Digital Trends

Nikon D40

February 22nd, 2007 | by David Elrich

Features and Design

Nothing surprising here. The all-black D40 looks like every other D-SLR out there other than the Nikon logo just below the auto pop-up flash. Anyone looking for something special design-wise won’t find it here. Utilitarian is the best descriptor. This camera is rather lightweight, tipping the scales at 27.4 ounces including supplied lens, battery, strap and card. Surprisingly, the Canon XTi feels much more substantial even though it only weighs an ounce more. And it weighs four ounces less than the D80; Nikon had to strip some features in order to hit the sub-$600 price for this “Made In Thailand” camera. Simply put: it does not have the feel or build of other D-SLRs recently reviewed such as the Canon Digital Rebel XTi, Sony alpha or Pentax K10D. It also doesn’t cost as much as those cameras; figure around a $200 premium for the Canon and Sony. And don’t forget Olympus has an 8MP D-SLR too that goes for less than $600 with a lens (the somewhat long-in-the-tooth E-500).

Like all D-SLRs, the front of the D40 is dominated by the supplied lens. In this case it’s an AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 GII ED that’s really a 27-82.55mm lens (35mm equivalent) due to the 1.5x digital factor. Note to owners of Nikon lenses—this camera supports only AF-S and AF-I models. Auto focus will not work with other Nikon lenses such as Type G or D Nikkors so if you have any other glass, forget this one and look further upstream for the D50 and beyond. As we said earlier, this D-SLR is geared for first-time buyers who probably do not have a lens collection. Obviously this lack of backwards compatibility is not an issue for them.

On the front you find an AF Assist lamp (a very good thing), an infrared receiver for an optional remote and a lens release button. The top is pretty plain vanilla too. There’s a hot shoe for optional flashes, the mode dial and on the pistol grip, the on/off power switch, shutter and buttons for Info and exposure compensation. The mode dial gives you access to the various shooting options ranging from point-and-shoot Auto, Manual, aperture- and shutter priority as well as a few Scene modes such as Portrait, Sports and Child.

Like every other 2007 D-SLR, the D40 has a 2.5-inch LCD screen to check your settings, move through the menus and to review your shots. It’s rated 230K pixels, a solid number. Surrounding the screen are the basic controls—playback, menu, delete, and zoom in. There’s also a key labeled “i” that gives access to some very handy menus. And depending on your setting, it will show sample thumbnail images so you can make the adjustments that fit your subject. This “show-and-tell” is very informative and nicely implemented. As we said earlier, this is a D-SLR for first-timers and Nikon has done a nice job of hand-holding. On the back you also find the four-way controller with OK set button, a jog wheel to speed through menu adjustments and an AE/AF Lock button. And like all D-SLRs, the viewfinder has a diopter control.

There’s not much on the sides: the right has a compartment for SD and larger capacity SDHC cards while the left has the USB and video outs; video out lets you watch images on your TV. There are keys to adjust the flash and the self timer/Function. On the bottom is the battery compartment that slips into the pistol grip; the battery is rated a solid 470 shots per the CIPA standard.

The D40 comes with a basic kit including the body, lens, strap, quick charger and battery. It’s also supplied with a nicely written and illustrated 126-page owner’s manual and a CD ROM with Nikon PictureProject 1.7 software. PictureProject handles downloads, editing as well as conversion of NEF files, Nikon’s proprietary Camera RAW option.

Image Courtesy of Nikon