Product Description

Nikon D40 DSLR Camera Body

If you've ever wondered why your vacation pictures don't look as good as those magnificent landscapes and flattering portraits seen in countless glossy magazines, chances are you just haven't found the right camera.

Nikon introduces the new D40 digital SLR camera that's designed to offer you the ability to get higher quality, impressive looking pictures with the press of a button. In a world where digital SLR cameras have become extremely popular among professional photographers, have you have shied away in favor of a compact digital camera? For you, Nikon's D40 is an ultra-compact, lightweight, 6.1-effective megapixel digital SLR camera with simplified new features, exceptional handling speed, and a redesigned, visually-intuitive menu system that brings digital SLR cameras to a whole new level of simplicity.

Less Complication, More Celebration
Isn't it time you switched from simple snapshots to great pictures? If so, then get to know the fun, easy-to-use Nikon D40. Now you can capture spectacular pictures using the type of digital and optical technologies that professionals use, but without the complications and calculations that SLR photography once required. Let Nikon's cutting-edge technology do all the work for you. Just look through the viewfinder and press a button for wonderful pictures you'll be proud of. It's never been easier to capture the moments of your life so beautifully, and that is certainly worth celebrating.

Less Science Fiction, More Magic
It's never been easier to take amazing pictures. Great pictures have never been easier Great pictures used to require complicated and cumbersome equipment along with years of experience. Not any more. The D40 is compact, ligh

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9100 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Nikon
• Model: B000SDPMEI
• Dimensions: 2.50" h x 5.00" w x 3.70" l, 2.50 pounds
• Display size: 2.5

Features

• 6.1-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 14 x 19-inch prints
• Kit includes 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX and 55-200mm f4.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor lenses, plus 2 Nikon School DVD
• 2.5-inch LCD with three display options; built-in flash and hot shoe
• Fast startup with instant shutter response; shoot at up to 2.5 frames per second
• Powered by one rechargeable Li-ion battery EN-EL9 (included); stores images on SD memory cards (memory card not included)

Manufacturer Description

Great pictures used to require complicated and cumbersome equipment along with years of experience. Not any more. The D40 is compact, lightweight and designed specifically for ease of use, yet contains all the top-quality, high-performance technologies that you expect from a Nikon digital SLR. And with world-famous Nikkor lenses, you know you have the sharpest and most reliable optical performance available. All in a camera light enough to carry with you everywhere. Beautiful photography has never been easier.

Nikon D40 Highlights

Extraordinary Nikon image quality The D40's high-resolution image quality is made possible by Nikon's high-performance 6.1 megapixel Nikon DX format CCD imaging sensor and exclusive Nikon image processing engine which assures stunning sharpness and color.

Easy operation with intuitive controls Intuitive controls make the D40 point-and-shoot simple, enabling even first-time SLR users to capture beautiful memories perfectly.

Nikon's smallest digital SLR ever At just over 16 ounces, the beautifully styled and compact D40 makes high-performance digital SLR photography easier and more convenient than ever.

The D40 is capable of shooting 2.5 frames per second

Fast startup with instant shutter response: Fast startup combined with super-fast shutter response and rapid-action shooting at up to 2.5 frames per second makes it easy to freeze special moments instantly.

Includes 3x 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S and 5-200mm f/4.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor lenses Designed exclusively for use with Nikon DX-format digital SLRs, these lenses offer Nikkor sharpness and versatility in a wide variety of shooting situations.

Shoot at up to 2.5 frames per second The D40 can fire continuously at a speed of up to 2.5 frames per second, capturing high-quality action sequences of children in sporting activities such as soccer, baseball and much more.

2.5-inch color LCD monitor with 3 colorful display options Playback images are easy to see, and function menus are easier to use with a larger and brighter color LCD monitor. The large 2.5-inch LCD monitor enables image preview at up to 19 times magnification and has large type fonts and easy-to-view menus as well as three all-new display options: Classic, Graphic and Wallpaper.

High-performance 6.1-megapixel Nikon DX format CCD imaging sensor Nikon's DX format CCD image sensor delivers vivid color and sharp detail, great for making beautifully detailed enlargements of 16 x 20 inches and beyond. High resolution also provides room for creative cropping.

In-camera editing functions include red-eye removal

In-camera image editing Highly versatile in-camera editing features include Nikon D-Lighting, Red-Eye Correction, Image Trimming, Image Overlay, Monochrome (Black and White, Sepia and Cyanotype) along with Skylight, Warm Tone and Color Balance filter effects. These features provide greater creative freedom without the need for a computer, for those who prefer to send pictures directly to a printer.

New advanced HELP menu system with Assist Images The D40's newly introduced "assist images" help you select the appropriate settings for many camera features by showing an example image typical of that setting as well as an advanced HELP Menu for the current item selected. The D40's Question Mark icon (?) indicates that help is available for the currently selected item; just press the help button beside the LCD monitor to see a context sensitive help page.

Fast, accurate 3-area Autofocus The D40's advanced 3-area AF system and the refined algorithms inherited from more advanced Nikon digital SLR cameras deliver fast, efficient and precise autofocus. AF refinements deliver greater precision with fast, more consistent subject acquisition and improved focus tracking for consistently sharper pictures.

