Nikon D40 w/18mm-to-55mm lens

Manufacturer: Nikon Inc. Part number: 25420

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CNET Editor rating:
3.5 stars Very good
Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 66 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Product series; Accessories; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: The Nikon D40 is a great transition camera for going from point-and-shoot to your first dSLR.

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CNET editors' review

Nikon D40 w/18mm-to-55mm lens

price range: $449.00 - $499.99

Reviewed by: Lori Grunin
Reviewed on: 11/22/2006
Released on: 12/01/2006

The good: Excellent feel and compact size; very customizable menu architecture; nice guidance for dSLR newbies; excellent noise characteristics for high-ISO shots.

The bad: Slow kit lens; occasionally slow to focus; only 6 megapixels; raw editing software costs extra; control scheme can be awkward; no automatic sensor cleaning.

The bottom line: The Nikon D40 is a great transition camera for going from point-and-shoot to your first dSLR.

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Nikon D40

In many ways, you might consider Nikon's D40 the Zelig of digital cameras. Is it a digital SLR with the spirit of a point-and-shoot? Is it a point-and-shoot with the power of a dSLR? It depends upon who's doing the shooting. While the D40 will never morph into an ultracompact or grow up to be high-powered, pro shooter's camera, it covers the in-between fairly well.

Positioned at the very bottom of Nikon's dSLR food chain, the company aims the D40 at first-time dSLR buyers moving up from tricycles to training wheels. As such, it contains an assortment of preexisting parts from its siblings: the same (or very similar) 6-megapixel sensor as its predecessor, the D50, the same processing engine as the D200 and the same 420-pixel sensor 3D Color Matrix Metering II metering system found in the D80. Assuming that the dSLR-craving hordes of newbies don't have any lenses yet, Nikon sells only a kit version, bundling in its new f/3.5-to-f/5.6G, 18mm-to-55mm II ED AF-S DX lens (28.8mm to 88mm equivalent). This assumption also informs Nikon's decision to remove the coupling pin from the lens mount, limiting the capabilities when interfacing the camera with lenses other than the newer AF-S and AF-I models. In other words, this isn't your father's Nikon, and it isn't the camera to buy if you've got a stash of Dad's old Nikon lenses. (You can find the compatibility details here).

Following recent trends in entry-level dSLRs, Nikon dropped the second status LCD on top of the camera in favor of a more hands-on role for the 2.5-inch LCD on the back. A single button press brings up a display of all your current settings; a second press allows you to navigate and change those settings using the four-way-plus-OK navigation switch and command dial. If you're used to shooting with a snapshot camera, it will feel very familiar; if you're accustomed to more streamlined combinations of buttons and dials, it can feel a bit clunky. For instance, in aperture-priority mode, you can change the aperture only via the command dial; to change the shutter speed, you must go through the aforementioned process. Nikon does provide an Fn button to which you can assign button-plus-dial access to image size/quality, ISO sensitivity, white balance, or drive mode, but I just hate it when manufacturers force me to choose an arbitrarily most-important setting from among several important ones.

As part of its friendly face, the Nikon D40 offers several options for how it displays your current shooting information, although you always use the same screen while changing settings (upper left). The ring in the Graphic display is supposed to somehow clue novices in to the relationship between shutter speed and aperture, but it just doesn't work for me. And I find the Wallpaper option annoying.

One of the useful features that Nikon copied from its--and others'--snapshot cameras is using thumbnails to depict for which types of photos different options are appropriate. The camera also supplies some of the in-camera editing features common to point-and-shoots, such as red-eye reduction, D-Lighting (auto exposure adjustment), cropping, and filter effects.

Nikon did bring the viewfinder up to date, one of the things we complained about on the D50, by upping the magnification from 0.75X to the more common 0.8X. Interestingly, it still lacks a grid overlay, a feature I'd think many beginners would appreciate--plus some of us veterans who still have problems getting that horizon line right. And Nikon actually dropped the number of focus selection points from 5 to 3. When I shoot, I use only the center point--after a brief flirtation with eye-controlled autofocus in film cameras, I returned to that old focus-and-recompose school--so it didn't bother me. However, if you use the various automatic focus-selection-point modes it could make a big difference in your shots.

The D40 also gets high marks for photo quality, with very low-noise images, minimal lens distortion, excellent metering and exposure, and pleasing colors.

