Nikon D40 Reviews, User Opinions and Tests

This page is a compilation of annotated links to Nikon D40 reviews, user opinions and experiences, tests, conclusions, ratings and feedback.

Thom Hogan's Nikon D40 / D40x Review
If there is only one review you need to read, this is the one. Thom's (and also Ken Rockwell's ) reviews differentiate themselves from the rest in the sense that the material is written from a practical viewpoint, they actually use the cameras extensively and then share with you in great detail what the experience is like. Two Thumbs Up!

Ken Rockwell's Nikon D40 Review
Ken is disliked by many (just watch the forums explode every time his name is mentioned), but I don't mind going on record to say that I actually enjoy his writing style and gain lots of value from his insights (he writes about cameras, Apple products, etc).

He's even thrown in a free Nikon D40 User's Guide, which he wrote himself. You'll find in there lots of nice useful tips on how to setup the camera.

Nikon D40 Review at DPReview.com
Many moons ago, I relied exclusively on camera reviews from DPReview (I remember hanging on to every word from the Coolpix 4500 review just before I bought mine), but I don't anymore.

The review there tends to be a bit technical and dry, and it doesn't give you a good sense of how it would be like using the camera day in and out.

You might like reading their review if you're into test charts and specs sheet.

I personally use DPReview's camera conclusion page (see the one on the D40 here) and look at the list of pros and cons to see if the camera has an exceptional strength or critical flaw, which I then do further research on by reading forum posts or in-the-field reports found on other sites.

User comments on the Nikon D40

Nikon D40 review by AndreasE

Nikon D40 and Sigma 30mm f1.4 images, by AndreasE
In his Nikon D40 review, AndreasE talks about how many RAW + JPEG shots can be stored on a 2 GB SD card, how easily the D40 plus a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM lens (read this complete list of Sigma HSM lenses that can AF on the D40) fit into the pocket of his jacket, and the automatic white balance performance, among other things. A nice series of of pictures shot with the D40 + Sigma 30mm f1.4 (some at photographed at ISO 800 - resized) is also included.

Handling the Nikon D40 in the shop

Bussta shares his experience here. Interesting to note is his take on the feel of the D40's grip vs the Canon 350D / XT and Canon 400D / XTi, and the brightness of the viewfinder. He also finds the compact size of the D40 to be just right. This needs some verification, but he also mentions that the D40's viewfinder, unlike other Nikon digital SLR cameras, remained bright despite there being no battery in the camera.

Nikon D40 impressions by AndreasE

Nikon D40 images, by AndreasE
AndreasE owns many Nikon digital SLR cameras, and looks forward to the "fun" he'll have with the compact D40. He also shares some vanity shots of the Nikon D40 with the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM (which is the only known short prime lens to be able to autofocus on the D40 - read this list of Sigma lenses that can AF on the D40) mounted on it, plus a size comparison of the D40 vs the Nikon D200. A link to a full-sized original indoor image shot in an airport in Stockholm with the Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom kit lens is provided here.

Impressions from an Olympus C-5060 WZ owner

A common reaction from owners of digital compact or prosumer cameras is delight at the speed and general "snappy" operations and autofocus of digital SLR cameras. Joe shares some notes comparing the Nikon D40 vs Olympus C5060 and Nikon D50 cameras.

Long Nikon D40 polling thread on DPReview

The interesting comments in there are:

  1. His wife loves the D40 and gets good results from it
  2. A recommendation to consider the better-specified Pentax K100D - I actually agree with this. For the money, there's no 6 MP digital SLR camera that can beat the K100D on features. Not even the 8MP Canon XTi / 400D. And you get to enjoy buying and using the lightweight and optically fantastic Pentax pancake lenses. The 18-55 and 50-200 Pentax lenses are not too shabby either.
    Adam-T chimes in with a pretty balanced view of the K100D vs D40, saying that the Pentax kit lenses are extremely sharp for the money, but AF accuracy isn't up to the D40's standards.
  3. Hank Wolfe says explains how to quickly change settings on the D40 - so the minimal number of switches and buttons on the D40 isn't really a handicap.
  4. Cpt Galant explains why he prefers his "little D40" over his D200, D70 and D2H cameras.
  5. Rutro upgraded to the D40 from a point-and-shoot camera and shares a few fantastic portraits, baseball and other photos shot with the Nikkor 55-200mm lens.
  6. Funny but true post from Anthony Horan who moved from a film SLR camera to Sony P&S and finally to a D40. He's also not too thrilled with the idea of owning a D200 plus huge lens. And why he doesn't feel "inadequate" comparing his D40 to D50.
  7. Dmtalon bought the D40 over the D80 because of the bang-for-the-buck proposition, figuring that he could always upgrade to a higher-spec'd camera in future if the need arose.
  8. Alan17 and Dad are blown away by the out-of-camera results and astonishing battery life. He doesn't miss the absence of bracketing on the D40 (useful for HDR photography) since he hasn't discovered a camera which has exposure bracketing that meets his requirements exactly. I'd like to add that the exposure bracketing feature on the Canon XTi / 400D lets you set the exposure variation across three shots only. Here's another reason why including a bracketing feature with the D40 wouldn't help HDR photographers anyway.
  9. Antonyr sees no difference between shots from the D40 vs D80 up to 8 x 12" prints. He's very satisfied with the output from the D40 plus Nikkor 18-200 VR lens.
  10. RAL is happy that images from the D40 doesn't require a lot of post processing effort.
  11. Gary has three lenses to go with the D40: 18-55, 24-85 and 70-300 VR. With the images he gets from the D40, he hardly picks up his D50 anymore.
  12. Why Travellux chose the D40 over a Canon. I agree with his assessment that Nikon has many more quality lenses at the lower price range than Canon.
  13. Buy the D40, save money, and spend the money on better lenses and accessories.
  14. SaltLakeGuy explains that the D40 is perfectly fine for action shots, but it depends on what kind of action. The availability of only 3 AF (autofocus points) does not limit you in capturing fast moving subjects.
  15. Rockchan is OK with the fact that the D40 does not have dedicated buttons for changing WB (white balance) and ISO. I agree with him on that account. On the D70 (my camera), for instance, I'd have to use my left thumb to hold down a button on the back of the camera over on the left hand side while I rotate a dial. Most would have no problems with this, except if you're holding a huge lens in your left hand, then it becomes inconvenient to have to remove your hand from supporting the lens. The D40's menu system is quick enough to allow you to easily navigate (with your right thumb) to the appropriate setting and change the value (it also remembers where you last were in the menu).
  16. Tianium compares the bulk of the D40 + Nikkor 18-135mm combination to his FujiFilm Finepix S6000fd (known as S6500fd in Europe). He also mentions that image quality from the D40 is far superior to the FinePix, but does not expose as reliably when photographing high contrast scenes.
  17. Dianajean bills herself as a "soccermom", and lays out the reasons why she bought the D40. She's perfectly satisfied with having a two-lens setup, namely the 18-55 II kit lens and 55-200mm, but looks forward to purchasing the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D lens even thought it will not autofocus on the D40.
  18. OK - here's an excellent piece of feedback by ericBlair, who considers himself a serious amateur and purchased the D40 because he intended to use it to manually focus his older, non-AF Nikon lenses. He further counts the bright viewfinder and review screen (a nice picture in there of a Nikon 100mm f/2.8 series E lens mounted on the D40) as strong advantages. A really strong case is built here for those who love manual focus lenses.
  19. Poached sold his D40 on eBay and got the D50 after that. His reasons are valid. If you're doing a lot of low light, action photography (indoor sports, for instance), it's best to get a camera that can AF with cheap prime lenses which have apertures of f/1.8 or larger and skip the D40.
  20. Brooke A, a D2X user, is completely satisfied with the D40's image quality, and chose it as a backup camera over the heftier D80 and D200. What he said about the D40's ability to perform Auto FP with SB-800 / SB-600 isn't correct though - only the Nikon D80 and more expensive models can do this.
  21. And finally, get the D40 because it's the camera you want, and not because someone else insists that you do.

Miscellaneous comments and feedback

  1. Gnarlydude recommends a two-lens solution for those who place image sharpness as a priority over flexibility - the kit Nikkor 18-55 II and Nikkor 55-200mm VR lenses. The 18-55 lens is able to focus closer than the Nikkor 18-135mm, while the 55-200mm VR lens is sharper at 200mm than the Nikkor 18-200 VR. Plus, the two-lens combo is much cheaper than purchasing the 18-200 VR on its own.
  2. Adam-T reckons that the D40 holds the record for having the quietest mirror mechanism among all digital SLR cameras. The fast and virtually slap-free mirror action helps to minimize shake in the camera body.
  3. After using his son's D40 for a few times, Daniel finds it painful to go back to the smaller screen and darker viewfinder of his D70.
  4. John finds the LCD screen on the Nikon D40 to be superior to that of the Canon 40D.
  5. Nikon D40 vs Nikon D200.

Archive of comments from the old Nikon D40 blog

  1. karim Says:

    December 21st, 2006 at 4:52 am

    I recently acquired the D40 and have found that is a wonderful camera - very user-friendly, small, light & portable. Easy to use and the image quality is fantastic - now, you can no longer say Canon takes the cake for low noise at high ISO - the D40 review on dpreview.com proves that this camera has what it takes. In my night photography, I have found that this camera is very capable, and produces the same, if not better prints than my Rebel XT (350). So far I am pleased with it. Now, if it had 10 MP, it would be perfect, but who needs that when the image quality is so good at 6mp.