Here is a summary of the PopPhoto review of the Nikon’s DSLR for Everyman and Everywoman, the D40. The replacement for the D50, it keeps the 6.1-megapixel sensor but boasts upgrades to the viewfinder, LCD, metering, processor speed, burst rate, noise suppression, in-camera editing, and user help, in a smaller and lighter package. Now for the really hot feature: The new camera, at $599 (street) with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II AF-S Zoom-Nikkor DX lens, is $100 less than the current D50 with a kit lens.

At very first glance, the D40 looks pretty much like a trimmed-down D50, but a closer look reveals a simplified layout intended to be less intimidating for anyone who’s not a photo geek. For starters, there’s no top LCD panel. Instead, control readouts appear in big readable type on the rear LCD monitor, a 230,000-pixel 2.5-incher rather than the D50’s 2-inch version. This setup is fine by us, given that the top panel readouts on the D50 aren’t very readable.

The smaller, more compact Li-ion battery designed for the D40 is responsible for much of the weight savings (2.3 ounces), but nonetheless increases CIPA life to 470 shots, up from the D50’s 400 shots (both ratings with 50 percent flash shots).

While we were expecting maybe a few more megapixels in the new camera, it didn’t fit in with Nikon’s strategy here. And that is to attract lots of first-time DSLR buyers with a camera that won’t scare them off, at a price that won’t break the piggy bank. We’d say it has a pretty good shot at doing that.

Website :  Hands On Review of the $599 Nikon D40