Focusing on the lowest price alone, however, is not a recommended approach to buying the D40. Other factors that need to be considered are discussed below.

The price seems too good to be true.
If it is, trust your instincts and don’t purchase from that merchant. Some are known to quote the price for the camera body only (read a real case of how these merchants quote ridiculously low prices of less than $400 for the D80), baiting you to place the order, only to contact you later and squeeze you into paying more for the power cable, user manual, battery charger, etc …. components that were already originally included in the package by Nikon. Don’t be duped by this tactic - the story was the case involving the D80, but it’s a story that’s repeated with all other digital SLR cameras too. Remember to check against the price range mentioned earlier. If you’re at all uneasy with the order confirmation process, don’t hesitate to cancel your order with the merchant.

Examples of unscrupulous online merchants are Royal Camera, CCI Camera City, Express Cameras - avoid them at all costs! Want more examples of scams? Visit this site which has a huge list of scam operators in Brooklyn, and see a picture of the CCI Camera City storefront. The bad news is that new ones are sprouting up all the time. The good news is that you can instantly spot them - know the price offered by reputable merchants, and use that as a benchmark when comparing prices.

Find out and compare what you’re getting with the deal
Is the merchant bundling in additional accessories such as a camera bag, SD memory card (what capacity? what speed? what brand?) or mini-tripod? If you already have those, it makes sense to only go for the basic system without these additional goodies thrown in, saving a bit of money in the process.

A relatively quick and efficient method for comparing Nikon D40 prices conveniently is to use a service such as that provided by Shoplinc.com, which lists prices from multiple online stores. Since the database is updated frequently, you can always check back and see if a better deal awaits you later, or better yet, call the merchant or subscribe to their newsletter - the bigger ones will send you alerts when special deals or seasonal bonuses are available. This technique is suitable for those who are not in a hurry to get the camera. As with all large-ticket purchases, it’s best not to rush the transaction. Also, be careful to weed out stores that do not seem to offer legitimate prices - I always use Amazon.com as the benchmark.

Other costs and service components
Check the type and amount of warranty provided by the merchant, their return policy and whether they’ll charge you a restocking fee. Ask also for the availability of deals such as rebates, free shipping and no sales tax.

Merchants and Camera Stores

Five words … Only Shop With Reputable Stores.
Many are well-known establishments that you’re probably already familiar with … Adorama, Amazon, BestBuy.com, BuyDig.com, CircuitCity.com, Costco, RitzCamera.com, Crutchfield, B&H Photo and Newegg.com, to name a few.

When deciding which one to do business with, it’s well-advised for you to check buyer feedback on these merchants, which you can read up at ResellerRatings.com.

My favorite method is to check with active camera forums such as DPReview.com, where you’ll be able to ask questions freely and get a ton of feedback or do a search. Very often you’ll discover additional feedback on the quality of customer service, how knowledgeable the sales staff are, their friendliness and willingness to help, that sort of thing … it all goes towards making the entire transaction process more enjoyable. I for one strongly dislike dealing with arrogant and aloof staff.

Hope this helps, and all the best with your Nikon D40 purchase!

P.S.
I initially thought of having ads embedded within this article, but decided against it in order to try out another option, which is to facilitate your purchase of the D40 system at Amazon.com via a referral from my site. I have purchased stuff myself from Amazon.com, and am thoroughly comfortable with their level of service, and other interesting purchase options and offers available there. Not to mention I enjoy their clean and efficient website interface. In other words, I trust them to do good business free of frustration at my end.

If you found my article helpful in assisting with your purchase decision, and avoiding the all-too-attractive digital camera scams and bait-and-switch programs, do consider buying the Nikon D40 system of your choice by clicking my Nikon D40 Amazon.com affiliate link. The link takes you to an Amazon Listmania I created to display the various D40 configurations that are available, for instance, you might just want to purchase the D40 with the Nikkor 18-55mm II only, or perhaps you want to get a combination of the D40 plus Nikkor 18-55mm lens plus Nikon SB-400 flash. I threw in the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens in there because it’s proving to be a popular alternative (albeit much more expensive) to the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF which doesn’t autofocus on the D40. Making your purchase within 24 hours of clicking the link helps to ensure that the commissions are duly credited to me.