Click here for more on the D40's design and photo quality.

In most respects, the D40 provides the features of a typical budget dSLR. Its 6-megapixel resolution is on the low side for a camera introduced this year, but my test photos stood up to 13x19 prints and could probably have been pushed a bit larger. However, there were times when I think a higher-resolution sensor might have been able to resolve details a bit better--details such as a cat's fur, for example. The camera supports sensitivity levels from ISO 200 to ISO 1,600, plus a HI 1 level which equals about ISO 3,200. The lens's slowish f/3.5-to-f/5.6 aperture narrows your exposure options, however. Other shooting options include three autofocus types (single point, dynamic area, and closest subject) and methods (continuous, single shot, and predictive), shutter speeds from 3 to 1/4,000 second as well as bulb, flash, and exposure compensation in 1/3-stop increments, and three metering modes (spot, center-weighted, and matrix). If you plan on shooting raw, make sure to budget $150 for Nikon's Capture NX software; the bundled Picture Project software is insufficient.

Shutter lag and autofocus speed pop up as the D40's biggest weaknesses. It wakes up fast--0.3 second and you're good to go. But its shutter lag in good light is an almost embarrassing (for a dSLR) 0.7 second, and it more than doubles in dim light to 1.6 seconds. I frequently missed shots because of it. The autofocus system works fine for small changes--the subject taking a step, or refocusing on something nearby--but when switching from a far subject to a near subject or vice versa, it takes a perceptibly long second or two to lock.

However, raw and JPEG shot-to-shot time is an excellent 0.6 second (lower than the shutter lag because the camera doesn't need to focus a second time), as is the flash time, which only adds 0.3 second. In continuous-shooting mode, the D40 outshines the rest of its class with 2.5fps; the Canon EOS Rebel XTi is a mite faster, but the D40 can keep it up for far more frames.

If you're just looking for a great, cheap dSLR, the faster, higher-resolution Canon EOS Rebel XT is probably a better bet; and if you're an experienced shooter, you might want to spend more for the Nikon D80. But if you've got a budding photographer in the family or want to step up to your first dSLR, the Nikon D40 is a great choice.

Shooting speed
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Raw shot-to-shot time

Time to first shot

Shutter lag (dim light)

Shutter lag (typical)

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT

0.4

0.2

Nikon D50

1.2

0.6

0.9

0.4

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi

0.6

0.3

1.1

0.4

Nikon D40

0.6

0.3

1.6

0.7

Continuous shooting speed in frames per second
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Typical continuous-shooting speed

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
N/A

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi

2.9

Nikon D40

2.6

Nikon D50

1.7

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User reviews

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Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 66 reviews
My rating: 0 stars

Showing opinion 1 to 10 out of 66

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9 stars

Only 6 megapixels?

by rieramr on December 10, 2006

Pros: Great image quality, nice size, fast and friendly to use. Perfect entry level dslr.

Cons: Get better glass...kit lens is cheap.

Summary: I recently purchased my D40 as a backup and I must say the image quality is tremendous. You will be able to do beautiful A4, A3 enlargements. I recently got ...

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Summary: I recently purchased my D40 as a backup and I must say the image quality is tremendous. You will be able to do beautiful A4, A3 enlargements. I recently got back a poster sized print of the George Washington Bridge- Awesome! I don't understand why CNET's Lori Grunin has the D40's 6 megapixel as a Cons.

CNET, please stop propagating the more pixels yields better images message. ?Only 6 megapixels?? What we need are larger, better quality pixels, not a larger pixel count. If you are doing larger than poster sized prints then maybe look at the Nikon d200 with 10 megapixels. In fact more pixels frequently deteriorates the image quality because it creates more image noise. It also takes up more memory and drive space. If you want top notch images, save your money and buy the best lens you can afford. That should be CNET and reviewer Lori Grunin?s message?not that more is better. You should be applauding Nikon for not following the marketing trend of just adding more pixels to sell products to the average, uninformed consumer who gauges image quality purely on the number of pixels. Shame on CNET for not properly educating your readers.

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99 out of 99 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Factual error

by tank2000 on November 27, 2006

Pros: Small, lightweight, easy to understand menus

Cons: No autofocus with older, non-AF-S lenses

Summary: As usual, CNET makes factual errors in their DSLR reviews.

