may pincushion or barrel at either end of their zoom range.

When they talk of the camera not being full-field, they mean that the image sensor is smaller than the 35mm frame of film. The smaller frame makes the lens effectively longer, so a "standard" 50mm film lens is a portrait lens on the digital SLR. A wideangle 35mm lens on a film camera is a standard lens on a digital. The multplier is about 1.5. A photographer has an expected perspective from a 200mm lens, but on a digital SLR he'll get from that 200 what he'd expect from a 300 on his film camera.

That's not true of all digital SLRs as some have full-frame sensors. You D40 (and my D50) are smaller sensors, so when I'm thinking standard, I'm thinking 35, not 50. When I'm thinking very wide, I'm thinking 18, not 24. A full-frame camera would not require that "calculation" from the photographer.
 
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Personaly, i would take the 35mm lens, i have the 50mm lens f/1.8 on my D80 and when i do portraits with my freind,(i help him out at weddings) i ofter find i have to step back and manouver half the church around, but if your not confined to space, take the 50mm, it is a bargain lens, goes for about £75 on ebay, but you can get it from a camera shop for around £90 brand new. The only problem is it wont auto-focus due to nikon cost cutting and not putting an AF motor in the body

Hope this helps
 
The following suggestions are totally biased and by no means objective, but come from a D40 user and lover :p :

First of all, in the field you want to carry as little as possible. So THE all purpose lens for the D40/x should be the 18-200 VR. Unfortunately it's a little expensive at 700$

If you're doing low light photography get yourself the 35mm f1/1.8. A great lens and for 200$ a steal. Unfortunately everyone knows that this lens is absolutely unbeatable in it's price/value ratio therefore you'll have a hard time finding one at the moment. This lens is all you need for portraits, indoor and available light photography.

If you don't mind switching lenses the, btw absolutely great, 18-55mm that came with your camera and a 55-200mm VR for 200$ is the next best steal you can get from Nikon ;)

There are 12-24mm and (NEW) 10-24mm wide angle lenses for DX, but I don't own it, so I can't comment, according to this witty man http://kenrockwell.com they are really good.
BTW, Ken has a ton of useful articles, reviews and suggestions for lenses, cameras and photography in general. His views are subjective and maybe biased in times, but
1. he doesn't pretend otherwise
2. he doesn't fool you with marketing ******** bingo
So I also recommend checking his site out

EDIT: Another note: Your feet are the best zoom you'll ever get, except if your standing on a steep cliff :p. I personally am not a big fan of long teles for several reasons:
1. you have to shoot them fast, because every little shake of the camera is magnified with a tele (VR is a must). Thus you're almost limited to sunlight photography
2. Most of the time your flash is absolutely useless because of the distance, thus making it impossible to employ fill flash in hard sunlight.
3. They are mostly huge and a pain to carry around all day, especially on such a small camera as the D40x. The 55-200 VR is an exception, because it's lightweight due to it's plastic body
 
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