Nikon D40

In the realm of digital photography, it often seems that the most advanced and expensive gadgets are the first to include the most innovative and unique technologies. Surprisingly, in the last few years I've seen ease-of-use features usually found in lower-end point-and-shoot cameras popping up in higher-end models. This is particularly evident in Nikon's low-end Digital SLR (single-lens reflex) camera, the Nikon D40, which offers the power of a professional shooter with an assortment of consumer-friendly features.

The D40 is a six-megapixel camera that features a 3X optical zoom with a 18-to-55mm range (equivalent to a 35mm lens with a 27-82.5mm zoom) and corresponding maximum f-stops of f/3.5 to f/5.6. What I liked most—aside from the $599.95 (list) price (which includes a Nikon 18-to-55mm Nikkor zoom lens)—is the camera's user interface, which is reminiscent of Nikon's friendly Coolpix line of cameras, such as the Coolpix S6. You also choose among three GUI formats: a boring classic look, a nifty graphics interface, or one that uses your own images (stored on your memory card) as wallpaper.

The improvements aren't just cosmetic. In the D40's menu, there's an entire Retouch tab that includes D-lighting and red-eye correction. Interestingly, the D40 has no control panel, which is usually found just behind the shutter-release button on the top of Nikon's D-SLR cameras. Many die-hard Nikon fans will wonder where to find this additional picture info, but Nikon didn't build the D40 for these die-hard Nikonians. It designed the D40 for the point-and-shoot camera owner who now wants to step up to a real D-SLR. Even so, all the picture information that usually is displayed on the control panel appears on the back of the camera's 2.5-inch LCD.

To Nikon's credit, the company has continued to employ and expand its help-button offerings. Of course, some items could be more precisely written. That said, other camera manufacturers don't come close to offering the same amount of menu help Nikon does with its D-SLRs. So, kudos to them for thinking of the average Joes and Janes, who don't know the difference between Auto, Single, and Continuous-servo AF.

Another way this D-SLR has followed the Coolpix mold is in its size. Nikon has made this D-SLR extremely compact, almost smaller than some superzooms. It's about 1/3 to 1/2 of an inch smaller all around than the D80, Nikon's midrange D-SLR.

In addition, the D40 is compatible with SD memory cards, including SDHC cards, which let you use newer, higher-capacity media. This is the third D-SLR that stores photos on SD, instead of CompactFlash (CF), memory, again in the hopes that this will lure entry-level D-SLR consumers to choose a Nikon over a competing brand.

There are, however, some issues that keep the D40 back from being the perfect entry-level D-SLR. Older Nikon or Nikon-compatible D-SLR lenses (anything other than Nikon Nikkor AF-S lenses), won't have autofocus capabilities when installed on this new model. It's basically a construction issue—in order to make the camera more compact, Nikon was forced to remove the mechanism that hooks up with the older lenses' AF gears.

When comparing the D40 with the 6MP Nikon D50 and the 10MP Canon Rebel XTi, I found the D40's performance was just a touch behind those two Editors' Choice–winning cameras. In addition, to my eyes, the photos taken with the D50 and XTi were sharper and had slightly better color than the D40's.

AF can assist you in better focusing for action shots, but the D40 has only three AF points. The Rebel XTi has nine and the D50 five. These points also come in handy when you want to select a particular part of the image plane to focus on.

In my daylight and flash still-life test shots, I observed that most of the D40's ISO range (up to ISO 1600) produced very little noise. But pictures taken with the Hi1 ISO setting (which is equivalent to ISO 3200) were way too noisy.

Color in my test shots, however, was very good and quite vibrant. That said, some of my daylight photos were a little too red, and a few flash photos exhibited a slightly bluish tint. Overall, there was very little fringing. In my flash test shots, I found that the strobe blew out highlights. Moreover, the higher the ISO, the more this problem occurred.

The D40's burst modes were very good, although not exactly rapid-fire fast. It was very steady and hardly stuttered at all in JPEG-only mode. The camera also shoots in RAW and RAW+JPEG in burst mode, albeit only in basic mode. Shooting in RAW format was slower than in pure JPEG, but the pace remained steady for dozens of shots.

Resolution averaged 1,550 lines, which is at the top end of the range for a 6MP camera. Bootup took 0.8 seconds, which is decent for a D-SLR, but not as fast as the Rebel XTi or D80. The 0.9-second recycle time was also good, but also not as fast as the Rebel XTi or D80. As with all D-SLRs, there was no shutter lag.

The Nikon D40 has some wonderful qualities and certainly keeps pace with most entry-level D-SLRs. Even so, it just misses the EC-winning mark set by the Nikon D50 and the Canon Rebel XTi when it comes to picture quality and performance.

Benchmark Test Results
Check out the Nikon D40's test scores.

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