Nikon Introduces Its Cheapest D-SLR Yet!

[Dashken]

As if this year's D-SLR war wasn't already intense enough, Nikon has again upped the ante with its latest low-end D-SLR, the D40. At 6.1 megapixels, it's destined to replace the D50 as Nikon's entry-level D-SLR for those looking to step up from a point-and-shoot digital camera, though the D50 will remain in the product line for now. But the real big news here is price: It's going to list for $599.95 with a new Nikon 18-to-55-mm Nikkor zoom lens. Nikon says it hopes to have the units in stores by this December, making this a hot holiday product.

The price also makes the D40 a much cheaper D-SLR than the recently introduced 10MP Canon Rebel XTi, our current Editors' Choice for an entry-level D-SLR, which lists for $899 with the kit lens. Another interesting aspect of this new Nikon offering is that the D40 will not ship as a body-only D-SLR. This is a significant change in that traditionally D-SLRs were only sold as body-only devices, leaving it up to the consumer to get the lenses. In recent years, many D-SLRs have been marketed as both "body-only" and "with kit lens."

Nikon's goal was to improve on the D50, an excellent consumer D-SLR and the Rebel XTi's predecessor as entry-level D-SLR Editors' Choice. To do so, they upped the LCD size to 2.5 inches and made the camera even more compact. They've also included a feature I recently found on Canon's Rebel XTi: a new graphical display, where users can view all exposure info on the rear LCD panel instead of up on top of the camera near the shutter button. This is the first Nikon to do this, and I think you'll be seeing more Nikon D-SLRs with this type of format.

This new Nikon does share some qualities with its bigger brother, the D80, such as storing images on SD memory cards of up to 4GB capacity. (It will be SDHC compliant as well.) Many D-SLRs still use CompactFlash memory cards, but SD cards are becoming more common. But unlike the D80, the D40 will not have the ability to use the wireless creative lighting system that allows the pop-up flash to communicate with an external speedlight flash. The D40 will still include a pop-up flash, though.

To make the camera this inexpensive, there are some specs that may make this D-SLR less competitive with other D-SLRs introduced this year. For starters, it's 6 megapixels (which seems so 2003!). With so many 10MP cameras coming to market this year, I wonder if some will feel short-changed. Still, the company insists that a 6MP sensor is all most entry-level consumers will need, and we agree with them. Six megapixels is plenty, even for 8-by-10 shots.

Also, like the Olympus Evolt E330, the D40 only has three autofocus points. In contrast, the Canon Rebel XTi has 9 and the Nikon D80 has 11. So, for those doing lots of action shots, the D40 may not be the best choice.

But the camera has a great shutter speed range—30 to 1/4000 s, plus bulb—and has an ISO range of ISO 200 to 3,200. I'm also happy to see that Nikon has continued improving its ease-of-use qualities in the camera, such as an Assist Images feature that helps photographers choose the right exposure settings for their shots. Nikon has also included some in-camera editing features and some effects, such as D-lighting, red-eye correction, shooting in black-and-white or monochrome, and cropping. All these can be done in an image-editing software program, but Nikon claims that some photographers prefer to do this in-camera, thus saving time. Another reason is that some D40 photographers may be less likely to edit images in an image editor since it's an entry-level photographer that Nikon is targeting here.

In addition to the D40, Nikon has also introduced a new, inexpensive flash unit, the SB400, which will list at $149.95. Stay tuned for my hands-on First Looks review in the coming weeks.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ZDM/story?id=2658169
Preview: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0611/06...sonpreview.asp

[Chai]

Interesting camera with interesting 'lack-of' features...

[Dashken]

But it's under 3k if direct convert, still not good?

[Chai]

I didn't say it's a bad camera. Just find it interesting how they dumbed it down to make it a cheaper camera.

[Dashken]

Ohh... maybe to get noob and poor people like me?

[Chai]

No...I mean they use new focus sensor, took out the AF motor. This is something new for Nikon. Nikon has never dumbed down cheaper camera by taking out those features.

It's interesting because D40 buyers will most likely not buy too many lenses, so taking out the AF motor is not such a bad thing for them.