Personally, I shoot almost exclusively with two Nikon Primes. The Nikon AFS Nikkor 35mm and 50mm f/1.8g. I shoot mainly glamour, fashion and portrait.
The first attachment was shot with the 50 MM and the second was shot with the 35mm. I also occasionally use th Nikon 55-200mm DX f4/5/5.6G V. The third image was shot with th 55-200mm.

AFS Nikkor 50 MM f/1.8G Lens


AFS Nikkor 35 mmf/1.8G lens


The blur is intentional. It's motion blur, not focus blur

Conside Nikon's new 85mm f/1,8G which sells for $496,95 at B&H photo. Read the user reviews at B&b photo, Amazon and Adorama sites.

Unless you're still shooting film, let go of the ASA's and move on. Older is not necessarily better. You sound like your fighting progress. There's lots to learn. It's a very exciting time for photography. So many more tools. You're only limit is your imagination and your grasp of the tools that can bring your vision to reality. Enjoy the new world of digital photography.

But, you don't have to have film experience to learn all those settings and variables. Beginning photographers need to learn all of those variables and settings today just as they did in the film days. And, digital cameras are much more complex, with an endless array of features and settings.
Today, the beginning digital photographer can learn all that much faster than was possible in the film days. Today, you change a setting and you see an immediate result. You change another setting and you immediately see a result. In the time it took to shoot and process a whole role of film, the digital student is already learning advanced techniques about lighting and processing and how to use an endless array of gear.

I consider my decades of film photography and darkroom work of very little value today. Digital is far superior to film for the purpose of learning photography. I'm 67 and I'm familiar with both worlds.

Until I started to learn digital photography a year ago, I too would have said I learned a great deal by processing my own film and making my own prints.

But, based on my more recent experience with digital photography, I realize how long it took to learn anything. I'm infinitely more knowledgeable since taking up digital photography. And now, after only 1 year, I realize that I didn't know much at all when I shot and processed film That's like using my fingers and toes for math compared to an electronic calculator or PC.

And during my film days I shot several weddings. I never want to go back to those days of film and learning at a snails pace.

There is an endless supply of learning tools on the internet. Why start a beginners class here? If you want to learn, there is more knowledge and information available, free of charge, than anyone can possibly digest. There's a multitude of E-books that are very inexpensive and just packed with valuable information for all skill levels.

There is an endless supply of learning tools on the internet. Why start a beginners class here? If you want to learn, there is more knowledge and information available, free of charge, than anyone can possibly digest. There's a multitude of E-books that are very inexpensive and just packed with valuable information for all skill levels.

Back ion the 60's and 70's I shot film. Developed and processed my own black and white. Digital makes learning much simpler and more accurate. With digital, you can change settings and immediately see the results. You can test lighting and exposure and other variables and see exactly the results.

In the old days, you had to keep meticulous notes and you didn't learn much until you shot another test, trying to duplicate everything including chemical temperatures and mixtures and an almost infinite number of variables. If you sent you film to a lab for processing, that introduced more variables. I have learned more in the year I've been shooting digital than I did in a decade shooting film.

I fine-tuned both of my primes, Nikon 35 and 50 mm both f/1.8G and definitely improved sharpness. There are several factors that affect focus and sharpness. I'm assuming that the basics have already been ruled out.
But, fine-tuning is not necessarily limited to older lenses. If a knowledgeable photographer is experiencing auto-focus problems, they should definitely try fine-tuning. Just as some body/lens combinations need exposure compensation or some speed-light/camera combinations benefit from EV compensation, the same holds true for auto-focus compensation or what is referred to as auto-focus fine tuning.

I suggest everyone refer to the following link for a detailed explanation and discussion about VR.

http://www.bythom.com/nikon-vr.htm

By the way. Do this test with plenty of light. Pick a subject with as much detail as possible. This will make it easier to evaluate your test results.

The D7000 has an auto-focus fine tuning feature which is an advanced feature found on some of the newer model DSLR's. Go to page 246 of the D7000 User's manual for further information. Often people of all brand and model cameras complain about lenses just not being sharp enough. This is probably a result of front or back focus which can be corrected for up to 10 different lenses in theD7000. To my surprise, it seems not very many Nikon techs even know this feature exists. So, don't count on them for help with this feature. There are technical ways to test lenses and apply this feature to correct front or back focus. The way I do it is to set my camera on a tripod and use a wireless shutter release. Take a series of shots using both + and - correction. Load the images on your PC and zoom in 100%. Select the sharpest image and use the corresponding correction in the AF Fine-tune menu tune which is under the Setup menu. I read somewhere that you should do this correction for the mid focal length for zoom lenses. I hope this works out for you. You can check all your lenses and possibly improve sharpness.

In LR4 I right click on the image I want to edit in PSE10. I select show in Windoes Explorer. In Explorer, I copy the file, so I don't change the original. Finally, I right click on the copy and select "Open in Elements 10". PSE 10 opens in PSE Raw where I begin my PSE processing.

I would suggest shooting with the D40 until you really know your way around the settings and are producing really nice photos. Then, if you feel like you need more control, move up to something like the D7000. After that, the next move gets real pricey. And I wonder how many of us really need to venture into that realm. Many of the more expensive cameras also come with a lot more bulk and weight.

I have two Nikon Telephoto lenses that came as a package deal with my D40. But, shooting portraits seems to be what i enjoy most, I shoot with my Nikon 35 and 50 mm f/1.8 G lenses.

Some photographers like to use telephotos for portraits but I prefer the inexpensive/sharp prim lenses.