Nikon D40 review by Imaging Resource
Imaging Resource has reviewed the Nikon D40 and concludes with:
“Nikon really shocked the market with the D40. We’ve been pleasantly surprised with its excellent performance in low light and its simple grace as a day-to-day shooter. Then we remind ourselves that all this quality comes at less than $600, and we shake ourselves awake. The Nikon D40 is one great camera!
The Nikon D40 is a natural fit in most hands. Its controls are where they should be for easy use, and the D40 is a well-behaved guest at parties with its pleasantly soft shutter sound. A big, bright LCD is great for reviewing photos from a wide variety of angles; though we do wish they’d put some kind of eye detection method to prevent glare while you’re looking through the viewfinder.
Existing Nikon owners should be careful to note that the Nikon D40 can only auto focus with AF-S lenses. Those who want to attach a short, fast prime (non-zoom) lens for indoor low-light shooting should also note that Nikon doesn’t currently make any such lenses in AF-S. The good news, however, is that the Nikon D40’s low light performance at ISO 1,600 is startling, even without noise reduction turned on. It’s so good that we don’t really feel like we’re pushing the D40 until we jump into ISO 3,200.
Though the Nikon D40’s kit lens is pretty good, and also fast and quiet, we were a little disappointed with the significant flare we see in its images with high contrast elements out toward the corners, even in the middle of its zoom range. Its chromatic aberration was also fairly high at wide angle, but none of these minor problems were significantly different from other comparably priced offerings. The lens performed very well in most circumstances, so it’s well worth the price.”
The Nikon D40 stands up well against the competition — even those with higher resolution — with great image quality at all speeds, and near-perfect utility as a family camera. It’s tough to ask for more. The Nikon D40 lives up to our expectations, and even exceeds them. There’s no question that the Nikon D40 is a Dave’s Pick.
Read the full review here
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