Nikon D40 Review

The Nikon D40 is an all new affordable, compact, point-and-shoot digital SLR from Nikon, it follows on from the D50 but at a significantly lower price point and with a subtly different feature set. The biggest news however is probably fact that Nikon resisted the temptation to keep chasing megapixels (hooray for that) and instead appear to have concentrated on what makes a good camera, a decent viewfinder, short shutter lag, very short viewfinder blackout. They've trimmed some of the 'less important features' (you can't change the exposure steps for example) but have squeezed a range of new features such as custom Auto ISO which we welcomed with the D80.

Auto Focus only for AF-S or AF-I lenses

Perhaps the biggest negative on the D40 is that it doesn't have an internal focus drive motor and hence no mechanical focus drive pin, instead it only has CPU contacts which means it can only Auto Focus with AF-S and AF-I lenses (those with built-in focus motors). Indeed our 'standard' lens the Nikkor 50 mm F1.8D (and the F1.4D) are manual focus only on the D40. The images below show the difference between the mount on the D40 and D80, the D80 has a mechanical focus drive pin at about the 7 o'clock position.

Key features

  • 6 megapixel DX format CCD (1.5x FOV crop, as D50)
  • Nikon Image processing engine (as D80 / D200)
  • 3D Color Matrix Metering II, 420 pixel sensor (as D80 / D50)
  • New Multi-CAM530 three area AF sensor
  • ISO sensitivity range 200 - 1600 plus HI 1 (3200 equiv.)
  • Custom Auto ISO (selectable maximum ISO, minimum shutter speed)
  • 2.5 fps continuous shooting (as D50), unlimited in JPEG
  • No status LCD, new LCD monitor based status / settings screens
  • Help suggestions on LCD monitor (eg. scene too dark, try using flash)
  • Large 2.5" 230,000 pixel LCD monitor
  • Bigger viewfinder view (x0.8 magnification, 95% coverage)
  • Short shutter lag and viewfinder blackout
  • Support for SDHC (SD cards over 2 GB in capacity)
  • In-camera retouching
    • D-Lighting (shadow / highlight enhancement)
    • Red-eye reduction
    • Trimming
    • Monochrome
    • Filter effects
    • Small picture
    • Image overlay
  • USB 2.0 with PTP and Mass Storage device support
  • Very compact, light body (smaller, lighter than D50)
  • Improved menu user interface (as D80 / D200)
  • New EN-EL9 Lithium-Ion battery (7.2V, 1000 mAh)
  • New 'Version II' AF-S DX 18-55 mm kit lens