P.P.S.
After you have received your shiny new D40 … actually, you can do it right now … do browse this site to enjoy viewing the amazing photographs D40 owners are shooting (sample links). I’ve linked to these and other tips and tricks (sample links). I have another site that tracks D40 information too, in a simpler format, that you might be interested in visiting - here’s the link.

Thank you for the visit!

First, download the Nikon D40 User Guide and familiarize yourself with the features and functionality the D40 has to offer.

To appreciate the excellent image quality you can get with this camera, you might want to evaluate test images and review samples taken with the D40. Equally interesting would be to sample a selection of photos taken by owners and users of the Nikon D40.

First impressions and user reviews on the Nikon D40 should also make for an interesting read.

You have probably heard that only certain types of lenses can be autofocused (AF) with the Nikon D40. See the list of: Sigma HSM lenses.

Owners might want to increase their knowledge of the D40 by reading this list of Nikon D40 tips and tricks.

Demond used the Vivid setting and shot these in JPEG mode which tend to blow out the reds.

The location where the photos were taken is Richmond CA, on a street where you’ll see many Latin or Mexican-American vendors with brightly-painted stores.

Look out for more D40 photos from Demond over at his Flickr gallery.

Well, the Nikon D40/x Group at Flickr holds monthly discussions where group members share their Nikon D40 / D40X photos that made it to Flickr Scout.

Here’s the link to the August 2007 discussion - if you ever want to be inspired by superb photography made with these Nikon digital SLR cameras, here’s the place for it.

And my favorite photo from that lot, snapped with the Nikon D40, is Winging It by Scott.Brooks.

I’ve observed questions along the lines of “What lenses are compatible with the D40?” In my opinion, the use of the term “compatible” in this context is not wholly correct, as most lenses designed for the Nikon mount are, in fact, “compatible” with the D40, as in you can actually mount and fit the lens on the camera and use it. But any lens that does not come with the designation mentioned in the first paragraph cannot autofocus on the D40, you would have to focus that lens manually. An example of such a lens is the USD110 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF (read a short Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF review) - a beauty of a lens that, unfortunately, will not autofocus on the D40. That doesn’t mean you can’t use it though, as Alison has demonstrated with some of the best portraits I’ve ever seen, all shot with the D40 and a manually-focused Nikon 50mm f/1.8D lens (view the photos in this forum thread)

Here’s another example of a photo you can get from manually focusing the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens (click on the link below the image to view a larger size of the photo and read about the setup):

His Beautiful Life, by IvanoMak

Following on from the list of Sigma lenses that can AF on the D40, it’s now time to do one for Nikon lenses.

For the complete list of available Nikkor lenses, MTF charts and specifications, you can either navigate to NikonImaging.com (my preferred destination) or NikonUSA.com. There’s also a Nikkor lens glossary to help you understand all the Nikon lens-specific terms you read about.

In the list below, clicking the price figure next to the lens brings you to a site which allows you to scan for deals and prices across multiple stores for that lens, and is targeted to the country you’re visiting this site from. Please don’t forget to perform the usual research on the reliability and trustworthiness of the listed merchants before making the purchase.

Nikkor AF-S DX Lenses

These are lenses which are designed specifically for Nikon digital SLR cameras with the 1.5x crop factor. You’ll get vignetting if you try using them of Nikon film SLR bodies.

