Wassup. Got a question for all you guys here.

I might be getting a D40 in the next few days as a replacement for my Powershot A410. Before I shell out close to 2K for this interesting piece, I need everyone's opinion to the following questions:

1. My favourite kind of pictures are the ones that evolve around architecture (buildings and static objects), underwater life as well as low light environments with sombre settings. As I'm definitely going to be in a tight budget after buying just the basic kit, how long do you think the kit lens will last for the 3 aforementioned subjects? I'm a realistic person, so I don't expect to get the ultimate results with such a cheap beginner's set. I was hoping that the kit lens would be a good all rounder for maybe a year or so.

2. How often should I clean the sensor? I heard the ballpark figure should be roughly 7-8 months. And if the need should arise, where can I go to get them serviced?

3. Is it true that there is a lifespan for the lenses? I remembered someone quoting a figure of around 10,000 shots for the kit one. Is there any way to prolong it's service life?

More to come. Many thanks in advance for your time and advice.

This post has been edited by rcky: Jan 14 2008, 05:28 PM