If I understand the review correctly, according to the reviewer, certain settings are only accessible by going through the menus

...

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Summary: As usual, CNET makes factual errors in their DSLR reviews.

If I understand the review correctly, according to the reviewer, certain settings are only accessible by going through the menus and using the four-way button set. This is certainly true enough, BUT in the next sentence, she gives an example:

"For instance, in aperture-priority mode, you can change the aperture only via the command dial; to change the shutter speed, you must go through the aforementioned process."

I take the "aforementioned process" to mean going through the menus.

Alright. There are several things wrong with the example:

1) The point of aperture-priority mode is to allow the user to change only the aperture and leave the camera to choose the shutter speed for you. No camera on the market (not even professional DSLRs) allows you to change shutter speeds in Aperture Priority mode. If you want to change shutter speeds, then you will need to go into Shutter priority mode, or Manual mode. There is an EXCEPTION, however:

2) If the user nevertheless wants to change shutter speeds in Aperture Priority mode (for example to second guess the camera's metering) then there is an Exposure Compensation button (labelled "+/-") just behind the shutter button which allows you to do so. Holding down this button and rotating the command dial in A.Priority mode will indeed vary the shutter speeds. There is no need to go into the menus to do so. In fact, when in Shutter Priority mode, the same Exposure Compensation button will allow the user to vary aperture settings.

3) In fact, the points above are the same for any camera, even a Canon 400D (Rebel XTi) or a Nikon D200.

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26 out of 29 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 stars

A wonderful camera...You will not be dissapointed!

by RiCEADDiCTBOY on December 2, 2006

Pros: A Top Notch Camera. SUPERB IMAGE QUALITY!

Cons: Top LCD Removed and Battery Life Questionable...mmm not much else really.

Summary: I just recently purchashed a Nikon D40. I am tremendously excited about my new camera. I was looking at the D50, D80, and several other Canon cameras. The Canon cameras ...

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Summary: I just recently purchashed a Nikon D40. I am tremendously excited about my new camera. I was looking at the D50, D80, and several other Canon cameras. The Canon cameras just felt horrid in my hands. I know these days people are split between Canons and Nikons but, I simply cannot substitute comfort.

I used to work as a graphic designer before joining the Air Force and I knew what I was looking for. The added reason for myself purcashing a new camera was due to a future addition to our family - my soon to be born baby boy. I wanted a camera where I could capture many of his early life moments with great image clarity. When I really compared (I researched over 30 websites...I found that the D80 really wasn't something I needed...at this moment. The D40 when compared to the D50...really does outshine in several departments. The compromises with the D40 really doesn't hurt me at all. The chief complaint most have from what I've seen is the inability to use non-AF-S/I lenses. I don't have ANY lenses. So I will not be losing any money there by going with the newer D40.

I took several test photos already...and the images are CRYSTAL clear...even when zoomed up completely. This camera was well worth my money.

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18 out of 18 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 stars

So easy to use right out of the box!

by BolinasGirl on January 4, 2007

Pros: Lightweight, great picture quality, easy for 1st time SLR user

Cons: Have to press face up against LCD screen to use viewfinder

Summary: This is my 1st digital SLR. I was totally torn between the Canon Digital Rebel XT and the Nikon D40, and went with this one because of the outstanding user ...

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Summary: This is my 1st digital SLR. I was totally torn between the Canon Digital Rebel XT and the Nikon D40, and went with this one because of the outstanding user reviews and because it felt much more comfortable to grip in my hand.

I've had this camera for 24 hours now and can say that you don't need to read the manual before you start taking pictures using their preset auto modes. I can't wait to get fully into what this thing can do once I master the manual controls. I took several shots using my point and shoot on auto settings, then shot the same subject (still life, same lighting) using this thing, and the pictures really are worlds apart. Best part about this (and other SLRs), and the #1 reason I switched from a high end point and shoot- NO SHUTTER LAG. Even using autofocus this thing just goes!

IMHO, you can't blow anything up to the size I want (huge) and expect to retain crispness unless you use an 8 x 10 large format film camera, so this 6 megapixel camera is perfect for anyone looking for a take everywhere camera that (supposedly) holds up to 8 x 10 enlargements.

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11 out of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.

Nikon D40 w/18mm-to-55mm lens

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