1. Nikkor 12-24mm f/4G IF-ED AF-S DX (an ultra wideangle lens that’s a firm favorite with landscape photographers and those who like shooting wide) - $910
2. Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S: This lens currently takes the crown as the best ultra-wide angle there is, beating even 14mm prime lenses in terms of sharpness, contrast and resolution. Nikon is justifiably proud of this lens, and here is a sample photo taken at 24mm f/8. $1,550
3. Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S DX (one of the most desirable among Nikon’s professional lenses, aided by a very handy, constant f/2.8 aperture which makes it suitable for events and photojournalism; it’s been reported though, that the Nikkor 18-55mm is equally sharp, if not sharper, for landscapes when stopped down at the wide end) - $1200
4. Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX (this is Version 1 of the kit lens that was bundled with the Nikon D50 camera)
5. Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX (this is Version 2 of the kit lens that comes bundled with your Nikon D40 camera)
6. Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED AF-S DX (this was the kit lens that came bundled with the Nikon D70 / D70s camera - some owners decide to sell of their D40 kit lens in favor of owning this piece of glass which is of much better construction (only slightly better than the 18-135mm below) and has a slightly wider zoom range at the long end) - $350
7. Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX (some owners sell of the kit lens on eBay or elsewhere, and then purchase this lens for its greater zoom range and better construction) - $330
   Here’s a little story on the 18-135mm lens - a D40 owner sold off the bundled 18-55m kit lens for $150 on eBay, and got himself an 18-135mm, which he found to have better autofocusing performance than the kit lens.
8. Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX VR (currently the most highly sought-after zoom lens, this one has it all; it even comes with the latest VR II technology - you give up a bit of optical quality (compared to the 18-70mm and 18-135mm lenses) in exchange for VR plus a huge zoom range that’s unrivaled by any other lens brand on the market) - $680. Read Nikon 18-200mm VR reviews, samples and references.
9. Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED AF-S DX (this is Version 1 of the lens, and boasts superb sharpness and very decent bokeh; at 200mm, images captured with it are much sharper than what you’d get from the 18-200mm VR lens) - $170. The only disadvantage of this lens compared to the newer Nikon 55-200mm VR is the lack of a vibration reduction mechanism. If you don’t need that feature, you save $50 USD.
10. Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR (simultaneously introduced with the D40x, this is Version 2 of the lens, and has definite improvements in the form of internal focusing and most importantly, VR - no other lens of any brand on the market offers image stabilization at this price point; it continues with the tradition of superb sharpness and very nice bokeh) - $220. Read Nikon 55-200mm VR reviews, samples and references.

Nikkor AF-S Zoom Lenses

From this point forward, the listed lenses will work nicely on film bodies as well as the digital ones.

1. Nikkor 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR (not known for its sharpness, but has a pretty decent zoom range, and has VR) - $515
2. Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED AF-S (used by those wanting professional results, and has the advantage of a constant f/2.8 aperture; it’s a huge lens, though, and has been nicknamed ‘The Beast’) - $1435
3. Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S VR (highly popular professional-grade telephoto zoom lens with constant f/2.8 aperture for those who demand it) - $1590
4. Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR (Nikon’s new consumer zoom lens boasting excellent picture quality and endowed with the new VR II image stabilization technology) - $480. Read Nikon 70-300mm VR reviews and samples.
5. Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED AF-S VR (great lens for wildlife photography - I don’t foresee many Nikon D40 owners purchasing this extremely expensive lens, but no one can stop you if you want one) - $5100. Read Nikon 200-400mm reviews and samples.

AF-S Micro / Macro Nikkor Lens

There’s only one worth mentioning here, since it’s the only one that will AF on the D40, and that’s the new Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S VR, the only micro lens on the market that has image stabilization, which makes it suitable for other applications such as portraiture or studio photography - $800. See pictures of the Nikon 105mm VR lens mounted on the D40 here and here.

Nikkor Fixed Telephoto AF-S Lenses

Lenses listed here are guaranteed to rip your wallet apart. Buy these if you’re into birding or wildlife photography. They are also commonly used in conjunction with teleconverters, close-up filters or extension tubes to give dramatic results with closeup photography or to extend their reach and can also be used alone for stunning portraiture with the background nicely blurred and thrown totally out of focus.

