Nikon D40: Making The Move From A Point-And-Shoot To A DSLR Easier with Nikon D40

The NIkon D40 is an answer to those who are looking to upgrade from a point-and-shoot to a dSLR camera but not quite ready yet to spend thousands of dollars for one.

The D40’s body is quite compact and has an excellent feel. It houses an assortment of parts from its older as well as younger counterparts. It has the D50’s 6-megapixel sensor, the D80’s 420-pixel sensor metering system and a processing engine found in the D200. Because Nikon is targeting first time dSLR buyers, you can only get the D40 with the f/3.5-to-f/5.6G, 18mm-to-55mm II ED AF-S DX lens. And to discourage old Nikon users from recycling their old lenses, Nikon removed from the lens mouth the coupling pin, forcing users to buy the newer AF-S or AF-I lens model. At the back of the camera is a 2.5-inch LCD. To further drive the point home that the D40 is an entry-level dSLR, Nikon removed the LCD that perched on the top of the camera. Nikon also decided that it was high time they updated their viewfinder to the more common magnification of 0.8X.

Nikon D40 Body only 6.1 Megapixel US $159.40 (4 Bids) Auction Ends: End Date: Wednesday Mar-10-2010 20:19:24 PST Add to watch list

Nikon D40 Body only 6.1 Megapixel US $255.00 (2 Bids) Auction Ends: End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 11:09:34 PST Add to watch list

Nikon D40 Digital Camera Body 6.1 Megapixel (1411770) US $127.50 (11 Bids) Auction Ends: End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 13:33:39 PST Add to watch list

Nikon D40 Body only 6.1 Megapixel US $127.50 (4 Bids) Auction Ends: End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 18:41:23 PST Add to watch list

Nikon D40 with Customized Lens Kit 6.1 Megapixel US $305.00 (4 Bids) Auction Ends: End Date: Thursday Mar-11-2010 19:28:42 PST Add to watch list

To view the current settings of your D40, you only need to press one button. Press it twice and you can now start tweaking with the different settings using the four-way navigation dial and the OK button in its middle. Nikon also added an Fn button to hotkey a function that they normally use.

Performance-wise, you can’t really expect blazing speed from a budget dSLR. You’d need 0.3 second to go from off to ready to shoot. While that is quite acceptable, shot lag in well-lit areas is not, taking up as much as 0.7 second. And shooting in low-light situations is even worse, clocking in at 1.6 seconds. On the other hand, the D40 outshines almost every other dSLR in its class in continuous-shooting mode, producing 2.5 frames per second. Also, the D40’s shot-to-shot time is quite excellent, taking only 0.6 second.

When it comes to image quality, the D40 is simply top-notch. Noise levels are low, the colors are vibrant, there is little lens distortion and the metering as well as exposure are excellently done. Despite the quite-low 6-megapixel sensor, photos can still be acceptable even on 13x19 prints. The D40’s ISO can go up to ISO 1,600 and has an HI 1 option of about ISO 3200.

The D40’s price point and good features make moving from point-and-shoots to dSLR’s sound really good.