Enjoy easy in-camera optimization

Image Optimization Options The D40's Image Optimize setting lets photographers adjust color, contrast and sharpening as well as other image settings according to the type of scene or output desired. Settings include: Normal, Softer, Vivid, More Vivid, Portrait, Custom and Black and White, each of which are automatically adjusted based on sophisticated Nikon algorithms or user-selected settings for optimum results.

Built-in Speedlight with i-TTL automatic flash control Nikon's innovative i-TTL flash control evaluates flash exposure with incredible precision to achieve better automatic flash balance and deliver outstanding results. The built-in Speedlight is always at the ready and brings beautiful exposures in darkened conditions as well as adding sparkle for fill flash in outdoor situations for enhanced twilight shots or an added impact to daylight images.

Bright, accurate SLR viewfinder A large viewfinder makes composition easier, and overall viewfinder brightness makes focusing in low-light photography possible. Its bright and sharp viewfinder, with 0.8x magnification, ensures precise composition.

Automatic exposure with 8 Digital-Vari Program Modes Eight Digital Vari-Program Modes include: Auto Flash-OFF, Portrait, Landscape, Child, Sports, Close Up or Night Portrait, each of which adjusts automatically for optimal results under varied conditions.

Nikon 3D Color Matrix Metering II The D40's 3D Color Matrix Metering II evaluates each scene for brightness, color, contrast, size and position of shadows and highlights, selected focus area and camera-to-subject distance, comparing that information against an onboard database of more than 30,000 actual photographic scenes.

Customer Reviews

Excellent digital SLR
Have lived with this camera for a while now and have nothing but superlatives to say about it. I currently have both the 18-55 "standard" lens and the 55-200 "VR" lens.

I have a background in professional industrial photography and quite frankly if you can't do it with this camera you probably can't do it with anything. Even with it's myriad of features and settings my wife can take good pictures with it. The built in flash works very well but for more power and range pick up a Nikon SB-400 flash at a bit over $100. Picture quality is all that one could ask for. Save your money and get the D40 rather than the higher priced models.

KenRockwell.com has an excellent after market downloadable manual for the D40 in pdf format that gives a lot of easy to use help on choosing the optimal settings. You should download a copy from his site before your camera arrives. Much more readable than the factory manual.

With the price of SD cards coming down I suggest you get the high speed version of the cards (I use the SanDisk Ultra III cards) and save the older slow cards for your digital picture frames. A 2 GB card will hold around 500 images at highest quality. Order one

My only complaint is that the dedicated macro lenses are quite pricey compared to the standard lenses, but I have been getting excellent results using supplementary close-up lenses on the normal lenses--just not as convenient as a dedicated macro lens for some work.

As for accessories it depends what you really need to accomplish what you want, but I'd suggest the following to start

Extra SD card
52 mm UV filers for all lenses (mainly to protect the lens)
HB45 lens shade (if your 18-55 mm lens doesn't have one)
Tripod and/or monopod
Small camera bag
Lens cleaning kit
Spare battery
SB-400 flash (Get the SC-28 TTL flash cord to if you like to use your flash off camera for lighting control.)

Amazing pictures for the money
I wanted to make the move into digital format for my SLR, and I have to say this was probably one of the best investments I've made for a camera. I've been shooting since I was 12 years old with SLR's, my first camera was a Nikon FG,all manual tank of a camera. I never thought that a digital SLR could compete with my film camera, but I'll tell you what, it certainly does.

The biggest thing i've noticeed is the color that it captures, the saturation is unbelievable, skin tones look amazing, and landscape photos bring out the most brilliant colors, yellows, reds and greens alike. The focusing on the camera is quick, and precise. I do recommend purchasing the SB-400 flash as well though. The built in flash is nice, but it suffers from the same downfalls as built in's on point and shoots, it just washes things out.

This camera is great for beginners, as well as more advanced users. The menu's are easy to read, and simply laid out, you can find practically any setting you may want in no time at all. But if you want to take pictures fast, throw it in program, bounce the SB-400 off the ceiling and take away, the pictures all come out great! If your a more advanced user the options available to actually edit your photo's after the pictures been taken, as well as the freedom of having a full manual setup is a dream, and easy to use as well.

The 2 lenses in the kit should fulfill any need for the average photographer, and to be honest, I haven't even had an oppurtunity to try the 55-200 lens yet, the 18-55 has been incredibly versatile, and the close focusing ability of the lens allows for some amazing close ups for flowers and such.

I still can't believe the quality of the pictures that this camera is capable of producing. I went to a butterfly exhibit in my town, and took a picture of an amazingly bright blue butterfly. Unfortunately I was only able to get about 3 feet from it, couldn't get closer due to barriers, but even so, with the 18-55 zoomed in on it, I further zoomed in and cropped the photo at home, and blew it up to an 8x10, and it was perfect. The color of the butterfly was just as bright, and just as crisp, and there was no distortion from the additional zooming in and cropping of the original.

The display on the back of the camera is just as fantastic as the rest of the camera, it's bright (actually had to dim it down in the settings menu) crisp and clear.

If your looking for the perfect digital SLR to get into, this is the one, it's simple, VERY light weight, and the pictures are absolutely amazing.

Awesome First DSLR
If you are ready to drop the point-and-shoot world, but don't want to spend a lot of money then get the Nikon D40. Definitely need to get at least a 4GB SD card and 2 lenses. I recommend the 18-55mm and the 55-200mm as a good start.