1. Nikkor 200mm f/2G IF-ED AF-S VR (it’s been dubbed the (hyper-expensive) King of Bokeh, and is loved by its owners) - $4000
   Has there been anyone “crazy” enough to mount this massive lens on the D40 and grab great pictures with it? Why … YES!
2. Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S VR (some of the best bird photos have been shot with this lens) - $4500
3. Nikkor 300mm f/4D IF-ED AF-S (nice optic for those who couldn’t spring for the f/2.8 version, no vibration reduction available) - $1125
4. Nikkor 400mm f/2.8D IF-ED II AF-S (great for birding and wildlife photography, but without the benefit of image stabilization) - $7300
5. Nikkor 500mm f/4D IF-ED II (even longer reach for birding and wildlife photos, no VR and, owing to its smaller f/4 aperture, cannot AF with some teleconverters compared with the 400mm f/2.8 lens - be sure to check the specifications) - $7200
6. Nikkor 600mm f/4D IF-ED II (longest reach of all Nikon lenses, has no VR and, like the 500mm lens, cannot AF with some teleconverters) - $9080

AF Teleconverters

All the three AF-S TC lenses below allow AF as long as they’re used in tandem with AF-S lenses that are specified as capable of autofocusing with them. Take extra care to read the lens compatibility notes in the spec section of each TC - for instance, none of them are compatible with Nikkor DX lenses.

1. AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II - $410
2. AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II - $420
3. AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E II - $430

Sales data

January-2007: Sales of Nikon D40 in Japan eclipses that of the Canon 400D / XTi / Digital Rebel Kiss X. Nikon now occupies 49.9% of the digital SLR market in Japan, relegating Canon down to #2 with their 33.1% share. Link: DPReview.com forum post. Another forum poster, PerL, reports that Nikon is #1 in Sweden too.

Camera technology

Performing an ASCII dump of the camera firmware will reveal that the D40 has two processors: one for camera body control and the other for graphic processing. The camera body CPU is sourced from Fujitsu (CPU B) and the graphic chip from NEC (source: forum post).

Nikon’s Marketing Prowess (or lack thereof)

When the Nikon D50 was launched, it was touted as Nikon’s entry level camera, and a pretty feature-packed one at that. Yet, D50 sales pale in comparison with the D40, a camera with no in-body focus motor (but with numerous other slick features the D50 doesn’t have). It was predicted that the D40 would go down in history as one of Nikon’s utter failures. And yet, the sales of the D40 surged strongly. Why? Thom Hogan gives some insight into Nikon’s “accidental” success: link to the forum post.

Heard on the forums

DPReview reviewer recommends the D40

Simon Joinson recommends the D40 to a friend, but reminds us about the “different strokes for different folks” principle.

Collected here are links to related reviews, user impressions and sample images from the Nikon D40 plus Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM combination.

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 impressions and images by Deanx0r

Dean shares four sample images (resized without any other postprocessing) shot with the Nikon D40 + Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and comments that the Sigma is a delight to use in lowlight situations, autofocusing nicely on the D40 and produces sharp photos. Read his remarks and view a larger version of the pics here.

Review and Impressions by AndreasE

AndreasE has some interesting comments to make about the Sigma here and shares some pictures of the Sigma mounted on the D40 here.

Sigma 30mm vs Nikkor 35mm f/2

Vince mentions that the Sigma 30mm cannot be beat for value, and produces extremely sharp photos when stopped down to f/2 to match the Nikkor 35mm f/2D AF lens. F/1.4 is truly handy in lowlight situations where flash is not allowed.

Sylvia Liu

Most of her pictures are presented at very small sizes, but I like the subjects she photographs, and the color in her D40 pics are really nice. Visit her Flickr gallery now.

Update, Feb 10, 2007: See what Nikon lenses D40 owners are shooting with (Nikkor 70-200mm, Nikkor 70-300mm VR, and other good stuff here)

Gathered here is a list of Sigma lenses that the Nikon D40 camera can autofocus (AF) with - basically, any Sigma lens with the HSM (which means Hyper Sonic Motor) designation. Sigma lenses with HSM are able to focus quickly and quietly, since they have their own built-in focusing motors, and all the D40 has to do is transmit the necessary AF signals to the lens. AF-S lenses are Nikon’s equivalent to the Sigma HSM ones.

