8. Nikon D40x Digital SLR Camera

by Barry Gerber

Like its rival Canon, Nikon has been in the single lens reflex business for some time. Both companies started with 35mm rangefinder cameras after World War II and were early entrants into the professional film-based SLR business. Both also began producing SLRs for non-pros in the 1970s, and both have been competing in the digital SLR business since the 1990s. Nikon’s first all-out DSLR for the amateur consumer market was the D40, which has since been replaced by the more full-featured D40x.

Nikon was late to the table with a purely amateur (under $1,000 list) DSLR; it scrambled to produce a competitor to Canon’s Digital Rebel. The D40 had a six megapixel sensor, not enough to compete with Canon’s second generation Digital Rebel XT at eight megapixels, nor the third generation XTi at 10 megapixels. So enter the D40x, a 10+ megapixel DSLR with a lot of features, for relatively little money.

The D40x has a 23.6 x 15.8 mm (DX format) CCD sensor, which results in a magnification factor of 1.5x compared to a sensor about the size of a 35mm film frame (which, by definition, has a magnification factor of 1x). The camera’s official megapixel count is 10.2, and it uses a 2.5" color Polysilicon TFT non-Live View LCD.

The camera’s ISO sensitivity runs from 100 to 1600, and shutter speeds range from 30 seconds to 1/4000 second. It uses SD or SDHC memory cards to store images, has automatic and manual white balance, and features several shooting modes, including aperture and shutter priority, as well as full manual. For those who aren’t ready for manually messing with exposure, the D40x has numerous program modes to handle a wide range of scenes.

The camera can produce RAW or JPEG files, JPEG being the file format of choice for amateurs. Image stabilization is not built into the camera; instead, it is support in Nikon lenses equipped with vibration reduction (VR) capability.

Take care if you’re considering buying the D40x for use with older Nikon lenses. The camera lacks a built-in focusing motor, so, its autofocus functionality only works with Nikon or third-party lenses that have their own built-in focusing motors-those in the AF-S or AF-I families. Older lenses (D or G models) that rely on a focusing motor in the camera itself can be used, but they have to be focused manually. If you’re going to buy the camera in a kit (camera body and lens) officially sanctioned by Nikon, fear not. The lens will work just fine with the D40x.

The camera does what it does very well, producing well-exposed, sharp images with great color. It provides a wide range of options for both the beginning and advanced amateur. And, at current prices, you can’t go wrong with a D40x.