Review: Nikon D40

The D40 is Nikon's new entry-level digital SLR. the D40 is one of the lowest priced SLRs on the market. Nikon didn't cut a lot of corners to keep the price down, either -- this is a very capable camera. It has a 6 Megapixel CCD, a large and sharp 2.5" LCD display, full manual controls, an elaborate help system, and the kind of performance that you'd expect from a D-SLR. Did I mention that it's also very compact?
Nikon D40 features:
The 6.1 effective Megapixel Nikon D40 camera body
F3.5 - 5.6, 18 - 55 mm Mk II Nikkor DX zoom lens
EN-EL9 lithium-ion rechargeable battery
Battery charger
Body cap
Eyepiece cap
Shoulder strap
USB cable
CD-ROMs featuring Nikon PictureProject
125 page camera manual (printed)
The D40 is sold with a lens (no body only kit yet), and you'll find a brand new second generation 18 - 55 mm lens. Taking the D40's 1.5X focal length conversion into account, the kit lens has the field-of-view of an 27 - 82.5 mm lens. Overall I was pretty happy with this lens, though it has a bit of a problem with purple fringing. I'll have much more on photo quality later in the review.
The D40 doesn't come with a memory card, so you'll need to pick one up if you don't have one already. The camera supports both SD and the newer SDHC cards, which currently top out at a whopping 8GB. I don't think you need a card quite that large -- I'd start out with 1GB myself. Spending a little more for a high speed card is a good idea.
Nikon came up with a new battery when they created the D40, and it's called the EN-EL9. This battery has 7.4 Wh of energy, which is pretty good these days. How does this translate into battery life? Have a look:
The D40 and its new battery turn in above average battery life numbers. I suppose I should mention my usual list of "gotchas" about proprietary batteries like the EN-EL9. First, they're expensive. Secondly, unlike with cameras that use AA batteries, you can't use an off-the-shelf battery when your rechargeable dies. As you can see in the chart above, there's only one camera in this class that uses AAs.
When it's time to charge the battery just snap it into the included charger. It takes just ninety minutes to fully charge the EN-EL9. This isn't one of those handy chargers that plugs right into the wall -- you must use a power cable.