The one Sigma lens that does not have the HSM designation but will focus on the D40 is the 80-400mm with Optical Stabilization.

You might also like to read up the list of Nikon lenses that will AF on the D40.

Keep in mind that Sigma also manufactures lenses for other camera brands such as Canon, Pentax and even Sigma’s own digital SLR cameras, so be careful to purchase the version that is made “for Nikon”.

In the list below, click the approximate USA price indicated next to the lens to obtain the latest prices and deals (targeted to the country you’re surfing from) for that particular Sigma lens (please be careful to perform the usual due diligence on whether the store is good to do business with, and not a scam operation, before effecting the final steps in the purchase process). For a brief explanation of the acronyms used for Sigma lenses, refer to this list maintained by Sigma Imaging (UK) Ltd. Specifications and test charts for the entire collection of HSM or non-HSM lenses manufactured by Sigma can be obtained here.

Sigma DC Lenses

DC lenses from Sigma can only be used with digital SLR cameras having a sensor with a “crop factor” (such as the Nikon D40) - in other words, they are not intended for use with film SLR cameras or digital SLR cameras with full-frame sensors.

1. Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM - (some stunning samples photos can be seen here), $499
2. Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO - $384.95, specs
3. Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 EX DC Macro HSM - $460, specs
4. Sigma 18-50mm f3.5-5.6 DC HSM - specs, $369.
5. Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM (this should prove to be a popular short prime AF lens for the Nikon D40) - $429. Get more information and links related to the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM lens. I’d also like to point you to this AndreasE’s gallery of travel photos shot in Dubai exclusively with the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens - I think you’ll get a pretty good idea of the photographic possibilities with this lens. Read more about Andreas’s opinion of the D40 plus Sigma 30mm f/1.4 combination (which is especially good for available light photography) in this forum post.
6. Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC APO HSM - $999
7. Sigma 55-200mm F4-5.6 DC HSM - $169, specs

Sigma Wide Zoom Lenses

1. Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DG ASP (Aspherical) HSM - $690
2. Sigma 17-35mm f/2.8-4 EX ASP HSM - $449

Sigma Wide Prime (Fixed) Lenses

1. Sigma 14mm f/2.8 EX ASP HSM - $899

Sigma Telephoto Zoom Lenses

1. Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 EX DG APO RF HSM - $999
2. Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM - $890. Despite lacking Vibration Reduction technology, the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 is an excellent alternative to the much more expensive Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR lens.
3. Sigma 80-400mm F4.5-5.6 APO EX OS - $995
4. Sigma 100-300mm f/4 EX DG APO IF HSM - $1099
5. Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 EX DG APO IF HSM - $2699
6. Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6 EX APO IF HSM - $6999

Sigma Macro Lenses

For nature macro photographers, the following lenses from Sigma present a better, not to mention cheaper, proposition to the Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro lens. The longer focal length of the Sigmas allow a greater working distance to the subject, and gives a nicer isolation.

1. Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM - $599
2. Sigma 180mm f/3.5 EX DG APO Macro IF HSM - $799

Sigma Telephoto Lenses

1. Sigma 300mm f/2.8 EX DG APO IF HSM - $2499
2. Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX DG APO IF HSM - $4199
3. Sigma 800mm f/5.6 EX DG APO HSM - $5199

It’s more than a little unfortunate that really nice and popular Sigma lenses such as the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro and Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC Macro lenses can’t be autofocused on the Nikon D40. … read my Jul 26, 2007 update.

Big thanks goes out to Tdkd13 who first created the list here.

Nikon D40 vs Nikon D2X images samples

This collection of full-sized image samples from the D40 vs D2X as submitted by Somac showcases photos shot with the two cameras at all ISO values. You can read the related forum thread for more discussion on these pics.

Body size comparison

See how small the D40 plus Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR is next to the D2X, and also read the favorable impressions the Nikon D2X owner has of the D40 in terms of its snappy operations and AF performance.