Nikon D40 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Kit Review
September 15th, 2009
A superb deal for an excellent entry level DSLR camera.: This is an ergonomical, fast handling, very solidly built Digital SLR with many excellent features (like a 2.5 inch silky smooth and bright lcd found on the $1600 D200). Pictures are beautiful. It uses the same excellent 6 megapixel sensor from the D50, D70, D70s. 6 megapixel is plenty, I get tack sharp 8×12 inch prints. Don’t get stuck in counting megapixels. 6MP from a DSLR will blow the doors off a 6,7,8MP compact or even DSLR-like cameras. Especially under low light conditions. 6mp is 3008×2000 pixels. 10mp is just 3888×2592pixels. Not as much difference as many people think.
A Nikon DSLR body only for $499 or $599 with the lens? Darn. Nikon pricing strategy is so aggresive. With the D80 at $999 and 400DCanon at $799 body only. The main drawback for the D40 is you’d have to stick with AF-S or AF-I lenses if you want to get auto focus. You can still focus manually with other Nikon lenses. I guess they did it so D50’s resale value won’t drop too much. With the D50 you have access to Nikon’s wide and prestigous range of lenses. Needless to say it makes a difference.
However, the kit lens is adequately sharp and responsive. For $100 it can’t be beat as a good everyday use lens. At wide angle 28mm distortion is minimal. Pretty sharp at the other end of the zoom, no distortion.
It has a 3-point auto focus system, thats good enough. In fact I prefer it that way. I never cared for 7, 10, 11 point or more focus systems.
No more top mounted LCD display, so what? Just use the beautiful 2.5″ color LCD display. It’s fast to see from the eyecup to rear LCD.
It’s got a bunch of excellent in camera processing which the D50 and D70 never had. Red eye reduction, D-lighting-automatically compensates for darker areas, image-overlay, trimming(new feature), b&w etc. The new menu is beautiful. Also zooming in during playback has been improved(one thing I always found slightly inconvenient on the D50, D70).
Very fast from power up to taking pictures. Continous mode fires at 2.5 frames per second.
For the price Nikon has really figured out how to built a solid , ergonomical , feature rich DSLR. Nikon really knows how to built solid SLRs. It is small in size but unlike the Canon 350/400d/xti(good picture and processor ,new dust reduction, but slightly less ergonomical and solid), you get a comfortable grip that doesn’t make your hand feel cramped.
For this camera, Nikon also came out with a new flash SB400(works on the D50 too) if you need a more powerful flash. The built in flash is excellent and accurate and powerful enough for most situations.
I’ve had a bunch of digital cameras , Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Fuji, Sony 3ccd HiDef, Canon XL1 etc. The D40 is a superb camera for beginners or even semi-experienced enthusiasts, or as a second camera. You can save the money and buy some lenses or strike some big prints.
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Posted in Nikon Digital SLRs | 
Tags: 6mp, Auto Focus, Bright Lcd, Camera Kit, D50, D80, Digital Slr Camera, Everyday Use, Focus System, Focus Systems, Inch Prints, New Menu, Nikon D40, Nikon Dslr, Nikon Lenses, Nikon Slr, Point Auto, Pricing Strategy, Red Eye Reduction, Resale Value
